Category Archives: Fun stuff

The Emergence of the Sympathetic or Reluctant Vampire in Twentieth-Century Culture

Following my post on the sympathetic witch I should add that I am thinking of Dark Shadows (1966-1971) as being the vampire equivalent of Bewitched (1964-72) and Barnabas Collins as the wonderfully reluctant vampire. Here’s the classic moment when Barnabas Collins is … Continue reading

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The Emergence of the Sympathetic Witch in Twentieth-Century Culture

I’ve been wondering lately how neatly the sympathetic witch corresponds to the rise of the sympathetic vampire in twentieth-century culture?  I was named after one very memorable good witch, Samantha Stephens below, played by Elizabeth Montgomery (my parents were huge … Continue reading

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Life and Death: Gender-inverted Twilight

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the publication of Twilight (2005), Stephenie Meyer is releasing a re-telling of the first novel entitled Love and Death: Twilight Reimagined later this month. This version re-imagines Bella as Beau (short for Beaufort) and Edward as Edythe. … Continue reading

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This is what it sounds like when wolves cry

Watch these white wolves howl owoooooooooooooo

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“Werewolves, not Swearwolves” – A Lycanthropic sequel to ‘What We Do In The Shadows’

Fingers crossed there’s going to be a sequel to Jermaine Clement’s and Taiki Waititi’s vampiric mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows (2014). And one which concentrates on its break-out stars, the Werewolf Pack. The “Werewolves, not Swearwolves” line is the most … Continue reading

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Dark Arts: UCAS student wants to study wandology at Hogwarts, how about ‘reading the vampire’ at Hertfordshire?

I love the story about the prospective student who applied to study wandology at Hogwarts only to get an official letter of rejection from UCAS!! Do they know they can study vampires, werewolves and other dark arts at the University … Continue reading

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Being a Vampire, It’s a Funny Business

The University of Cologne recently sported a job listing for a vampire. Whilst the job is really for anyone who is okay with working nights, I must applaud the attention to details and commitment to the concept. To complement this advert, … Continue reading

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Director’s skull stolen by vampire hunters: is this why Bram Stoker has no tomb?

I was speaking on Nosferatu recently in Romania where I was discussing what happened to the Dracula myth when it shifted to Germany in 1922. Imagine my surprise when I learned this morning  that the director of this film had … Continue reading

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Why do humans love monsters?

It seems apt that I am watching the episode of Buffy in which Angel becomes Angelus as I write this but I stumbled over an interesting article on the BBC website about why people are compelled by the creatures they fear. Whilst … Continue reading

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Dracula Quiz

The Gothic scholar Roger Lockhurst has set a quiz here to test your knowledge of Dracula. I made s a silly mistake and only got 9/10!

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