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Want more deets? We've also got a completeOnline CourseaboutDracula, with three weeks' worth of readings and activities to make sure you know your stuff.
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Oh, the old vampire trend. So very 2000s.
Erso very 1890s?
In 1897, Bram Stoker took central European folk tales and turned them into one of the most famous horror books of all time. But the CW isn't going to be speccing a script about this guy anytime soonat least, not Dracula as Stoker wrote him. Stoker's Dracula isn't young and sparkly-hot; he's creepy, old, and has a penchant for turning into bats and clouds of mist.
Creepy, old, and occasionally downright boring (just stop with the train schedules, Mina)yes. But just like some vampire stories we could name coughVampireDiariescough, Dracula is a lot more interesting to talk about than it is to read. Just like today, vampires in 1897 stood in for a lot of contemporary fears and anxieties. Except while the vampire craze of the 2000s can be read as representing fears of corruption and conspiracy theories, ye olde turn-of-the-century bloodsuckers represented the increasing globalization of London, the risks of sexual activity, or even the increasing presence of technology.
That's right: technology. Just like that creaky rom-com You've Got Mail hinges on the wacky new technology of email, Dracula hinges on telegraphs, typewriters, and phonographsonly with much more gruesome results.
Here's the quick version: Count Dracula leaves his native Transylvania (modern-day Romania, in southeastern Europe) to immigrate to Englandpresumably to feed on the "teeming millions" in the huge capital city of London. "Invasion literature," or literature that had to do with monsters invading the British Empire (which, at that point, still covered a lot of the world beyond the British Isles), was ridiculously popular at the time. Authors like Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle all wrote sensational adventure stories about fantastic creatures or threatening monsters from around the world. Stoker didn't think of himself as a great artist; he was primarily a businessman. He managed the famous Lyceum Theatre in London. Stoker only wrote novels to pay the bills (hah! the idea of writing novels to pay the bills is insane). Honestly, he'd probably be astonished at the lasting impact Dracula has had. He wrote it in a piecemeal, haphazard waya little here, a little there.
At the time it came out in 1897, it was popular and well-received, but hardly a blockbuster hit. It wasn't until later in the 20th century, when film versions of the novel started to appear, that the novel's popularity really skyrocketed and its impact on popular culture became crystal-clear. Basically every bloodsucker in literaturefrom Twilight's Edward Cullen to True Blood's Eric Northman to Anne Rice's Lestat & Co. to Sesame Street's The Countowes their life (or undeath) to Bram Stoker and his xenophobic tale of one Romanian count seducing proper English ladeez.
In other words, Dracula is the super-hideous great-great-grandpappy of Bella Swan.
You don't have to think vampires are dreamy to think Dracula is important. In fact, you don't even have to like Dracula to think Dracula is important: It just is.
This is a novel that took a pretty obscure folk tale creep and skyrocketed him into fame and everlasting pop-cultural stardom. It's a novel that used a mythological creature to tap into the fears of a generation... and was so successful that the same exact mythological creature has been doing the same exact thing ever since. Except he's gotten, by and large, way foxier.
For comparisonoh, wait. There is no comparison to be made, because so few creatures have risen from unknown European campfire story to sexy, sparkly, teen-god status in a little over a hundred years. Imagine if, by 2083 (108 years after Jaws came out), great white sharks were portrayed as super-hawt. Or heywhat if 1926 (108 years after Frankenstein was published) saw an influx of drool-worthy zombie babes?
Does that sound farfetched? It was a mere 108 years between the publication of Dracula and the publication of Twilight. And Edward Cullen was hardly the first vampire babe out therelookin' at you Lestat and Angel.
And we're not even mentioning all the super-important vampire uglies out there.
Pretty much every vampire book or movie in the 20th century owes something to Stoker's novel, from Nosferatu, a silent German film made in 1922, to Blade (1998) to the Anne Rice Interview with the Vampire series. Even Edward Cullen finds himself needing to re-educate his human girlfriend Bella so that she doesn't believe all of the vampire stereotypes that originated in Stoker's novel.
In terms of popular culture, Dracula is everywhere, once you start looking. The "Count" on Sesame Street, for example, is modeled on Stoker's vampire. And do you like sugary cereals? Count Chocula is a shout-out to Dracula, too.
