tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69017447071095766732024-03-05T03:43:23.868-08:00Vampire Books NavigatorYour select guide to new, recent and noteworthy vampire fiction.James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-71640965646633760782015-01-05T17:04:00.002-08:002015-01-05T17:04:25.676-08:00The Newest Bitey Films of 2014 and 2015Ben Taylor from Swide.com counts down <a href="http://www.swide.com/art-culture/best-new-vampire-movies-2014-and-2015-including-dracula-untold-and-ombra-amor/2014/10/11">the best vampire movies</a> that came out in 2014 and are slated to join the bitefest in 2015.<br />
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<br />James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-18265023506644816032011-07-06T17:34:00.000-07:002011-07-06T17:34:35.908-07:00In the Footsteps of Dracula — A Personal Journey and Travel Guide<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1935444530&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
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<em>REVIEW </em><br />
<strong>In the Footsteps of Dracula—A Personal Journey and Travel Guide </strong><em><strong>(paperback)</strong>Author: Steven P. Unger</em> <br />
<em>Publisher: World Audience Inc./$20.00</em><br />
<em>Date of Publication: 2010</em><br />
<em>Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</em><br />
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Steve Unger, a veteran traveler and writer, has accomplished something truly original with <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/1935444530"><em>In the Footsteps of Dracula</em></a> — he has created a personal travelogue for “the Dracula trail.”<br />
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Unger’s work is divided into five main parts: Part 1 delves into Bram Stoker’s <em>Dracula</em>; Parts 2 and 3 unearth the historical Prince Vlad Dracula and the path of national heroism and unspeakable cruelty that both defined him; Part 4 visits various Bram Stoker itinerary stops in London and Dublin; and Part 5 provides an indispensible and immensely practical travel how-to for readers who decide to embark on their own footstep-following trip.<br />
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Penned to “entertain, to inform, perhaps even to inspire,” noted Unger, “it is a memoir for the armchair traveler.” It is more than that, of course, too, as Unger is able to deftly weave impressive historical, political, cultural and literary research into what is also an original and intimate approach to looking at the Dracula trail as not merely an adventure but also a pilgrimage that each one of us can take to make it our own.<br />
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With Unger’s curatorship, for example, we can see what inspired Stoker as he vacationed in Whitby, and we can look down from dizzying mountain heights upon soil that was drenched in the blood of tens of thousands of soldiers, boyars and citizens by Prince Vlad and his armies.<br />
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Partly thanks to an entertainingly eclectic selection of pictures taken by Unger (and included in this volume) and partly due to the witty and enjoyable narrative provided to us along the trail, we as readers are also able to bring it all home as we learn about such disparate and colorful details as Gothic Weekends in Whitby and MaxiTaxis in Transylvania, and much more.<br />
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While there are many historical and mythological digs, if you will, into Bram Stoker’s Dracula character, Prince Vlad the Impaler and vampirism, my favorites have always included: <em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0395657830">In Search of Dracula</a></em> (by McNally and Florescu), <em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0671850245">The Complete Vampire Companion</a></em> (by Rosemary Ellen Guiley), <em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0393064506">The New Annotated Dracula</a></em> (edited by Leslie Klinger — which is an annotated edition of Stoker’s <em>Dracula</em>, true, but the notes for which are so rich in scholarly annotations as to qualify for a cyclopedia in and of themselves), and the hard-to-get-through yet seminal, <em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0486439968">Vampires and Vampirism</a></em> (by Montague Summers). I am now adding Unger’s entry to that list of essential works for students of Bram Stoker, Stoker’s Dracula and of Vlad the Impaler.<br />
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While there will always be quibbles among scholars and students of our stake-philic prince (e.g., Was Castle Dracula built onto Castle Arges with stones from the ruined Castle Poienari, or was it Castle Poienari itself?), there should be no quibbling at all regarding Unger’s <em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/1935444530">In the Footsteps of Dracula</a></em>; it is a fresh, and uniquely personal, addition to our realm of wonder about all things that go bite in the night.James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-68991243775503060322011-05-17T15:27:00.000-07:002011-05-17T16:33:46.388-07:00Son of the Dragon: How Dracula Got His Name<em>By VBN guest, Steven P. Unger, author of </em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/1935444530">In the Footsteps of Dracula: A Personal Journey and Travel Guide</a><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Hundreds of years before Christ, the Dacians (called "Agathyrsoi" by Herodotus in the fourth volume of his Histories) were the first recorded people to live in Transylvania. They tattooed their faces, arms, and legs according to their rank in society, and dyed their hair dark blue.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Herodotus wrote of several Dacian legends and rituals, such as the priests of Zalmoxis who kept the secret of incantations that could make human beings immortal, and the ritual practice of wrapping a young man who wished to become a warrior in the skin of a wolf (some men were said to be able to change themselves each year for several days into the form of a wolf). Modern historians have theorized that hallucinogenic mushrooms were used in the wolf-pelt ceremony, allowing the men to experience a complete psychological transformation into wolves.</div><br />
Once psychologically transformed into a wolf and thereby initiated into the Brotherhood of the Wolf, the Dacian warrior would enter fearlessly and ferociously into battle under the banner of the Wolf Dragon, an animal with the head of a wolf and the body of a dragon. The Royal Order of the Dragon, into which the historical Prince Dracula's father was initiated at Nuremberg in 1431 (the year of Dracula's birth), was a branch of the Brotherhood of the Wolf, which had already survived for two thousand years. Almost 500 years after that, a picture was taken in the early 20th Century showing a shepherd in the Pindus Mountains of northwestern Greece holding a staff with a carving of the Wolf Dragon at the top.<br />
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Roman legions first invaded Transylvania in the 1st Century B.C., and the Dacians responded by building six defensive fortresses in the Orăştie Mountains near present-day Deva at the southwest border with Wallachia. The ruins of the six fortresses, comprising a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1999, can be seen today. Some of the ruins include the circular remnants of sanctuaries reminiscent of a mini-Stonehenge or of the Tholos Temple at Delphi, Greece; near another fortress is a circular stone solar calendar. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKaUMxJeFDuumUOp7gujNj_0Jj2ZI-TvbWWTYaaQwtyj7vcBDbT4YUkrqOxIcvBuD5fLai1F_VJeCkwrE4RAE6MHf97A46CPtizagmywodeUgzVuZBzDYewGZ-y_qPD1yLmmFrtLgFlsb/s1600/Wolf+Dragon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" height="133" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKaUMxJeFDuumUOp7gujNj_0Jj2ZI-TvbWWTYaaQwtyj7vcBDbT4YUkrqOxIcvBuD5fLai1F_VJeCkwrE4RAE6MHf97A46CPtizagmywodeUgzVuZBzDYewGZ-y_qPD1yLmmFrtLgFlsb/s200/Wolf+Dragon.jpg" width="200" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Dacian Wolf Dragon</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>This photograph of a Wolf Dragon was carved in a stone arch as long as 2,000 years ago. Reproduced with the permission of Shane Solow, ©Lost Trails, LLC, the picture was taken at one of the Orăştie sanctuaries. The carving is one of the only original, intact examples of the powerful Dacian symbol remaining in the world.<br />
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The Dacians were able to keep the Roman legions at bay for nearly 200 years, until they were finally conquered by the Roman Emperor Trajan in 106 A.D. Rome ruled what is now Romania for the next 175 years, intermarrying until a Daco-Roman people emerged who spoke Latin. Seven hundred years of successive invasions by Goths, Huns, Germanic Saxons, and Hungarians followed. <br />
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By the 10th Century, Romania consisted of three principalities: Transylvania, the central part of the country, bounded by the sprawling mountain range that Jonathan Harker refers to as "the horseshoe of the Carpathians" in his first journal entry in the novel, <em>Dracula</em>, by Bram Stoker; Moldavia to the east; and Wallachia to the south. All three princedoms were dominated by the kingdom of Hungary. This state of affairs still prevailed in the time of Prince Vlad Dracula (Vlad the Impaler).<br />
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The ruling classes, or boyars, of Romania at the time of Prince Dracula were Magyars, who were of Hungarian extraction, and Szekelys, who believed themselves to be descended from the Huns. Bram Stoker has Count Dracula claim Szekely heritage, and his descent from Attila the Hun, to Jonathan Harker in Chapter III:<br />
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<em>We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lordship. . . . What devil or what witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood is in these veins?</em><br />
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The Szekelys may be said to be the only true Transylvanians, having guarded the land's borders long before the Magyar invasion and Hungarian rule. Their allegiance was only to the sacred soil of Transylvania, no matter who held temporary political dominion over them at any given time. Among their descendants are Prince Charles of England and his sons, Princes William and Harry.<br />
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Nevertheless, the historical Vlad Dracula the Impaler can be traced genetically much further back than the Szekelys and the Huns: Dracula's distant ancestors were the Dacian Wolf Dragon warriors themselves. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAfGE8UUCZDH8sajHSwWFDRgAbNEYCLmp8tlUr-UQhWKFFotnGMmns4FCEyRXeR84_fzxFoHJUb18oVZx3fmkw-35VQ6Ps-gHuehOP-kMGXypug_lGsieJ9rVodQ00b40Hs3NubVRhnY_/s1600/Prince+Dracula.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAfGE8UUCZDH8sajHSwWFDRgAbNEYCLmp8tlUr-UQhWKFFotnGMmns4FCEyRXeR84_fzxFoHJUb18oVZx3fmkw-35VQ6Ps-gHuehOP-kMGXypug_lGsieJ9rVodQ00b40Hs3NubVRhnY_/s320/Prince+Dracula.jpg" width="281" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Portrait of Prince Dracula</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The only portrait of Prince Dracula, copied innumerable times on posters and paintings and statues throughout Romania, hangs in Castle Ambras in Innsbruck, Austria, in Europe's first "museum," the Kunst und Wunderkammer — the Arts and Wonders Room, also known as the Gallery of Monsters. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Even this portrait, painted in the late 16th Century more than 100 years after Dracula's death by an anonymous German artist (the Germans despised Dracula, who had impaled thousands of their Saxon relatives in Sibiu and Brasov), is only a copy of another portrait lost in the ash heap of history. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>So, no one really knows if this sinister, angular visage with the Jay Leno chin is really that of Vlad the Impaler, especially when compared with the rounded, almost serene face in the only known — and contemporaneous — portrait of Vlad's father, a fragmented fresco recently discovered above the bedroom where Dracula was born in Sighişoara. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzB8b1kbSfB3eb_lGkYp6MN3KuO_pV5dgn5yN94yL435AFJlHWnF-aIayJ4-nGxuMR1FOGdtKg3RZbfOSTDilnMGLjDMsRRzCOLg7hs6EQdl47u-QDsq0IERq6JCGIOvQTFwrVuhaSkzm/s1600/Fresco+of+Vlad+Dracul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzB8b1kbSfB3eb_lGkYp6MN3KuO_pV5dgn5yN94yL435AFJlHWnF-aIayJ4-nGxuMR1FOGdtKg3RZbfOSTDilnMGLjDMsRRzCOLg7hs6EQdl47u-QDsq0IERq6JCGIOvQTFwrVuhaSkzm/s200/Fresco+of+Vlad+Dracul.jpg" width="200" /></a>Interestingly, the Kunst und Wunderkammer's portrait of Prince Dracula — descendant of the Wolf Dragon warriors — is adjacent to the portrait of a "wolf-man." Although this portrait of Petrus Gonsalvus (a real person) shows his face completely covered in fur except for his nose, eyes, and lips, we cannot see his palms. (<em>See</em> <a href="http://www.aiwaz.net/panopticon/petrus-gonsalvus/gi1293c161">http://www.aiwaz.net/panopticon/petrus-gonsalvus/gi1293c161</a>.) Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, however, did have "hairs in the centre of the palm," as Jonathan Harker tells us in Chapter II.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKn6T4rbWzh1Tp9F6vo0KMfKDZInTWfmWvA6qtCVH0E9BOu-0o0xRlpWnEzsQsNQd1n0y9CdbI1Lqc2KTH4J4IwgMpY2XV96M3QEG4Am_aSLmGkZOzd7CzwtM96MkwaC_9TMlUmuD-spHG/s1600/Mircea+the+Old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKn6T4rbWzh1Tp9F6vo0KMfKDZInTWfmWvA6qtCVH0E9BOu-0o0xRlpWnEzsQsNQd1n0y9CdbI1Lqc2KTH4J4IwgMpY2XV96M3QEG4Am_aSLmGkZOzd7CzwtM96MkwaC_9TMlUmuD-spHG/s320/Mircea+the+Old.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Mircea the Old</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The historical Dracula's father, Vlad Basarab, was born out of wedlock in 1392 to Prince Mircea cel Bătrân (Mircea the Old) and one of his many concubines. Today, a statue of Prince Mircea cel Bătrân stands in the central square of modern Tărgovişte. Always a loyal servant to King Sigismund of Hungary, Vlad Basarab fought the Turks as a guard commander of the mountain passes into Wallachia and acted as Sigismund's representative in Constantinople to the Holy Roman Emperor.<br />
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As a reward, in 1431 Basarab was inducted into the ancient Royal Order of the Dragon, a society of Central and Eastern European knights who were charged with defending the Catholic faith against its enemies, and he was given the governorship of Transylvania along with a house in its capital, Sighişoara.<br />
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(Incidentally, members of the Royal Order of the Dragon wore a ceremonial costume — reminiscent of the clothing worn by modern movie Draculas — incorporating a black cape over a red garment, to be worn on Fridays and during the commemoration of Christ's Passion on the first Tuesday after the eighth Sunday before Easter. In another odd coincidence, the last remaining group of people claiming membership in what they say is a continuing, though underground, Royal Order of the Dragon is the Oltean family of — where else? — Bistriţa, in Transylvania on the road to the Borgo Pass, the site of the fictional Count Dracula's castle.) <br />
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From the day of his induction into the Royal Order of the Dragon until his death, Vlad Basarab referred to himself as Vlad Dracul. "Dracul" is the Romanian word for "dragon" — and it also means "devil," as Bram Stoker discovered while researching his novel. The suffix "a" means "son of," so when Vlad Dracul's second son, also named Vlad, was born later that year in Sighişoara, he became Vlad Dracula, Son of the Dragon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlc6eIQvJrAU5uO__JkepQXAV1Xnfp9L-kQgp9_IvCKramz2VB_2E4hyphenhyphenUIVCQy3xy4lFjjgY87y8ujKw2iQO65AWCbG1v2Gj3huUdGr_8yj3_w3aZJ90Fou9SmjuK6P7s-OR0jktm7oXGF/s1600/DraculaCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlc6eIQvJrAU5uO__JkepQXAV1Xnfp9L-kQgp9_IvCKramz2VB_2E4hyphenhyphenUIVCQy3xy4lFjjgY87y8ujKw2iQO65AWCbG1v2Gj3huUdGr_8yj3_w3aZJ90Fou9SmjuK6P7s-OR0jktm7oXGF/s200/DraculaCover.jpg" width="122" /></a></div><em>Editor's note: The 2nd Edition of</em> Steven Unger's <a href="http://tinyurl.com/draculas-footsteps">In the Footsteps of Dracula: A Personal Journey and Travel Guide</a> <em>is available now from its dedicated <a href="http://worldaudience.powweb.com/pubs_bks/Dracula.html">World Audience Web page</a></em><em>. A review of the book and Q and A with Mr. Unger coming soon to Vampire Books Navigator!</em>James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-48612254060230027762010-12-27T19:17:00.000-08:002011-01-03T12:20:41.559-08:00The Fall<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0061558222&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
<br />
<i>REVIEW</i> <br />
<i></i><br />
The Fall <i>(hardcover)</i> <br />
<i>Authors: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan </i><br />
<i>Publisher: William Morrow/Harper Collins/$13.49</i><br />
<i>Date of Publication: 2010</i><br />
<i>Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</i><br />
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In this second installment in <i>The Strain Trilogy</i>, <i>The Fall</i>, Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan deliver a suckfest that is powerfully written, marked by amazingly well crafted dialogue, enhanced by extensive plot and character development, and paced as only the very best horrific thrillers can be.<br />
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In addition to our previous cast of main characters --- Abraham Setrakian, a modern-day Van Helsing; Drs. Ephrain Goodweather and Nora Martinez, now renegade CDC plague specialists who are on a mission to try to kill the renegade vampire Ancient, Sardu, and to recover an ancient text that could save humanity or spell its final doom; Vaily Fet, the toughest pest control specialist ever employed by NYC; Eph's wife (Kelly) and their son (Zack); and the Master --- there are also other characters that have emerged with larger roles and new characters completely.<br />
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One of the most colorful of the new characters is Angel, an ex Lucha Libre professional wrestler from Mexico who fights alongside a collection of "good" vampires who want the Master dead, too. One of the most despicable new characters is Eichhorst, an abysmally evil Nazi vampire who almost (only<i> almost</i>) makes Sardu look less horrific by comparison.<br />
