The Haunted Stamp House

Canada Post issued a bilingual commemorative stamp package on October 1, 1997, inspired by the 100th anniversary of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Four scary stamps were produced, depicting supernatural creatures (a werewolf, a goblin, a ghost, and a vampire) as seen through the imaginations of four Canadian illustrators. The thematic collection, depicting a dilapidated haunted house, included a stamp pane of sixteen stamps--which, when placed inside the cardboard sleeve, allowed for the monsters to peer out of the windows. The package was designed by Louis Fishauf.

Information included with the release notes that "legends of these imaginary creatures are known the world over, and can be found at the root of much Canadian folklore. Although tales of vampires appear only in isolated pockets of Canadian culture, every region of the country has its own ghost stories. Legends of werewolves abound in French Canada, with its myths of the tormented loup-garou. Goblins come in a variety of forms, from Quebec's mischievous lutin to the elusive Maritime will-o'-the-wisp."

Experience the New Flesh, while it lasts

This is the final week for David Cronenberg: Evolution, a major exhibition about the writer/director/actor, being held in the HSBC gallery at the TIFF Bell Lightbox (closes January 19th). I spent several hours wandering through the exhibit last month, and had a great time reading about his work and viewing props from his films. Cronenberg's evolution as a filmmaker was part and parcel with the evolution of the film industry in Canada, especially the horror genre; even if you're not a fan of his work, this is still definitely something you should see.

Dracula: The lost Canadian edition from 1900

First Constable edition, 1897

Bram Stoker's Dracula was first published in England by Archibald Constable and Company, in 1897. Extensive research by Robert Eighteen-Bisang and J. Gordon Melton has uncovered all the significant editions that have been printed over the years, and the results were compiled in their definitive bibliography Dracula: A Century of Editions, Adaptations and Translations (1998). In 2011, the two included a list of critical updates as part of Dracula in Visual Media, by John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan Picart.

Thanks to newly-available resources from the University of Toronto Library, which were digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012, I believe I've unearthed a forgotten Canadian edition of Dracula, which was published in Toronto by The William Briggs Publishing Co., in July 1900.

Monster Cereal Smackdown: Boo Berry

This third entry is part of a series that celebrates the return of the vintage packaging for the "Monster Cereals" from General Mills. This retro packaging was only available in the United States, but many industrious Canadians (like me!) found a way to get their hands on a few boxes. It's taking me a while to work my way through each of the cereals, but I'm pushing on, despite the constant sugar high and the adverse affect that so much artificial colouring is having on my, um, system.

Dark Intruder (1965)

I recall watching episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) on TV when I was a kid, but I didn't truly become a fan of the series until my adult years. This became the first in a long line of supernatural detective-type series that I've since enjoyed, which includes the likes of The X Files, Blood Ties and Supernatural. Prior to Kolchak, there were a number of one-off productions in the same vein, most of which were failed pilots. These included The Norliss Tapes (1973) and Dead of Night: A Darkness at Blaisedon (1969). I can now add another to this list!

Dark Intruder (1965) was the pilot for a failed television series to be called The Black Cloak, produced by Alfred Hitchcock's Shamley Productions for NBC. For some reason, the pilot was not shown on television, and instead was sold to Universal Pictures and shown theatrically (albeit in a limited release).

I was surprised by the quality of the story, and of its star, Canadian actor Leslie Nielson. He plays a supernatural detective in 1890s San Francisco, who investigates a string of murders that hint of the occult, which he learns are part of a larger scheme to bring forth a Sumerian demon.

A Vampire's Guide to New Orleans

If you have ever walked the dark, rainy streets of the French Quarter at night, you have seen the voodoo shops selling their gris-gris and John-the-Conqueror Root.  You've seen the old woman in the French Market whose pointing finger foretells your death  And if you know the right person to ask and you ask in the right way, you'll be shown to the vampire clubs.

I've been in those clubs and seen people who believe with their heart, body, and soul that they are real, live vampires.  And some of the people in those clubs are scared to death of a select group of vampires who have only appeared there a few times, and always in the darkest of night.

By day, of course, the vampire clubs are closed and locked or turned back into regular tourist bars . . .

--Crazy Horse's Ghost