Eight Ways to Commemorate Bram Stoker on His November 8th Birthday!
And Let the Master of Gothic Horror Be Your Muse
By LindaAnn LoSchiavo for Behind the Pages
Goodness writes in white, doesn’t commandeer the page. But darkness beckons with a crooked finger, casts its shadowy spell. Horror writer Bram Stoker, born on November 8, 1847, and his sinister sidekick Dracula, introduced in 1897, have both enjoyed a busy afterlife. Here are eight spooky suggestions to commemorate his birthday.
Read a Newly Discovered Horror Story by Stoker
Originally published in Dublin’s Daily Express (on December 17, 1890), and rediscovered in the National Library of Ireland, "Gibbet Hill," set in Surrey, England, tells the supernatural story of a hiker and his ominous encounter with three mysterious children near a murdered sailor’s grave.
Stoker’s eerie supernatural story highlights the struggle between good and evil. C.W.: East Indian racism.
Listen to "Gibbet Hill" read by Elliot Fitzpatrick (30 mins.)
Examine the original newspaper, archived by the National Library of Ireland; Supplement to the Daily Express:
Read a clear copy from this Google doc:
Learn How the Folklore Vampire Morphed from Leper to Literary Darling
Eastern Europeans regarded vampires as scapegoats, evil spirits blamed for misfortune: illness, horses going lame, death, natural disasters, and anything the locals could neither change nor understand. Since folkloric vampires were associated with ill omens, these outcasts were never depicted as attractive nor welcome – as this strange skeletal image reveals.
In 1727, a startling event ignited widespread intrigue, elevating the vampire’s image and giving the undead a red carpet make-over. My article "Eternally Fascinating, the Vampire Endures" uncovers the vampire’s astonishing history.
Dearg Due, an Irish Vampire Who Inspired Stoker & Others
For centuries, an Irish folkloric figure the Dearg Due ("Red Bloodsucker" or "Red Thirst") was known as a vengeful, female entity with a tragic past. A beautiful redhead in love with a local farmer, she was forced by her greedy father to wed a wealthy and much older man. His abuse provoked her depression and self-starvation. After death, she became a vampire, seducing victims with her red-lipped beauty only to drain their blood.
Meet the Dearg Due in this frightful 6-minute film "Vampires and Such" by Rachel Rathbone, narrated by Freya Gunhild.
Stoker Flirted with the Dearg Due in "Dracula’s Guest"
Dubliners Sheridan Le Fanu and Bram Stoker grew up with ancient Celtic folklore and fables. Three decades older than Stoker, Sheridan Le Fanu [1814 – 1873] made his mark first, drawing upon the haunting figure of the Dearg Due for "Carmilla," his 1872 lesbian vampire novella – predating Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (1897) by 25 years. Project Gutenberg made "Carmilla" free to read
However, in "Dracula’s Guest," Stoker’s female predator, like the Dearg Due figure that inspired him, seems to prey upon men – not young women. (Later on, this prologue would be excised from the novel and published posthumously as a stand-alone piece.) Not persuaded that Walpurgis Night’s superstitions would trouble an Englishman visiting Munich, Stoker’s unnamed narrator – a guest of Count Dracula – continues his stroll, wandering into a cemetery where an ornate sepulchre has been engraved with this intriguing inscription:
COUNTESS DOLINGEN OF GRATZ IN STYRIA SOUGHT AND FOUND DEATH 1801
Stoker’s story continued: On the top of the tomb, seemingly driven through the solid marble—for the structure was composed of a few vast blocks of stone—was a great iron spike or stake. On going to the back I saw, graven in great Russian letters: "The dead travel fast." ... I saw, as my eyes were turned into the darkness of the tomb, a beautiful woman, with rounded cheeks and red lips, seemingly sleeping on a bier. …
Project Gutenberg made "Dracula’s Guest" free to read: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10150/10150-h/10150-h.htm#chap01
Revive Your Spirits with a "Dracula’s Blood" Cocktail
No doubt "Red Thirst" put you in the mood for a spirited cocktail. Serve the Dracula’s Blood Cocktail to toast Bram Stoker’s birthday.
Ingredients:
2 ounces white rum
3/4 ounce peach schnapps
3 ounces black cherry juice
2 teaspoons grenadine
cherries or plastic vampire teeth to garnish (optional)
Instructions:
Place rum, peach schnapps, black cherry juice, and grenadine in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for 10 seconds to mix and then chill it.
Strain into a martini glass.
Drop in a set of plastic vampire teeth and garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Conjure Up Black-Out Poetry from "Dracula"
Scan and print out pages from the novel "Dracula" and turn sections into black-out poetry, creating new dark, sinister verses from Bram Stoker’s words. This can reveal hidden meanings in the text, as well as spark eerie inspiration for your own horror writing.
In case you need guidance, here is my craft article: "Dancing with Dracula: Writing Horror Poetry Based on Bram."
Enjoy "Dracula" Reimagined as a Graphic Novel
Comic book versions of "Dracula" have been produced over the years. Additionally, various publishers have toyed with the idea of reproducing Bram Stoker’s classic as a graphic novel.
The latest was released on November 3, 2020, a joint venture among Bela Lugosi LLC, illustrator El Garing, Art Director Kerry Gammill, and adaptor Robert Napton, whose mission it was to take readers on a journey into the heart of Stoker’s masterpiece while reminding an audience why Bela Lugosi will forever be known as the lethal Count from Transylvania. It is available on Amazon and you can watch the trailer here:
The "Brides of Bram" Channel Stoker
What would create the ultimate launch for a collection of vampire poetry? On November 8, 2023, The Brides of Bram took to the screen, streaming live in honor of "Vampire Ventures" — a book published by Alien Buddha Press and inspired by the spirit of Bram Stoker himself.
This mesmerizing event brought together a trio of horror poets — with Elgin Award winner LindaAnn LoSchiavo joining Bram Stoker Award winners Linda D. Addison and Angela Yuriko Smith in a gathering of literary "sisters of the night," whose work conveys the spooky season’s vibes throughout the year.
Listen to a preview from LindaAnn LoSchiavo's "Vampire Ventures" intertwined with horror poems written by Linda D. Addison and Angela Yuriko Smith, a bewitching tribute to the dark arts. So very Stoker!
BIO
Native New Yorker and Elgin Award winner, LindaAnn LoSchiavo is a member of the British Fantasy Society, HWA, SFPA, and The Dramatists Guild — and a spooky Scorpio who loves Hallowe'en.
Current books: "Messengers of the Macabre: Hallowe'en Poems," "Vampire Ventures," "Always Haunted: Hallowe’en Poems" [Wild Ink, October 1, 2024], "Apprenticed to the Night" [UniVerse Press, 2024], and "Felones de Se: Poems about Suicide" [Ukiyoto Publishing, 2024].* "Always Haunted: Hallowe’en Poems" won The Chrysalis BREW Project’s Award for Exellence on July 23, 2024. * Book Review + Award LINK: https://thechrysalisbrewproject.com/2024/07/23/book-review-always-haunted-halloween-poems-by-lindaann-loschiavo/
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