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As to what drew Sardu to the Nazi concentration camps during World War II, to begin with, Setrakian reflects: "Man's own inhumanity to man had whet the monster's appetite for havoc."<br />
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Academy Award-winning director, del Toro, and award-winning author, Hogan, once again prove that they have crafted a living, pulse-pounding work of dark beauty drawing from the ashes of inhumanity's past and today's greatest fears. <br />
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We are left to wonder as to which demon is truly the worst, after all.<br />
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Readers of <i>The Strain</i> will want to pick <i>The Fall</i> up right away, and will await the last installment with fearful anticipation.James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-85479533641883824792010-11-14T11:59:00.000-08:002010-11-15T07:18:00.684-08:00Knuckle Supper<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0978602455&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
<em>REVIEW</em><br />
Knuckle Supper <em>(hardcover)</em><br />
<em>Author: Drew Stepek</em><br />
<em>Publisher: Alphar/$25.72</em><br />
<em>Date of Publication: 2010</em><br />
<em>Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</em><br />
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The other day I was telling <a href="http://www.knucklesupper.com/site/KS.html">Drew Stepek</a>, fellow HWA member and the author of a new vampire book, <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0978602455">Knuckle Supper</a>, that despite the fact that his vampire-canon-busting novel is one of the most disgusting, unrelentingly violent and horrifying horror works I have ever read, the over-the-top violence and gore are not gratuititous. <br />
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Without giving away the story (which I won't), the leader of a group of heroin-addicted vampires, RJ, has the normal abnormalcy of his own chaotic, blood-and-drug-hazed existence challenged when he reluctantly takes in a 12-year-old runaway girl, Bait Jenkins.<br />
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When a drug deal goes south and RJ's gang, The Knucklers, winds up with an unexpected windfall, it isn't long before rival gangs (from Rastas to transvestite prostitutes to argyle-wearing preppies) start taking revenge and jockeying for the pole position in the vampire-run L.A. drug trade.<br />
<br />
And to make matters worse, seemingly pulling the strings behind the L.A. vamps is a group of breakaway religious fanatics called The Cloth and a wannabe nun and psychopath nicknamed The Habit, who not only seem to know everything about where R.J. and his junkie gangster allies and rivals actually come from but who want to pull the plug on their twisted experiment.<br />
<br />
In the book, R.J. says: "I don't know why we're alive or what purpose we have besides delivering misery and death, I can tell you one thing though; there is something human in us all."<br />
<br />
And true enough to R.J.'s revelation, while various types of exploitation form the lives or the backgrounds of almost all of the players in this bloodfest, Stepek is masterful in enabling us to actually feel sorrow and empathy for a few of the characters (not only R.J. and Bait) and to see the human in the monsters and the monster in the humans.<br />
<br />
With gangs reminiscent of the crews in Walter Hill's 1979 film, <em>The Warriors</em>, there are intentional and unintentional homages to a range of movies and horrific classics from <em>A Clockwork Orange</em> to <em>Trainspotting</em>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0978602455">Knuckle Supper</a> is a game changer, to be sure, and this has got to be one of the most original vampire works ever created; with it, Stepek turns the entire vampire mythos on its head and fully slays the almost-dead,angst-ridden, sparkly vampire once and for all.<br />
<br />
Bravo, Drew, bravissimo!James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-56868591979414363442010-05-31T13:01:00.000-07:002010-06-02T14:39:08.944-07:00The Strain<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0061558230&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
<br />
<i>REVIEW </i><br />
The Strain <i>(hardcover)</i><br />
<i>Authors: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan </i><br />
<i>Publisher: William Morrow/Harper Collins/$10.08</i><br />
<i>Date of Publication: 2009</i><br />
<i>Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</i><br />
<br />
In this first installment in Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's The Strain Trilogy, <i>The Strain</i> introduces us to a modern-day New York in which a number of convincing characters emerge to drive the action of this nail-biting bloodfest, including: <br />
<ul><li>Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (head of a rapid-response CDC team that investigates biological threats, such as plague and viruses); </li>
<li>Abraham Setrakian (a Holocaust survivor who has been awaiting the coming vampiric plague for decades, and is ready for it); </li>
<li>Vasily Fet, a no-nonsense pest-control specialist; and </li>
<li>Dr. Nora Martinez, Eph's comrade-at-arms on the CDC team.</li>
</ul>The story really begins when a plane lands at JFK on September 24th, 2010, and then goes completely silent, as in dead, which is when Eph and Nora are mobilized.<br />
<br />
With only a handful of survivors and only precious little time in which to neutralize a plague of undead dimensions, Eph, Setrakian, Fet and Nora join forces, come what may, to combat a threat that endangers not only New York City ... but the entire world.<br />
<br />
<i>The Strain</i> is a nail-biter, to be sure, one which is enriched by deft touches that show a real familiarity with and love of New York City, such as the mention of <a href="http://www.liebmansdeli.com/">Liebman's Deli</a>, greatly appreciated by this blog's author, who lives in Riverdale and who loves Liebman's.<br />
<br />
More importantly, Academy Award-winning director, del Toro, and award-winning author, Hogan, mange to breathe fresh life into the vampire mythos, an admirable feat indeed, and in the process create a new legend and begin a new story, the next installments of which this writer awaits with bated breath.James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-79008999685542679022010-03-28T18:03:00.000-07:002010-03-28T18:07:35.827-07:00Horror Writers Association Celebrates 2009 Stoker Winners!At long last, the anticipation is over. <br />
<br />
The Horror Writers Association has announced the winners of the 2009 Bram Stoker Awards at its annual Stoker Banquet held tonight as part of the World Horror Convention in Brighton, UK.<br />
<br />
<div> </div>Eight new bronze haunted-house statuettes were handed over to the writers responsible for creating superior works of horror last year. <br />
<br />
This year’s winners are:<br />
<ul><b>Superior Achievement in a NOVEL</b>:</li>
</ul><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0061624217&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
AUDREY’S DOOR by Sarah Langan (Harper)<br />
<ul><b>Superior Achievement in a FIRST NOVEL</b></li>
</ul><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0515146919&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
DAMNABLE by Hank Schwaeble (Jove)<br />
<ul><b>Superior Achievement in LONG FICTION</b></li>
</ul><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=098215464X&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
THE LUCID DREAMING by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)<br />
<ul><b>Superior Achievement in SHORT FICTION</b></li>
</ul>“In the Porches of My Ears” by Norman Prentiss (POSTSCRIPTS #18)<br />
<ul><b>Superior Achievement in an ANTHOLOGY</b></li>
</ul><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0765326132&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
HE IS LEGEND edited by Christopher Conlon (Gauntlet Press)<br />
<ul><b>Superior Achievement in a COLLECTION</b></li>
</ul><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0981639003&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
A TASTE OF TENDERLOIN by Gene O’Neill (Apex Book Company)<br />
<ul><b>Superior Achievement in NONFICTION</b></li>
</ul><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0982493916&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
WRITERS WORKSHOP OF HORROR by Michael Knost (Woodland Press)<br />
<ul><b>Superior Achievement in POETRY</b></li>
</ul><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=189495355X&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
CHIMERIC MACHINES by Lucy A. Snyder (Creative Guy Publishing)<br />
<br />
<div> </div>Works can be recommended by any member of the HWA. Members with Active status then vote works in a preliminary ballot. From there the field is narrowed to the final ballot and Active members choose the winners from that. The award is named for Bram Stoker, best known as the author of <em>Dracula</em>. The trophy, which resembles a miniature haunted house, was designed by author Harlan Ellison and sculptor Steven Kirk. <br />
<br />
<div> </div>HWA also presented its annual Lifetime Achievement Awards and its Specialty Press Award. Brian Lumley was on hand to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award, while fellow winner William F. Nolan offered a video acceptance. The Specialty Press Award went to Ray Russell and Rosalie Parker of Tartarus Press. <br />
<br />
<div> </div>The Silver Hammer Award, for outstanding service to HWA, was voted by the organization’s board of trustees to Kathryn Ptacek. The President’s Richard Laymon Service Award was given to Vince A. Liaguno. <br />
<br />
<div> </div>Lisa Morton, who organized this year’s presentation in conjunction with the World Horror Convention, commented on the historic nature of the 2010 event: <br />
<br />
“This was the first time we’ve presented the Stoker Awards outside of the North American continent, and I hope it serves to continue to expand HWA’s presence and membership outside of the U.S. and Canada. We’re committed to serving the entire world of horror.”<br />
<br />
<div> </div>For more information, visit <a href="http://www.horror.org/">http://www.horror.org/</a><br />
###<br />
<br />
More information on the Horror Writers Association is at http://www.horror.org More information on this year’s Stoker Award nominees (including photos) is available at<br />
http://www.lisamorton.com/hwa/sto2010/stokers10.htmJames Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-6559514098055148222010-03-15T09:34:00.000-07:002010-03-15T09:35:22.837-07:00The 2009 Bram Stoker Award Finalists<i>By James J. Gormley</i><br />
<br />
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) celebrates the 2009 Bram Stoker Award finalists by honoring superior achievement in the following categories: Novel; First Novel; Long Fiction; Short Fiction; Anthology; Collection; Nonfiction; Poetry Collection; Lifetime Achievement; Specialty Press and others. Please visit: <a href="http://www.lisamorton.com/hwa/sto2010/stokers10.htm">http://www.lisamorton.com/hwa/sto2010/stokers10.htm</a>James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-55792990280523346902009-10-12T15:42:00.000-07:002010-03-02T11:43:06.421-08:00Exclusive Interview with Dacre Stoker: Co-Author of Dracula the Un-Dead<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0525951296&fc1=000000&IS2=1%3C1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">C. 2009 James J. Gormley and <i>Vampire Books Navigator</i>.</span> <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Can you tell the readers of</i> Vampire Books Navigator <i>a bit about how you descend from Bram Stoker and what that was like for you and your family?</i></b> <br />
<br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: Bram was one of seven children. His youngest brother George was my great grandfather, which makes Bram my great grand uncle. <br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:4714d1dd-3cb5-4a34-b364-5f71616f1b6d" style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz56JzsYTk_g7X_391JRuRWyEzoRM73yPUAaEG35pXLWym6rssLCVJBtrLbv2iHbxMVsyaHWWtjgdqQLdYiq88B3Y6lfsHSuyCv-J6ipmybncu2VRyslfwKXmEw0HH-WwTWbx9tGMPRul/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title="Bram Stoker"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXUOXDzJhi08W1ACNP4IIZqCNZd7PMV3zBl4j8IKA8fPeQPi5gGBYyZIQWG8iHPktz6c9ZzXFupxv84bsFGoX5JzIu4CIlnzRYSiOwOIS9zmlovzJz2Pcb4_mi_w8OsxFiu933QtwUIVo/?imgmax=800" /></a></div>No one in my family ever made a big deal about our famous relative, but of course we were always aware of his achievements, particularly <i>Dracula</i>. As children in Montreal, it seemed to be our friends who made a bigger deal about the family connection, especially around Halloween. I heard more than once, “Is it safe to go to the Stoker house?” but we never lived in anything resembling creepy houses like <i>The Addam’s Family</i> or <i>The Munsters</i>. <br />
<br />
Bram’s three great grandsons live in England, I have gotten to know two of them. They feel the same way the Canadian Stokers do; we are aware of our family connections, but we make our own way. <br />
<br />
<i></i><br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:995346c0-e510-4125-8261-b8397f3184bf" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2xvlltnsAsGTGQPwaH7ITeP8AjXEXdc4H2EupRu0FjkGl5Af6GQkc8kU8pBdWFSSHF3eksSudNv0VZB9uOubs9531LYPnLXf55WXQF8TY0Dpnz7EAqMF5nMLV_IwAwo6KmkiP_aDdaAS/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title="Dacre Stoker"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkk5hJBtR9gb0ChdW2yEyS-bGzbSesROAZaa1HGQSXcnqHEhMn1DHYPXOwnVX80XOz-YM7La3PihYHWvrSpOwngo5J0lVSDkH3EHDFjKbHUW4Htc70QHnhC4uPijZXelzyJgud23JoC4Iu/?imgmax=800" width="148" /></a></div><b><i>VBN: Can you tell us about you, your background, work/occupation, interests, etc., especially as relate to writing and to your continuing the </i>Dracula <i>legacy?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: I taught high school P.E., athletics, health, science and outdoor education for 22 years. More recently, beginning in 2003 I have worked for a Land Conservation organization in Aiken, S.C. and also teach CPR and First Aid. None of my formal education really prepared me for writing this book with Ian. However, I am a very adaptable person, a fairly quick learner, and Ian’s positive, upbeat attitude helped me carry through the steep learning curve. I focused on Ian’s mentoring and also that of our editors, which was invaluable. Of course the writing was still a struggle, but very rewarding. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Have you been very involved in the Bram Stoker Society; has the dream of a Bram Stoker Museum in Dublin been realized yet?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: I have been very involved with the Bram Stoker Society in Dublin. We are currently working together on seeking approval, then raising funds for a proper bust or statue to be a fitting memorial for Bram in Dublin. Hopefully the museum will be next. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Can you tell us the story behind the writing (co-writing) of</i> Dracula the Un-Dead<i>? Aside from the great </i>Dracula<i> text itself, what inspired you to write</i> Dracula the Un-Dead <i>now?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: Ian had the original idea for a screenplay, but he had gotten frustrated with numerous rewrites, and needed some fresh ideas. He convinced me that after 100 plus years a Stoker should be involved in writing a proper sequel to the novel, <i>Dracula</i>. After Ian and I worked together for a few years, I provided my extended family members with a general outline of the story, which included Bram as a character, and asked for their support. With the interest in vampires which was starting to build, even a few years ago, we knew the chance would be soon just right to introduce this generation of readers to Bram Stoker, who is sadly not nearly as well known as his book. I received unanimous family approval! Then, crafting each of our ideas and writing styles into one product was up to Ian and me. <br />
<br />
<i></i><br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:d32468eb-91b1-4095-be09-a89e996e5151" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeH4k5O-5yhmslQm3Ec9WmMsvC5aUTUsXBpnoBL6IKp_1FkSo1pdG7smLfkkDAxvniGO4IC0NTYwafZgbLn0-GfzCKKhieNvKn2-aQWl681XplBCKwCTfLdNtaSBKdExgAQLn2JMsGVJBz/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title="Ian Holt"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKS48X60SOrcyvIZDchzQqAo4dnN3OsWg4SWX41n6h15c_J-DcMoeu0V5EooM2k0D7aL6aoH3F3jmwE7K9_74qiIyzfkq7Re6v22SSyxg4OkAHq6AnS0A8gTLho2Tc-NjbFQ-CxykV39wy/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><b><i>VBN: How did Ian Holt become involved in the project? Can you tell readers a little bit about him?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: Ian has been a lifelong Dracula fan. Unlike me, he was educated as a writer, and works as a screenwriter, mostly in the horror genre. He has attended many Dracula events world-wide, has visited all the pertinent Dracula locations in Romania, and is an authority on both the fictitious and factual Dracula history. Having this book published is helping fulfill a lifelong dream for Ian. I think, for him, having an appropriate film project arise from <i>Dracula the Un-Dead</i> will be the ultimate. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN:</i> Dracula the Un-Dead<i>, is, I understand, based on Bram Stoker’s own handwritten notes for characters and plot threads that were not included in the original, 1897 edition. Can you shed any light on how these documents were assembled and brought to bear?