If monster books just aren't your thing or its pop cultural importance doesn't do it for you (check your pulse thoughare you sure you're not undead?) there's still plenty more to Dracula. Stoker had lots to say about some of the most important political questions of his day. Many critics like to read Stoker's Dracula as being about the British fear that the people they had colonized and oppressed for so long would come to Britain to take revenge. Or you can read Dracula for what it says about the role of womenthe most dangerous women in the novel are also the sexiest.
In short, Dracula is a cultural touchstoneand it's got something in it to appeal to almost everybody.
See the rest here:
Dracula - Shmoop
- Vlad The Impaler, Inspiration For Dracula, May Have Cried Tears of Blood: Study - NDTV - March 24th, 2024
- Dracula Token (DRC): Does the Reward Outweigh the Risks? - InvestorsObserver - March 24th, 2024
- Abigail's 1936 Inspiration Teases An Appearance By 1 Classic Horror Character (Not Dracula) - Screen Rant - March 24th, 2024
- Off The Telly - 4. "She is basically the sister of Dracula" - BBC - March 24th, 2024
- Is Dracula Token (DRC) Heading the Right Direction Thursday? - InvestorsObserver - March 16th, 2024
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- 'Dracula A.D. 1972': when the iconic vampire met the hippies - Far Out Magazine - March 16th, 2024
- Dracula Token (DRC) Do the Risks Outweigh the Rewards Wednesday? - InvestorsObserver - March 8th, 2024
- Luc Besson to Direct Dracula, Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz Will Lead Retelling of Bram Stokers Gothic Classic - Variety - February 19th, 2024
- Luc Besson to Direct Dracula, Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz Will Lead Retelling of Bram Stokers Gothic ... - IMDb - February 19th, 2024
- New Dracula Movie Is In Development With Different Retelling Of Bram Stoker's Story - Screen Rant - February 19th, 2024
- Caleb Landry Jones to Re-Team With Luc Besson on Dracula Origin Story - Hollywood Reporter - February 19th, 2024
- Caleb Landry Jones And Christoph Waltz To Star In Luc Besson's Dracula - Empire - February 19th, 2024
- New Dracula Feature Will Delve Into The Vampire Lord's Origins - Horror News Network - February 19th, 2024
- In This Moment to Launch the Godmode Tour with Kim Dracula - Knotfest - February 19th, 2024
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- In 'Dracula: Blood Hunt,' the Lord of Vampires Takes the Daughter of Blade Under His Wing - Marvel.com - February 19th, 2024
- Embrace The Darkside! Richmond Ballet Redefines Valentine's with Dracula - rvamag.com - February 19th, 2024
- Dracula Token (DRC) What Does the Chart Say Sunday? - InvestorsObserver - February 19th, 2024
- Dracula's Chivito Is This Year's Best Name For A Newly Found Astronomical Object - IFLScience - February 19th, 2024
- From Billie Holiday to Dracula, is there anyone Zahra Newman cant play? - Sydney Morning Herald - February 19th, 2024
- Review: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Presents a New Take on 'Dracula' From a Female Perspective - Cincinnati CityBeat - February 11th, 2024
- A 103-Year-Old Lost Film Was Actually The First Dracula Movie, Not The Movie People Think Is The First - Screen Rant - February 11th, 2024
- February 2020 (version 1.43) - Visual Studio Code - February 3rd, 2024
- Dracula Token (DRC), High Volatility and Falling Friday: Is it Time to Cash Out? - InvestorsObserver - February 3rd, 2024
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- The Weekly Pull: Detective Comics, Resurrection of Magneto, Universe Monsters: Dracula, and More - ComicBook.com - January 26th, 2024
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- Dracula Token (DRC) Falls 47.02% Wednesday: What's Next for This Bearish Rated Crypto? - InvestorsObserver - January 26th, 2024
- The Real History That Went Into Bram Stoker's Dracula | TIME - January 18th, 2024
- Dracula writer Bram Stoker revealed as a humble minute taker for actor charity - The Guardian - January 18th, 2024
- 'Abigail' Trailer Dracula's Daughter Is on the Hunt - Collider - January 18th, 2024
- Which 'Dracula' Movie Is the Most Book-Accurate? - Collider - January 9th, 2024
- Arundel Playhouse celebrates a successful 2023 and kicks off 2024 with 'Dracula: The Bloody Truth' - SussexWorld - January 9th, 2024
- THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER Almost Featured Van Helsing and a Werewolf-Like Dracula GeekTyrant - GeekTyrant - January 1st, 2024
- The strong Dracula Open Youth & Junior Tournament will take place in Romania on February 11-19 - Asian Boxing Confederation - January 1st, 2024
- Is Dracula Token (DRC) Heading the Right Direction Tuesday? - InvestorsObserver - January 1st, 2024
- Defining Dracula: A Century Of Vampire Evolution : NPR - December 23rd, 2023
- Was Dracula a Real Person? | Britannica - December 12th, 2023
- Dracula, a Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really Is Easy, Entertaining, and Empowering - Portland Mercury - December 12th, 2023
- Dracula: The women fight back - Oregon ArtsWatch - December 12th, 2023
- Dracula parrots: what are they and do they feed on blood? - BBC Discover Wildlife - December 12th, 2023
- Wonka | How Hook and Dracula informed the look of this autumn's musical - Filmstories - December 12th, 2023
- Dracula and rabbits and the tooth fairy...oh my! Omaha dentists trade in their traditional scrubs, making the experience less frightening - KETV Omaha - November 2nd, 2023
- Week in theater: Dracula flies into Denver, Sweeney Todd in Longmont and holiday productions are on the horizon - Boulder Daily Camera - October 16th, 2023
- When Keanu Reeves & Winona Ryder Accidentally Got Hitched On The Sets Of Bram Stokers Dracula & They Didnt Realize It Was For Real - Koimoi - February 10th, 2023
- Nina Price and Dracula Will Be the Villains of #Blade #MarvelStudios - Latest Tweet by Marvel Updates - LatestLY - January 1st, 2023
- A Dracula where the women fight back - The Boston Globe - October 19th, 2022
- Owners infuse Romanian history to Dracula-themed wine bar in downtown St. Pete The Crow's Nest at USF St. Petersburg - The Crow's Nest - October 19th, 2022
- Meet Dracula authors great-grand nephew tonight! - wnky.com - October 19th, 2022
- Cape Cod theater: Halloween season with 'The Addams Family,' Dracula - Cape Cod Times - October 19th, 2022
- "A Tale of Two Villains: Theme and Symbolism in Dracula and the Harry Potter Saga" Available Now from Histria Books - openPR - October 19th, 2022
- Netflix Added 36 New Movies and Series This Week - What's on Netflix - October 19th, 2022
- The Vampire and Its Cultural History Exponent - Exponent - October 19th, 2022
- Corin Hardy Releases The Schedule For His Halloween Horrorthon 2022 - Empire - October 19th, 2022
- Shows like Interview with the Vampire: 8 titles to sink your teeth into next - Android Authority - October 19th, 2022
- 2022: The Year of Dracula, Vampire Interviews, Nosferatu, Renfield and more - PW-Philadelphia Weekly - October 11th, 2022
- Bram Stokers Dracula review Gary Oldman is Pierrot from hell in blood-red 90s take - The Guardian - October 11th, 2022
- Cary Elwes on Bram Stokers Dracula at 30: Gary Oldman spent most of the time sleeping in a coffin - Yahoo Movies UK - October 11th, 2022
- The Best New Horror Comics in October 2022: Werewolf by Night, Creepshow, Dracula, and More! - Den of Geek - October 11th, 2022
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- 'Dracula' in Spanish finds new blood after 91 years : NPR - October 2nd, 2022
- Watch Dracula Season 1 | Prime Video - amazon.com - October 2nd, 2022
- Feature: Ben Stevenson's Dracula, presented by the Nevada Ballet Theatre, to Bring Gothic Grandness - Broadway World - October 2nd, 2022
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- Inside the life of a vampire tourist - I've even written a PhD about Dracula - iNews - September 8th, 2022
- Cinespia's October Line-up to Frightfully Finish Its Season - NBC Southern California - September 8th, 2022
- REVIEW: Major Sweets Ice Cream Sandwich, Petrified Rat Tails and More from Dracula Booth at Halloween Horror Nights 31 - WDW News Today - September 8th, 2022
- What's coming to the big stage: theater preview - The Vantage - September 8th, 2022
- Review: House of Darkness Brings an Ominous, Seductive Twist to a Classic Tale - The Mary Sue - September 8th, 2022
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero