Draculablog launches
This blog will publish Bram Stoker's Dracula for the next six months. Individual pieces of the novel will appear on the calendar dates indicated in the text, starting with Jonathan Harker's May 3rd Bistriz journal entry, and finishing up with November 6 and the final Note.
I'm planning on two categories of posts. First, and primarily, will be the novel's text. Secondarily I'll post about the novel, or reflections on this project.
Comments are most welcome!
I've been looking forward to this ever since you mentioned the idea!
Posted by: Ladi | May 01, 2005 at 11:53 PM
Extremely cool. Can't vait. (Sorry.)
Posted by: Gardner | May 02, 2005 at 02:27 PM
Great idea. I'm shocked that no one has thought of it... or did it. I've sent the url off to some dracula scholar friends.
Posted by: jason | May 03, 2005 at 09:22 AM
As a Dracula scholar, I am delighted to see the novel presented in this way. I will certainly spread the word!
Posted by: Elizabeth Miller | May 03, 2005 at 09:33 AM
I'm promoting it on my weblog as well (though my readership is pretty small). Still, this is a great idea, and I've subscribed via Bloglines to be sure that I don't miss an installment. Thank you!
Posted by: Jae Walker | May 03, 2005 at 05:34 PM
Many thanks for the comments, friends. I appreciate the links, thoughts, reading, and attention.
I'm especially honored at seeing Elizabeth Miller posting here, as she was not only my personal introduction to the world of Dracula studies, but is clearly the world's leading scholar on Stoker's novel. This blog would never have happened, were it not for Elizabeth.
Posted by: Bryan | May 04, 2005 at 09:22 AM
This is a great way to publish a novel.
I'm not that keen on the Dracula element, being of a squeamish nature, but I love the way you've done this. What a lot of possibilities it opens up
Posted by: joanna howard | May 06, 2005 at 07:55 AM
Great Idea!
I've added a link to the blog - if a few more Vampire Fans get to read the original, we all gain!
Good Luck - and no days off!
Andrew
Posted by: Andrew Heenan | May 06, 2005 at 12:44 PM
Your site is most enchanting. What a wonderful way to present the book.
Thanks
-warrbo
Posted by: warrbo | May 07, 2005 at 01:53 PM
Absolute genius.
It's the kind of thing people kick themselves for not coming up with first.
Posted by: Mandrillus Sphinx | May 09, 2005 at 09:06 PM
Excellent. I read Dracula for the first time last year and was struck by its blog-like nature. Also pretty high-tech for its time - typewriters and audio journals. Hooray for Science.
Posted by: Nate | May 10, 2005 at 05:49 AM
Brilliant idea
Posted by: phylos | May 14, 2005 at 12:00 PM
I think the Blog is great idea and hope it will haf happy endings for all.
D.
http://transylvaniacastle.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Count Vlad Dracula | May 21, 2005 at 04:29 PM
I don't know shinola about the logistics of blogging, but I'm wondering if it would be possible to blog Gaston Leroux's _Phantom of the Opera_? I'm almost certain that it must be in public domain by now.
What would be even cooler would be to blog PotO entertwined with Susan Kay's _Phantom_, which tells the story of Eric's childhood and then interweaves the opera scenes with diary entries from both Eric and Christine so that you get a glimpse into their thoughts as the story unfolds. Unfortunately, Kay's novel was published in the 1990s, so I'm not sure whether or not it can be reproduced.
I've also thought of blogging Ira Levin's _Rosemary's Baby_, which follows Rosemary's pregnancy from conception to birth. But there again is that question of whether something not yet 100 years old can be blogged.
Anyone know?
Posted by: Baby Jinx | May 23, 2005 at 01:13 PM
Phantom of the Opera is P.D. Google the title plus the author's name and you'll find that there are numerous HTML, eBook, and plain-text versions available online. (If you click on my URL, and scroll down, you'll find a list of links in the right column labeled "Horror Stories and Fiction Online" -- this is just a sample of what's available on the web. I tend to favor sites that have texts formatted for online reading.)
As far as blogging a novel, it's no more difficult than running a personal blog (i.e., in the case of Blogger at least, it's dead easy). You'd want to find a plain-text version of PotO. Then, when it's time to post another entry, copy and paste the relevant text into your blogging tool -- I'd be sure to clean up any OCR errors and apply HTML formatting if needed -- and then click Publish.
As far as blogging a novel that's not in public domain -- e.g. Rosemary's Baby -- I wouldn't recommend it. I think you'd be really pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable, and I'm one of those wild-eyed "information wants to be free" guys.
I'd like to blog Varney the Vampire if no one's done it. 1) It was originally published as a serial on broadsheets -- one chapter per broadsheet per week, for a penny; and 2) It was the first work of P.D. fiction syndicated online -- it was e-mailed, one chapter a week, to an Arpanet server sometime in the early 1980s, I think. I'm at work and can't find the details right now.
Posted by: HP | May 23, 2005 at 06:05 PM
HP, I'd love to do Varney.
BJinx, go for the Leroux!
Posted by: Bryan | May 28, 2005 at 08:52 PM
How will you solve the problem with the letters and journals that are dated from april and early may for example?
Posted by: Patrik | June 02, 2005 at 03:08 PM