Walter Starkie's vampire tale

Walter Starkie portrait by Eduardo Chicharro Briones (1948)

Walter Starkie (1894-1976) was an Hispanic scholar, author, and musician. In the 1930s, he all but abandoned academic life to become a wandering minstrel of sorts, travelling extensively throughout the countrysides of Hungary, Romania, and Spain. He wrote of this vagabond existence in Raggle-Taggle (1933), Spanish Raggle-Taggle (1934), and Don Gypsy (1936).

The first book details his adventures throughout Hungary and Romania; in Chapter IV, Starkie speaks of Magyar superstitions, and relates the sad story of an old man who's family was destroyed by a vampire. The tale itself--simply titled "The Old Man's Story"--at times almost hints of Dracula. So one has to wonder: was this truly a tale told to him by firelight, in the middle of a graveyard somewhere on the road to Budapest? Or did Starkie enhance the story based on other vampire tales that he may have read?

From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series

Robert Rodriguez's new television series, From Dusk Till Dawn, is based on his 1996 feature film of the same name, which starred George Clooney (written by, and co-starring, Quentin Tarantino). Both stories follow the Gecko brothers, two Very Bad Men, who are on the lam and heading to Mexico after a bloody bank heist. In fact, season one of the television series will retell the same story that was presented in the movie, but both it and the characters will be fleshed out across ten, one-hour episodes.

The series premiered this week in the United States on the new El Rey Network (Spanish for "The King"), which just launched last December, and features English-language programming targeted towards Latino audiences. The network is owned and operated by Robert Rodriguez himself--and From Dusk Till Dawn is the flagship series for his fledgling network. When I first heard about this adaptation, my thought was, "Why?"--especially considering if you've seen the film, you already know how the first season of the series will progress, and likely end. Yet after watching the first episode, I'm now thinking, "Why not?"

Toronto ComiCon 2014

Considering the terrible winter we've had in southern Ontario, spring can't come soon enough. And, perhaps now that the Toronto ComiCon has expanded to a 3-day event, it will forever be tied to the arrival of spring--and become the (un)official kick-off of fan convention season in Canada!

By all accounts, Toronto ComiCon was a resounding success, even though two of the major headliners (Jon Heder & Morena Baccarin) had to cancel at the last minute. Held in the south building of the Toronto Convention Centre, this con is smaller in scale than its older cousin, Fan Expo, which will run during Labour Day weekend this year (August 28-31 2014).

Myself, along with a handful of other authors--who are part of the Ontario Chapter of the Horror Writers Association--had tables, and we also shared duties covering an information booth for the HWA.

The Chauve-Souris watch by Swatch

It's interesting what occasionally shows up on Kijiji, such as this Chauve-Souris watch by Swatch, which was manufactured in 1999--and (I believe) only sold in Europe. Designed by American illustrator & cartoonist Ward Sutton, the watch originally retailed for about £52. I bought it used for considerably less--and the fact that it actually still works is a bonus!

The face of the Chauve-Souris (which is French for Bat) features a friendly-looking vampire standing under the pale light of the moon--and his shadow, along with the hour and minute hands, glow in the dark! What else could you want from a cool-looking vampire watch?

Night of the Demon (UK/1957)

Psychiatrist Dr. John Holden travels to England for an international scientific conference, where a colleague, Henry Harrington, plans to deliver an exposé on devil cult leader Julian Karswell. Upon arrival, Holden learns that Harrington was killed the night before in a freak auto accident.

Holden, who debunks paranormal phenomena, decides to delve deeper into Harrington's research, hoping to expose Karswell's phony supernatural power----which he believes is simply the result of autosuggestion and mass hysteria, and is being used as a ruse to stop people from looking into the man's affairs.

After the investigation leads to a rare book on the occult, The True Discoveries of Witches and Demons, Holden is warned that if he doesn't stop digging, he'll die on October 28th at 10PM. It's then that he discovers a piece of parchment that has somehow ended up in his possession--on which is written a series of indecipherable runic symbols.

Happy Bloody Valentine's Day!

For those of us who prefer to celebrate anti-Valentine's Day, one can't help but think of the original 1981 slasher film, My Bloody Valentine, and the indelible mark it left on this day (much like the films Halloween and Black Christmas did for their respective fêtes). Shot in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, My Bloody Valentine was controversial even before its release. The MPAA, those bastions of confusing censorship, was going to curse the film with an X-rating unless several scenes were cut--and the director complied.

But the movie faced even more controversy upon its release, since one of the investors was the Canadian government--via the Canadian Film Development Corporation (now known as Telefilm Canada). One reviewer at the time noted that the CFDC "has no business supporting such a gross, insulting enterprise" (yet they previously invested in David Cronenberg's Shivers, The Brood, and Scanners--and managed to make money on the first two).