In Honour of McNally and Florescu

Historian Radu Florescu died this week. Along with his colleague Raymond McNally, who passed away in 2002, the two scholars were the first to bring the life and times of the historical Vlad Tepes to public consciousness. Their ground-breaking book, In Search of Dracula: A True History of Dracula and Vampire Legends (1972), forever changed the landscape of Dracula scholarship--and proved that the vampire myth could be a serious, and viable, area of study. Seeing as I wasn't blogging back when McNally died, I thought this would be a good opportunity to honour both men, who were often as entertaining as the topics they studied.
(Pictured here is my abused, and cherished, copy of their first book.)

Afflicted coming to Blu-Ray this July

The Canadian vampire movie AFFLICTED comes to Blu-ray on July 1. This found-footage horror, by co-writers/directors Clif Browse and Derek Lee (who also star in the film), follows two friends as they take a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world. But things take a turn for the worse after they meet a beautiful woman in Paris.

The film won several awards at Fantastic Fest, and was featured at both the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival.

Supernatural: Bloodlines - What were they thinking?

This week's episode of Supernatural, "Bloodlines," is a backdoor pilot for a potential spin-off series on the CW. The story focuses on five rival monster families vying for control of Chicago, and a vengeful young man who's a Hunter in the making. Although this takes place in the Supernatural universe, the story feels so out of step that it's more like Monsters, 90210 or Twilight: The Embraced. Clearly, this is aimed at a much younger (and narrower) audience than the parent show--so one has to wonder, what were they thinking?

Sneak Peek: Penny Dreadful

This week, Showtime released the first episode of their much-anticipated Gothic horror series, Penny Dreadful, on both YouTube and Sho.com, even though the television premiere isn't until Sunday, May 11 at 10 PM ET/PT. It's a smart move, and will surely generate buzz about the series, which takes place in Victorian England and features characters from classic literature including Frankenstein (1818), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), and Dracula (1897). Created by John Logan and Sam Mendes (Skyfall), the series stars Eva Green, Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, and Billie Piper.

Although there are some familiar faces and places, this is an original story, featuring a core group of new characters who are on a quest to save a young woman's soul--and as this first episode shows us, the journey will likely be dark, horrific, and completely engaging.

Curtis and Matheson's "Dracula"

In 1973, director Dan Curtis teamed up with writer Richard Matheson to produce a Dracula adaptation starring Jack Palance. This TV movie was supposed to air on October 12, 1973, however if was pre-empted by a live television address by U.S. President Richard Nixon. Instead, the production aired the following February--perhaps not the most suitable time to run a vampire story (although its lost love aspect does make for suitable viewing around Valentine's Day). Dracula will finally be released on Blu-ray this May, and is worth picking up, considering some of the more unique elements of this adaptation.

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?