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:a496ea24-fdd7-459d-b658-55a6865051a9" style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrroX88V9bOg8wYrXYugzNNAIYFxCDpGJL87sn6MxiIfobgtAneIYHZH4SBpanP8rW9jLf2i8N7ZijEIDuX9_UUXcewBRTRMFiY-EQBtbQ3spRfUYrMVk5nukefGcM3yeIYT36GLEZF5PK/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title="Rosenbach Museum"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRIvwWnytCT8IHIMMNaMcdWRCMkNSRAM3NNUbxrY4HRxzVw3E62j33hOi7FhpOcFZR2t1y4MtyF5348yC-cfPYC5DYm1Rt4ry-0qdaH8tfLijue6CksYWYsNIKWpw59AyNdPbt1uFX78_/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><b>Dacre Stoker</b>: One hundred twenty-five pages of Bram’s handwritten notes for <i>Dracula </i>are housed in the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia. Since the time when I researched the notes, a friend of mine, Dr. Elizabeth Miller, and her co-author Robert Eighteen-Bisang, have published these notes in an annotated book called <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0786434104" target="_blank">Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula</a></i>, which is a wonderful resource for both scholars and Dracula fans. The notes include Bram’s list of characters originally intended for <i>Dracula</i>. Some of the characters made it into the final version, some were edited out. In addition to the original characters from <i>Dracula</i>, Ian and I used a few of the discarded characters in our story as well. <br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:17ea4a7a-8ef3-4c36-b26d-112c457a9016" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8oa4du7OBXkOHpcHj2lRQ4kb6tXmk-DUq5ZZoQznnaXD56Jmg2yuMgRQqJth7TIBRGTMByLepQ4Hm5WJFHEaiIO32r4gYKijOMuemuDse6RppdAcg957P-zJERcLGSRp7DXkrsNRoTS5/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title=""><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRHW0FV-dR9c5MZOkmGgTDjw74LcwrmrVNIiJggV88sMK41_l-337shn62u5UpgWJWFCJO9hf3pnqdb8jv7BdZvIrT00fZxVcms4jHtQm6wB7JW43gDAh96j0ceptIiLaLXVihRMVwUEJZ/?imgmax=800" /></a></div>Bram’s widow, Florence, sold the notes at Sotheby’s in 1913. After a few more documented sales, the whereabouts of the notes were unknown for a time, until they surfaced again and were acquired by the Rosenbach in 1970. Two visiting professors from Boston University stumbled upon them in the mid-1970s and, since that time, the Rosenbach has been very generous, making the notes available to numerous scholars. When I visited the museum, the staff told me I was the first “real live” Stoker to inspect the notes. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Your sequel picks up 25 years after the character, Dracula, apparently crumbled into dust. It is written that "</i>Dracula the Un-Dead <i>is deeply researched, rich in character, thrills and scares, and lovingly crafted as both an extension and celebration one of the most classic popular novels in literature.” Other Dracula-inspired books have reached back into Dracula pre-history (such as Jeanne Kalogridis’</i> Covenant With the Vampire<i>) or into the future (such as Elizabeth Kostova’s </i></b><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0316070637" target="_blank"><b>The Historian</b></a><b><i>). Were these books true to the </i>Dracula<i> legacy? How so? If not, why not?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: I have not read <i>Covenant</i>, but I feel Kostova painted a realistic picture in her very well researched book, <i>The Historian</i>. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Your sequel joins the “fictional” characters in the original with its “real-life” author. Is your sequel the first to do so?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: Of course, other authors have used some of Bram’s original characters, some have done a better job than others. I feel what separates <i>Dracula the Un-Dead</i> is that we not only recreated, but extended, these characters in the manner which Bram might have, if <i>Dracula</i> was not written in the journal form. We provide the reader with back stories involving the relationships between the central characters, which we believe are true to Bram’s work. <br />
<br />
I don’t think we were the first to include Bram as a character either, but perhaps no one else has him woven in with his characters’ lives in quite the same way. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Is</i> Dracula the Un-Dead <i>an effort to refocus Dracula literature in a way that is more true to Bram Stoker's creation or purely in tribute to that great work and as a way of rekindling the literary legacy?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: It is a mixture of both of these elements. We felt the time was right to give readers of present day vampire stories an opportunity to go back and reconnect with the origin of the genre, but realized that to compete in today’s world, our book needed to be written in a fairly modern style. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Is there a favorite Dracula or vampire novel you have (aside from Dracula), that you can mention, and an all-time favorite movie version of </i>Dracula<i>? (I understand that Bela Lugosi’s 1931 version was the only one authorized by the Stoker family).</i> <br />
<br />
Dacre Stoker</b>: I loved Stephen King’s <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/067103975X" target="_blank">Salem’s Lot</a></i>- it made a big impression on me. As it was written, it resembled Bram’s work; set in the present day and very realistic. <br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:1bb2c0dd-1444-4589-8425-4184e877d860" style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetJy0894oqPdz7AdVpI-CxyJJYlUXdYsalzSQcDu5WsmCYYV-WPETqMYw2vpUGhEsNwyPNT4kWNFR7ltfEu5uf_rv95hIw2d7fPo8C3gy8MR9mRe7zCAArYjBqnLZiIk6PyTSBV8wUY3W/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title="Gary Oldman"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpIAJud_Ph-m276xSaI0UcatHK4BR4o2FdzX5nz0G4P2CJbGWo52sIEWFhjAHUoU91tim9Ms6m2ZIB4RywEWcYcGtKh-MCMKOXyktR3_1hgKdKZxJUV03_p5KbFYv6ifxYxb_SdNYjj1ot/?imgmax=800" /></a></div>I also liked the <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/B000GPIPSS" target="_blank">1931 Lugosi version of Dracula</a></i>. Although many critics are tough on it, and it definitely takes liberties with Bram’s story, I also really like the <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/0800177177" target="_blank">1992 Coppola version</a>. I found Gary Oldman very convincing as both the old and the renewed Count. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: One anthologist, Matthew Beresford, in his</i> </b><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/wwwjamesgorml-20/detail/1861894031" target="_blank"><b>From Demons to Dracula</b></a><b><i>, wrote: "Although there have been several adaptations since the novel's release, on both stage and screen, the definitive</i> Dracula<i> [movie], a version that remains true to Stoker's original story, is yet to be made." Is this true? Are you working on a Stoker-family approved movie version of the sequel?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: I suppose that is the case with almost every movie adapted from a novel. I believe a well-written novel leaves itself open to different visions. The “mind’s eye” of each reader sees things differently, and I suppose a movie director makes the movie he sees. <br />
<br />
Ian and Alexander Galant, our researcher, have written a script to <i>Dracula the Un-Dead</i>. We are in the process of having it looked at by studios and independent filmmakers, and only hope we can retain some control over how a movie is adapted. <br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:778dc722-8271-48b4-b3a6-be4ff424e6de" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAxIULgT5OEwp0ojXJQGyBXfChztQME9Vc1ZwGmm_8fYMgJngxeuRxjG09Ba0xotnXPWDuU87uVcWof2KjaoRQdvCyR9L36cX5LoiEih_3hW6PKtdchuefs8WMrlfCvAp4sYUU49D99Z8/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title=""><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvO7Zj_oJL_MK-xaG3nEV1gRiLJZX8qquEi41nNSHWq_7fMoDLVnmV6xxBssuvyzrjxmGR15D5eyMT4GP7XMrZTnmNvL62imgImz1GUCjxGnygZuH3cXoEeruRams7ow_YOB5fE6fDuqIl/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><b><i>VBN: In his introduction to an anthology of Dracula-themed stories, Martin Greenberg wrote: 'What is clear [over] one hundred years later, though, is that in his efforts to adapt a medieval legend as a horror story with resonance for his era, Stoker defined an archetype, a monster that transcended time and place." Do you agree? Would you add anything?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: Absolutely, I agree. The mysterious and sinister character that Bram introduced to the world in 1897 is still very relevant today. Most elements and attributes of the character Dracula appear again and again, in a wide variety of vampire stories and movies as they define the leading villains. Dracula never dies. <br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:433e755b-b04d-46d5-b643-202b0fe63f44" style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRFqk4Fppf-v16uHCySBZuZ1Cts1uKAdHEBmxvf6lBY4j4ci8rjsbiCgmKXazceeMu5SAGiJ4DEqtZFpU_4xYpJUWWsEKi5LP6TmZomHOUJtXw4j2FSYZS4BIr6DfyGTYodlYE1cX_z_4/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title=""><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiDMCyczdduO12qA5jETnHp2nN9sEmdw90s5VtTHYMHqjGSaOvSuTo4oTa5ODHjbKkR44jBuSD_0crgiBucSoROuJv6SWv3y-BXvkF_DuLxlT007ghcxuQOH-P312CXe6N0zgPAcYz_rK/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><b><i>VBN: Beresford also wrote: "The way ancient traditions, such as the folkloric elements of vampires or the influence of the early demon forms [...] were intertwined with cutting edge technology, such as the use of shorthand, Dr. Seward's phonograph and Van Helsing's blood transfusions, allowed for the creation of what was in essence the vampire's passport into the 20th century and its manifestation once again as a socially relevant being." Do you agree? Would you add anything?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: Again I agree with this statement, one of the interesting things to remember is that Bram created Dracula to be able to shape shift and adapt to his surroundings. When we cannot easily identify the enemy, and we realize he could be among us, he is even more terrifying. As Bram’s characters in <i>Dracula </i>rely on “cutting edge” technology to battle Dracula’s supernatural powers, in <i>Dracula the Un-Dead</i> the same characters make use of the technology developed in the subsequent twenty-five years in their attempts to gain the upper hand against the evil. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Beresford concludes his book thusly: "The modern vampire is a being born of demons, burned as a heretic and reviled as a fiend; the Devil's own creation. What the future may hold for him is uncertain, yet it is undeniable that the image immortalized by</i> Dracula<i>, encapsulating over six thousand years of history, can never be undone." Do you agree? Would you add anything?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: I must say Beresford and I seem to be on the same page here. Dracula is both attractive and repulsive. He is incredibly animalistic, yet at times displays human-like emotions. He embodies the ultimate alpha male; no one is able to overcome him, physically or mentally. The character, Dracula, continues to be reborn in the thousands of adaptations world-wide, and although he may appear differently in each of the many films, books and stage plays, we recognize him as being born of Bram’s pages. <br />
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<b><i>VBN: It is suggested that Bram Stoker got some ideas for </i>Dracula<i> while holidaying in Whitby in 1890. True? Would you add anything to that?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:7fba6d22-c72b-47ff-badc-805685f27c64" style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dqUzZ-nd-EBfJR-9pAPSYZ3wpo3EG-KiAXAkjgh353Tf1FYJq9iD_6GmgfOCr37uVPsD_l24RDXkqv49OO2luum6FEj0YD9Ev6xjxi1ydq12VzRLKhdXGsupJjucVkWHVSD-ARt7OWtS/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title=""><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEMdad2MwdRH9qVbjzU2KaIHh-EB_QbLFLh0dDXbr88OfL6An6GPOYl6o_K_qmk9qlHwTT8H5UImN-fZCnAa1JWu-iIlXhSxNb7GddU7cfs1G-Q471h6uaZadQRdG37eydVlnKOZ6_XK1/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><b>Dacre Stoker</b>: It is a well-known that Bram and his family spent quite a few summer holidays in Whitby. In the Whitby library he read the book by William Wilkinson entitled <i>The Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia.</i> In this book Wilkinson makes reference to the name Dracula, as he explains the politics, history and culture of this region. Bram researched actual shipwrecks, tidal and wind patterns of the Whitby Harbor, in order to recreate a realistic account of Count Dracula arriving in Whitby aboard the Russian schooner, Demetre. Whitby Abbey, Tait Sands (beach), a graveyard, and the 199 stairs which connect them were all significant settings in <i>Dracula</i>, and describe the Whitby Bram knew. <br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:47db83a7-61f9-4018-9c04-491c09b15be2" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3E2xj4dmMoAtJPWMBPZiF6R_843-WINekTKSX6mG9kRXsIJKBLVJc9DbR9ue95FWF1gc3OOwLnnSOzW7VczRwoii1JkAhnvaeG02LOWmPAtfo-bcnt7UuSvwvhYjwh9Y2c6iXSllRSOKX/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title=""><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZi-X9yVIviYagdWco_WCdqb2ZfTTukeHRi7xL5BD2quU8S2AiUSfSgSymmaGUAGA3gkEBr-sfbGgbFP6XEmqu7-d8_C6XK2_KW7dTDL5qrUv_832N-k-FF3aHOeIpm_mdMmfksJelRq3/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><b><i>VBN: Also in 1890 Bram Stoker met a professor from Budapest University, Armeniur Vanbery, who, wrote Matthew Beresford, "discussed at length with Stoker ideas on vampirism and the occult as well as regaling him with tales of his travels in Eastern Europe and particularly Transylvania, and of the history of Romania and Vlad Tepes, the Impaler." Was A. Van Helsing based on A. Vanbery? If so, what other characters were based in “real life”?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:33785e69-1e69-46b3-adfc-f7133e9f75df" style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kqsQYgbl4mzWoXrjGQTeYSAhQtNGyJPZfLe7gg9dypfyKJvIhdcLzJOu5a_Z8a8ltBFOrEp-Ci8HGqh2qDxm_twC6Xxr-MevnwCJgrsa4E6i5irVlKW5SM82BY9r9UGomfOPppp4bUGd/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title="Anthony Hopkins"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvRTxQ_g0RKVA0KjtjsChHalDJHZcRRgPnTBB-LeW_0pjw0vL7MX2DtHgFShI09q2_csvlgx4ECXIhY5Q2ADjmyPM3BEDVJA8vdci3tlulLX-3BdwsMFuHPNf8XC-GZzwa59YlQvWVAQu1/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><b>Dacre Stoker</b>: You have touched on one of the Beresford’s points that I cannot totally agree with. Although it is totally possible and very likely that Vanbery did discuss ideas on vampirism with Bram, there is nothing in Bram’s research notes mentioning or crediting Vanbery. Bram did a lot of formal research, and has listed many sources in his notes. But, it is very likely that he not list all the people with whom he discussed mythology, and folklore relating to vampirism. As far as Van Helsing’s character being based on Vanberry- it’s possible. Van Helsing could be an amalgamation of Bram himself, Bram’s brother Sir Thornley Stoker, and characters who were edited out of <i>Dracula</i> Bram wrote that some characters were based on people he knew, since he never was specific on that subject, we can enjoy supposing. <br />
<div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:9b8a8a28-ee38-4cbb-9b25-7dd342ea93f7" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKhXuWHHgXPpjnIhnuxWpoBHlQ5GqdJGfKT0r8SrD49phsNp8U4x1jkRa1bc8-CfdM6xbhzfkflccwTh4dSPnnoZMkqfuNoAOhbmCVPK2UeenX_Rv693Tfu2sJP06sHiwndvzGtLqyLAX/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title=""><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1f57xMCVuLiUC_zk7IASpSY9MWub64OhF-SaYVmfd_jBJYxDQUW_VAJ5H_Gi6jVA8P4y0M7GlLQ58w2Auw89dowzSBOOemLcHBu0UPfz1zSPcXBLIk0Z0LjveHKYjlqEx0dwWY2cGuAkp/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><b><i>VBN: Kids today are arguably more familiar with </i>Twilight<i> and </i>Buffy<i> than</i> Dracula<i>. Will your sequel make Dracula (or</i> Dracula)<i> more relevant and accessible to young people today?</i></b> <br />
<br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: I think our story will be entertaining for the present generation who are into Twilight, and Buffy; after all we did not write a textbook. My hope is that our story will help readers and movie fans, who are into the vampire and horror genre re-connect with Dracula, the novel and the character. <br />
<br />
<b><i>VBN: Do you have other Dracula sequels in the works, that you can say?</i> <br />
</b><br />
<b>Dacre Stoker</b>: We have an outline and a plan, but we’ll see where <i>Dracula the Un-Dead</i> leads us before we can determine when we be to get on with writing it. Ian and Alexander may also be very busy working on the film script.<br />
<i>--VPN.</i>James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-39394240013802216532009-10-09T20:42:00.000-07:002010-05-31T12:04:42.344-07:00Some Girls Bite<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0451226259&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
<br />
<em>REVIEW </em><br />
Some Girls Bite <em>(softcover)</em><br />
<em>Author: Chloe Neill</em><br />
<em>Publisher: New American Library/$26.99</em><br />
<em>Date of Publication: 2009</em><br />
<em>Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</em><br />
<br />
Kind of <em>over</em> the puling teenage angst of books titularly related to dusk, moons and dawn? Well then, author Chloe Neill’s <em>Some Girls Bite</em> may be just the book for you. Told in first-person by a character who’s a sharp, sassy and pretty third-year Chicago grad student, Merit, <em>Some Girls Bite</em> introduces us to a world that has, just eight months prior, found out---thanks to a vamp-called press conference---that bloodsuckers really exist. <br />
<br />
With some of the freshest writing in vampire fiction today, after Merit is attacked by rogue vampires and then made a vampire by the aristocratic head of high-class Cadogan House, Ethan Sullivan, she writes: “The blood was gone---and I’d been manicured.” <br />
<br />
Filled with deft touches that are clever and smart without being cutesie, Neill takes us through Merit’s training as the official protector (Sentinel) of Cadogan House, and shares with us the friendship of her blue-haired housemate with growing witchly powers, Mallory, a sorcerer named Catcher and a houseless vamp named Jeff, for whom Mallory falls head over ruby slippers.<br />
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Merit’s Cadogan House is part of a vampiric world of manor-like power centers that feel, to the reader, like a blending of the Talamasca motherhouse in Rice’s <em>The Vampire Chronicles</em> and the vampires’ castle-like manse in <em>Underworld</em> but sans the doilies or the decadence, respectively. <br />
<br />
As Merit trains and awes the vampires of Cadogan with her fighting and weaponry skills, there is a growing war that is threatening to endanger the entire undead society that has just been voluntarily exposed. <br />
<br />
One of the most satisfying aspects of this book, Neill’s inaugural entry in her Chicagoland Vampires series, is that it taps into the concerns and conflicts of younger (pre-30) people today without becoming shackled by cliché or stereotypes. <br />
<br />
Merit really hates her father, but loves her grandfather. She cares about her nails, but can destroy almost anyone (masterly male vamps included) with her sword-wielding skills. The same goes for the secondary characters; Mallory, for example, may be a blue-haired clubgoer, but she’s also a savvy businesswoman. <br />
<br />
So, all in all, this debut by Chloe Neill is a bold fresh piece of vampire lit, indeed, and we are truly fortunate that the sequel, <em>Friday Night Bites</em>, has just been released.James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-9118471996371030182009-10-09T19:21:00.000-07:002009-10-22T05:32:23.880-07:00That Which Bites<em><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1602643849&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></em><br />
<br />
<em>REVIEW </em><br />
That Which Bites (softcover)<br />
<em>Author: Celis T. Rono</em><br />
<em>Publisher: VBW Publishing/$14.35</em><br />
<em>Date of Publication: 2009</em><br />
<em>Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</em><br />
<br />
Celis T. Rono's own <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/celistrono/home">website</a> describes the book's plot succinctly: <br />
<br />
<em>The Gray Armageddon has destroyed most of humanity. Vampires have slinked out of hiding, penning the few human survivors as blood cattle. Young Julia Poe survives the horror. She has dodged the undead since she was eight years old in downtown Los Angeles and has the only untapped vein in the new realm. Now she celebrates her 22nd birthday as a cattle rustler, fighting vampire factions and plotting revenge. Kaleb Sainvire, the master vampire and architect responsible for 'milking cattle,' is first on Poe’s list. That is, if she isn’t taken by his vampiric allure.</em><br />
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In this debut novel with echoes of the ultimate apocalyptic vampire classic, <em>I Am Legend</em>, Rono's fresh vision of a dystopian nightmare with fangs is character driven. Its central protagonist is a 5' 3" dynamo who has had to grow up hiding in the ruins of Los Angeles.<br />
<br />
With no frames of reference to guide her, Poe has spent thousands of hours in an underground bunker alone watching old-school porn movies, practicing martial arts and preparing various vampire-unfriendly weapons involving bullets, garlic oil and holy water. Rono's Poe is a colorful, well-drawn, likable and fully fleshed out female badass who has a soft side, too, and who repeats this mantra when she's really in a pickle: "I am Bruce Lee's daughter, Muhammed Ali's niece and Xena's clone. I fear no one!"<br />
<br />
Allied for years with a gun-toting nun named Sister Ann and a 6' 7" giant of a man named Goss, Poe, her friends and some cattle rustling contacts, spend most of their daylight hours helping imprisoned humans escape from blood bondage and vampire suckage.<br />
<br />
After a bloody attack on her friends, Poe is rescued, somewhat against her will, by Sainvire. Although drawn to him, she is also repelled because he is said to have masterminded the whole human blood farm business to begin with.<br />
<br />
Rono sure delivers an armageddon with characters involved in a fast-moving, suspenseful frightfest that is uniquely believable, characters who are, themselves, real and fallable, whose secrets (dark, heroic or otherwise) are revealed in ways which allow friendships and relationships to form, shatter and sometimes coalesce again with newfound respect or understanding.<br />
<br />
When a council of vampire ancients gets involved and an undead war is at hand, what will Poe do? Whom will she trust? How will it all end?<br />
<br />
You will definitely want to get a hold of <em>That Which Bites</em> and find out.James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-14796850659127198682009-09-20T10:53:00.000-07:002009-09-21T19:41:06.097-07:00REVIEW: Salem's Lot<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0743536959&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
<br />
<em>REVIEW</em><br />
Salem's Lot<br />
<em>(softcover)</em><br />
<em>Author: Stephen King</em><br />
<em>Publisher: Pocket Books/$7.99</em><br />
<em>Date of Publication: !975/1999</em><br />
<em>Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</em><br />
<br />
In talking about his inspiration for writing <em>'Salem's Lot</em>, Stephen King tells us, in an introduction penned in 1999: "I wondered out loud to my wife what might have happened if Drac had appeared not in turn-of-the-century London but in the America of the 1970s."<br />
<br />
King envisioned that such a monster could operate with "lethal ease" in a New England burg, and, with that realization, he also drew from many sources, including comics and George Romero's <em>Night of the Living Dead</em>. <br />
<br />
In 1999, King wrote that in the post-Vietnam America he "inhabited and still loved (often against my better instincts)" between 1972 and 1975 (when he penned the book): "I saw a metaphor for everything that was wrong with the society around me."<br />
<br />
In this, the author's second, novel, King writes of New England, not only of its people and its beauty but also of its hardships and its darkness:<br />
<br />
<em>Being in the town is prosaic, sensuous, alcoholic. And in the dark, the town </em><em>is yours and you are the town's and together you sleep like the dead, like the </em><em>very stones in your north field. There is no life here but the slow death of </em><em>days, and so when the evil falls on the town its coming seems almost </em><em>preordained, sweet and morphic. It is almost as though the town knows the </em><em>evil was coming and the shape it would take.</em><br />
(<em>'Salem's Lot</em>, Chapter 10)<br />
<br />
The vitality and the darkness were attractive to the "Dracula" character in this story, Barlow, who, in explaining to a character why he chose Jerusalem's Lot, said:<br />
<br />
<em>The people have not cut off the vitality which flows from their mother, the earth, </em><em>with a shell of concrete and cement. Their hands are plunged into the very waters </em><em>of life. They have ripped the life from the earth, whole and beating! Is it not true?</em><br />
<br />
With the main protagonists being a novelist (Ben Mears), a boy (Mark Petrie), a young medical doctor (Jimmy Cody), a high school English teacher (Matthew Burke), a young artist (Susan Norton) and a Catholic priest (Father Callahan), the story is enriched by newspaper clippings, much as Stoker's narrative was largely made up of newspaper clippings, letters and phonographic spool recordings. <br />
<br />
While Ben and Mark may be the characters who most steadfastly, and valiantly, try to cleanse the town of the great and implacable evil that has befallen it, amid the the big and terrible tapestry masterfully woven by King in this modern-day re-interpretation of the original <em>Dracula </em>are awful and wonderful threads of sadness, and pettiness and goodness....and ultimately of all the forces and elements that make up a town and its residents, especially in a small, rock-bedecked slice of rural New England called 'Salem's Lot.James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-64342544020385885042009-07-12T05:47:00.000-07:002009-07-12T14:03:04.317-07:00REVIEW: I Am Legend<iframe style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px" marginheight="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001JE25ZE&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><br /><em>REVIEW</em><br /><strong>I Am Legend</strong><br /><em>(softcover)</em><br /><em>Author: Richard Matheson</em><br /><em>Publisher: Orb/$14.95 (317 pages)</em><br /><em>Date of Publication: 1954/1995</em><br /><em>Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</em><br /><br />The introduction that many people have recently had to Richard Matheson and his classic vampire story, <em>I am Legend,</em> was in the form of the eponymous Warner Brothers' movie from 2007 starring Will Smith.<br /><br />The version of the film that aired in theatres bore scant resemblance to the classic horror/sci-fi classic novel from 1954, although the original ending (now called the "alternate ending") would have connected more with the core of Matheson's story.<br /><br />The Robert Neville character in <em>I Am Legend</em> is legendary because, one, he is the very last human who has not been infected by the vampire "germ" and, two, because he has been waging a battle against the vampires for years.<br /><br />One major difference between the novel and the film is that in Matheson's book there are different kinds of vampires, including people who suffer from a type of vampiric infection that can be controlled. Or can it?<br /><br />Ultimately, Matheson's Neville is both more simple and more complex than the movie's character, although in the novel (and in the movie's alternate ending) Neville's desperately brutal search to find a cure reveals both a glimpse of the monstrous in what we call human and of the humane in what we call monster.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwuAYvCU0OwZqWM8KSCsBN0AB9tXxfL-YRb48aSc9CBn5XP-pdl9PrS5SmQmQedvd9hL5LXbNFlcuOuT6OdoQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-8155318065921460062009-07-03T05:40:00.000-07:002009-07-12T15:53:30.524-07:00REVIEW: The New Annotated Dracula<p><iframe style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px" marginheight="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwjamesgorml-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0393064506&fc1=F9F9F9&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=F7F3F7&f=ifr" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><br /><em>REVIEW</em><br /><strong>The New Annotated Dracula</strong><br />(hardcover)<br /><em>Edited by Leslie S. Klinger<br />Publisher: W.W. Norton/$26.37 (672 pages)<br />Date of Publication: 2008<br />Reviewed by James J. Gormley (member, National Book Critics Circle)</em><br /><br />Certainly a book review blog devoted to vampire fiction must begin with Bram Stoker's <em>Dracula</em> (1897). Although the vampire legend, or mythos, can be traced back thousands of years to such dark deities as the befanged Indian goddess, Kali, the blood-drinking Egyptian power, Sekhmet and a legion of blood/soul/life-sucking succubi of various cultures, the tradition from which Stoker drew his inspiration was mainly from southeastern Europe, the 18th century on.<br /></p><div style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; FLOAT: right; PADDING-TOP: 0px" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:37b8444c-9495-414d-a2d9-46a9f2d917d5" class="wlWriterSmartContent"><a title="Kali" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7aWQNhnVVGgny-m3IgrOcXbGUHZGNz81yQRJZBjEDmEf-gLxksVJQTmSstlde73XhmxuBndAvfC1Sg6MKfCsW29q3UYynleNuDcTUARM_7GJ6DKqIZVFKIs-RcObpYQhrKYoMFuJDRwou/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbxwqHXLWtQlvkaAWK6ZXuucitxZ67BsOvg7qhWL-RgHNLb0_ZA6dSx10AxgUPj6GYzj-je5SXiRBjmQq_zB9ycv0BpdrEGclYWRnIk5X7ZRgpzu0VjcGfF3HuEv0zsDq9YP3gQRdeEIH/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><p>Although Stoker's <em>Dracula</em> was preceded by other vampiric tales --- such as John William Polidori's <em>The Vampyre</em> (1819), James Malcolm Rymer's <em>Varney, the Vampyre</em> (serialized between 1845-1847), Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "Camilla" (1872), George du Maurier's <em>Trilby</em> (1894) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Sussex Vampire" (1896) --- it is Stoker's tale that truly established and defined the Dracula and vampire genres.<br /><br />Klinger's definitive annotated edition of Bram Stoker's <em>Dracula</em> employs the "gentle fiction," or conceit, that Stoker's tale is based on real characters and true events. This device welcomes an exhaustively thorough historical and factual examination of the work that will delight Dracula fans and history buffs alike.</p><p><em>Dracula</em> is a remarkable work from all any perspective. Even from a basic English literary perspective, Stoker's story must surely qualify as one of the first genuinely modern works of fiction.<br /><br />While Samuel Richardson's <em>Pamela</em> (1740) is regarded as many as the first English novel, <em>Dracula</em> is extremely modern in its structure, since it is not a conventional narrative at all but is, instead, a collection of first-person, chronologically progressing, diary and journal entries enriched by newspaper clippings. Similar in some structural ways to another landmark English novel, Henry James' <em>Turn of the Screw</em> (serialized in 1898), <em>Dracula </em>offers the jarring, slightly disjointed documentary feel of such modern horror movies as <em>Cloverfield</em> and the <em>Blair Witch Project</em>.<br /><object id="Player_1d58f552-2a70-4501-a4d3-d9a73d801dc3" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="160" height="600" reinitswf="reinitswf" reinit="reinit"><param name="_cx" value="4233"><param name="_cy" value="15875"><param name="FlashVars" value=""><param name="Movie" value="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fwwwjamesgorml-20%2F8010%2F1d58f552-2a70-4501-a4d3-d9a73d801dc3&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate"><param name="Src" value="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fwwwjamesgorml-20%2F8010%2F1d58f552-2a70-4501-a4d3-d9a73d801dc3&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate"><param name="WMode" value="Window"><param name="Play" value="0"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value="LT"><param name="Menu" value="-1"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="Scale" value="NoScale"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="FFFFFF"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="false"><br /><br /><br /><br /> <embed src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fwwwjamesgorml-20%2F8010%2F1d58f552-2a70-4501-a4d3-d9a73d801dc3&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate" id="Player_1d58f552-2a70-4501-a4d3-d9a73d801dc3" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="Player_1d58f552-2a70-4501-a4d3-d9a73d801dc3" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="600px" width="160px"></embed></object><noscript></noscript><br />Whether one wishes to believe that <em>Dracula </em>is a true story that has been doctored to protect the identity of certain characters and to make it appear that Dracula is destroyed, or one wishes to simply enjoy the novel for the disturbing gothic nightmare that it is, Klinger's annotated edition surrounds our entree (the story) with a whole banquet hall full of tasty appetizers, tempting side dishes and dark desserts of trivia, facts, observations and insights that provide a panoramic perspective, and context, for every scene and event in the tale.</p><div style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; FLOAT: right; PADDING-TOP: 0px" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:6481e94c-23f5-4ed2-8f9e-65e9f5be0387" class="wlWriterSmartContent"><a title="" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2k1mGX4IZgDmUl9gzbl3AWizY8c4TqWtRzyWDZeIlFWhbHlplDRIcnxdxM3rRU5fIpnwtQRuSui3cg5bYt_6O-Yk0TQjIWbiEz1j5AdWJKBc6bjDBzss4ergQr1aRnFbypPN2BQSydKu8/?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIB-yKLOIyEo5VMahKCcPMkuK5OGBRv3MQZC06ZrUSHt567MNcf9LSU6SdIYmE08gWE9XXPaOp3pUuWDEfVKCWSvAjhTVNedpv-XwWC_vF6-iUnYw676imSSG_IrsCM3AbyFx8MqPECRsg/?imgmax=800" /></a></div><p>Klinger is as comfortable drawing references to modern-day interpretations of things vampiric (such as the wildly popular <em>Buffy, the Vampire Slayer</em>) as he is taking us through the fascinating arcana behind Stoker's novel.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just as Stoker's masterwork is the story against which virtually all vampire fiction is judged --- how faithful to, how different from, and so forth --- Klinger's edition is clearly the definitive text against which all other annotated <em>Dracula</em> editions should be compared.</p>James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901744707109576673.post-28085378209531699902009-05-09T12:03:00.000-07:002009-07-15T14:35:06.197-07:00WELCOME TO VAMPIRE BOOKS NAVIGATOR!Greetings fellow authors, vampirophiles, vampire book bibliophiles, librarians, publishers, authors' representatives and publicists, book buyers and distributors, and all those whose interest, passion or business (maybe all three) includes vampire books!<br /><br />Why would one even <em>want</em> help navigating the choppy (sometimes bloody) waters of books that fall in the sub-genre of vampire books?<br /><br />One reason: because vampire books are legion and it helps to find reviews that sort the wheat from the chaff, or, er, the blood from the guts.<br /><br />Since the books reviewed here are all worthwhile vampire books, choosing any (or all) of them, as time goes by, will make our wallets and vampire-loving hearts happy since we won't be misled into buying books that, ahem, suck!<br /><br />Starting with two of the greatest vampire novels of all time --- <em>Dracula</em> and <em>I Am Legend</em> --- we will cover a wide range of vampire tales, from the classics to books that are just plain fun to read, including, not necessarily in this order:<br /><ul><li>Stephen King's <em>Salem's Lot;</em></li><li>Anne Rice's <span style="font-style: italic;">Interview With The Vampire</span>;<br /></li><li>Whitley Strieber's <em>The Hunger;</em></li><li>Kim Newman's <em>Anno Dracula;</em></li><li>Laurell K. Hamilton's <em>Guilty Pleasures;</em></li><li>P.N. Elrod's <em>I, Strahd;</em></li><li>E.E. Knight's <em>Way of the Wolf;</em></li><li>Kim Harrison's <em>Every Which Way But Dead;</em></li><li>David Wellington's <em>Vampire Zero;</em></li><li>Chloe Neill's <em>Some Girls Bite;</em></li><li>Celis T. Rono's <em>That Which Bites;</em></li></ul>... and many more!<br /><br />Who's James Gormley and why should we trust him?<br /><br />Well, I am a published author, a former book editor, a member of the National Book Critics Circle and I was horror book reviewer for <em>Publishers Weekly</em> from 1993 through 1998. I have been a member of the <a href="http://www.horror.org/">Horror Writers Association </a>and helped develop the writers' guidebook, <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0898797985/qid=1149695657/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-8949947-4702300?s=books&v=glance&n=283155">Writing Horror</a></em>, with Mort Castle for Writers Digest Books. I am also a member of the <a href="http://www.asja.org/">American Society of Journalists and Authors</a> (ASJA).<br /><br />So there you have it--we're off to a bloody good start!<br /><strong>Authors, publishers, authors' publicists and representatives: please put me on your lists of reviewers to whom advance or first-off copies of books and requests for comment are sent.</strong><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><strong>Please mail advance and/or review copies to:</strong></span><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">James J. Gormley</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Vampire Books Navigator</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">c/o PCE, Inc.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">377 Park Avenue South</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">6th Floor</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">New York, NY 10016</span></strong><br /><br />Thanks!<br /><a href="http://www.jamesgormley.com/">James J. Gormley</a>James Gormleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608964112755491753noreply@blogger.com0