Dracula Blogged

Dracula gets the Vagrant treatment

Some good Dracula comics from Hark! a Vagrant:

(thanks to Steven Kaye)

A Dracula in two minutes

"Dracula in 2 minutes" is a short, tongue in cheek summary.  It's really about Coppola's movie.

Dracula in Under 2 Minutes from DECLAN MORAN on Vimeo.

(thanks to Peter Naegele via Fbook)

How to deal with Team Edward

As the holidays draw near, what better Gothic gift than a vampire-killing gun.  It's the Vampire Hunter's Colt Detective Special. 

The revolver has a cross engraved on the muzzle, presumably to keep vampires at bay while the vampire hunter takes aim. It spits silver .38-caliber bullets, each of which is sculpted in the form of a vampire's head. And its coffin-shaped box, lined with sanguinary-red velvet, comes with a helpful vial marked "Holy Water."

Wasn't there something like this in an early Supernatural episode?

It's part of an NRA museum exhibit.

(thanks to Ladi)

(cross-posted to Infocult central)

Alternative vampires

Here's an interesting list of non-Hollywood vampire movies.

What interests me about this is what it says about the current status of the vampire genre.  The genre has gone from being overrun by Twilight, to being installed in the acme of mainstream-iness: mainline American film.

So the list gets to plumb history, based on the accurate assumption that cineplex moviegoers live largely in the moment.  

Let's see how long it lasts, before the new moon is, at long last, eclipsed.

Team Dracula

A bit of Dracula humor:

(thank you, Ladi!)

Today's Dracula metaphor

Today's political Dracula metaphor comes from the Huffington Post.

By now, you'd think we'd have buried this issue. But like Dracula it refuses to die. And so, I return to the subject with the hope of driving a stake through its heart and giving it a proper burial. Among the claims we need to put to rest...

We've been using vampire metaphors in politics for centuries.

(thanks to Ed Webb!)

 

Maureen Dowd, Dracula fan

A leading New York Times columnist confesses her love for vampires.  Maureen Dowd dates her love of Dracula back to her baby boomer teen years:

While my friends put up posters of Mick Jagger and John Lennon in their rooms, I had a royal heartthrob who appealed to no one but me.

 He had a funny accent, odd eating habits and bizarre sleep patterns. He was vain but wouldn’t look in the mirror. Like me, he didn’t like the beach or baking in the sun. All through my teens, I nurtured a yen for him, though at that time he was the epitome of uncool. Even his clothes were old-fashioned and dandyish.

He wasn’t nice. He was a parasite, constantly changing the face he showed to the world to suit his selfish needs. And he was really old, which made it creepy when he seduced young women on his travels. He wouldn’t even have a glass of wine with them, much less pop for some pasta and garlic.

But growing up, I was a sucker for the guy. I read everything I could about him and his family and his hometown in the impassable mountains far away...

Vampire historians may appreciate her admiration of Dark Shadows.

Twilight versus Dracula, a new duel

One commentator is not pleased by thoughts of linking Dracula to the Twilight series' romantic lead.  So unhappy is he that he's willing to take a break from campaigning - read on:

As a true descent of Vlad in more ways than one, I am appalled by Pattinson's stunt.

Personally if that boy thinks he's from Vlad's bloodline, then let him prove it, in the way Vlad would... On a field of battle! As the US Secret Service will attest, I am Vlad to the bone. Unlike Pattinson, I am a warrior and a true Vampyre.

If he truly wants to prove his Vlad heritage, then I challenge him to face me on a field of battle. Let see which one of us is "VLAD TO THE BONE!" Not a Hollywood pretty boy!

Mr. Fernandez, I hope you print this. I am sending this to other media sources I know. Next week I plan on doing a video and placing it on YouTube. Either Pattinson will prove he is a true descendant of VLAD, or he will show the world he is a wannabe!

Do Svidaniya, Nel Sangue,

Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey (R)

Presidential Candidate

If you're not with me, then you're my enemy!

Bold in the original.

(thanks to sanguine Steven Kaye; photo from Wikipedia)

Dracula graffiti

Spotted on Flickr:

 

About that telegraph

Dracula features a good number of high-tech communication technologies.  One example is the telegraph., which we saw being used by two characters on May 26th.  

The telegraph has become a powerful communications tool by the time Stoker's novel appeared.  The Wikipedia entry gives a good sketch.  Tom Standage's book, The Victorian Internet, is definitely worth a read (as I said in my review).

Here's one impressively designed unit: