Daily Dracula

[Alatar]

Its such an awful pity that so little of this ever makes it into adaptations.

[RoseMorninStar]

Alatar, agreed. I've read Frankenstein, and I thought I'd read Dracula, but now I'm sure I never did.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Its such an awful pity that so little of this ever makes it into adaptations.

Does anyone know anything about the new adaptation that is coming out soon, "The Last Voyage of the Demeter?" The fact that it is based on a single chapter is intriguing.

[RoseMorninStar]

I watched the trailers, etc.. that Editor Matt noted in Dracula Daily. Liam Cunningham is Captain Elliot!

[Túrin Turambar]

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is at 39% on RT, with reviews complaining about bloody violence overlaid with ominous music and not too much else. Which is what I was afraid of, and is a trend with Dracula being poorly-served by film. Hollywood doesn't seem to think audiences will buy Stoker's far more subtle horror, which I think is weird given the critical acclaim and commercial success of films like The Babadook.

[RoseMorninStar]

Subtle horror is far more effective and chilling, imho.

[Alatar]

This looks great:

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Dracula-Au ... B0078PA9FQ

Editor reviews
Followers of the popular vampire literary and film interpretations of recent years might be blasé about another performance of the exquisitely written novel that started it all. But listening to this full-cast performance turns out to be remarkably suspenseful and chilling. The superlative cast lends this powerful production the diversity that is required by the structure of the novel, which includes journal entries and letters. Each actor employs various accents, infusing into the characters vibrant emphasis, urgency, and dread. The famed vampire Count Dracula leaves a swath of exsanguinated bodies in his wake as he attempts to relocate from Transylvania to England in 1897, stalked by the brave Van Helsing.

Using Bram Stoker’s original epistolary (letters) and diary structure and a multi-voiced cast of talented and well-known actors, the Audible Studios edition of Dracula is a real treat and has won two Audie Awards. The vampire Count Dracula, having fallen in love with Jonathan Harker’s fiancée, Mina, follows him from Transylvania to England, leaving a swath of dead bodies in his wake, their blood sucked dry. The all-star cast of this thrilling audiobook includes Alan Cumming as Dr Seward, Tim Curry as Van Helsing and Simon Vance as Harker.

Summary
Audie Award, Distinguished Achievement in Production, 2013

Audie Award, Multi-voiced Performance, 2013

Audie Award Nominee, Classic, 2013

Because of the widespread awareness of the story of the evil Transylvanian count and the success of numerous film adaptations that have been created over the years, the modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.

This production of Dracula is presented by what is possibly the best assemblage of narrating talent ever for one audiobook: Emmy Award nominees Alan Cumming and Tim Curry plus an all-star cast of Audie award-winners Simon Vance (The Millenium Trilogy), Katherine Kellgren (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), Susan Duerden (The Tiger’s Wife), John Lee (Supergods) and customer favorites Graeme Malcolm (Skippy Dies), Steven Crossley (The Oxford Time Travel series), Simon Prebble (The Baroque Cycle), James Adams (Letters to a Young Contrarian), Nicola Barber (The Rose Garden), Victor Villar-Hauser (Fun Inc.), and Marc Vietor (1Q84). These stellar narrators have been cast as follows:

Alan Cumming as Dr. Seward
Simon Vance as Jonathan Harker
Katy Kellgren as Mina Murray/Harker
Susan Duerden as Lucy Westenra
Tim Curry as Van Helsing
Graeme Malcolm as Dailygraph correspondent
Steven Crossley as Zookeeper’s account and reporter
Simon Prebble as Varna
James Adams as Patrick Hennessey
Nicola Barber as Sister Agatha
Victor Villar-Hauser as Arthur Holmwood
Marc Vietor as Quincey Morris
John Lee as Introductory paragraph, various letters

[Frelga]

I'm a couple days behind and catching up.

This made me giggle.

Seeing from his violent demeanour that he was English

The giant bat is ominous, but I was thinking of the passage in Pratchett's Witches Abroad that was inspired by this scene. Too bad Mina doesn't have a cat.

[Inanna]

Hmmm. I missed the reference.

Was anyone else surprised that Jonathan is alive?

[RoseMorninStar]

Hmmm. I missed the reference.

Was anyone else surprised that Jonathan is alive?

No, but I was surprised he was in a convent. I was expecting something a bit more lively like: he jumped into the river, was injured, and was being cared for in a Roma caravan. That said, Victorian virtue is a heavy handed underlying theme so convent shouldn't have been so surprising.

*edited to add: What I find shocking is the influence Dracula has on certain persons from afar. How is that possible/how does that work? Why those specific people? Will we get answers to such questions?

[Frelga]

Hmmm. I missed the reference.

Spoiler for PTerry

Hidden text.

Under the table, Greebo sat and washed himself. Occasionally he burped.
Vampires have risen from the dead, the grave and the crypt, but never managed it from the cat.”
― Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

[Jude]

Where does the tradition of frightening vampires away with garlic come from? I assume it predates the Dracula novel?

[RoseMorninStar]

Yes, I do believe it predates 'Dracula'. Here's an interesting article from CNN Health: Garlic facts and history: The truth about vampires and health benefits

[RoseMorninStar]

Wow. A good tale perhaps for Victorian times but it has not aged well, has it? The poor foolish women can only be saved by the infusion of strong, intelligent men who are in control and it is only technology that has fouled their grand machinations .. not through any foolishness of their own. And how did the wolf break the glass on the second floor?

[Frelga]

In Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (a very good vampire whodunit) a vampire character comments that Stoker's contemporaries knew about blood transfusion but have not yet learned about compatible blood types. They did know that the the recipient sometimes died. It's a logical assumption based on the beliefs of the time that the blood of strong and virtuous men would give the best chance of success.

Just goes to show that logic is no help when your assumptions are wrong.

[RoseMorninStar]

In Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (a very good vampire whodunit) a vampire character comments that Stoker's contemporaries knew about blood transfusion but have not yet learned about compatible blood types. They did know that the the recipient sometimes died. It's a logical assumption based on the beliefs of the time that the blood of strong and virtuous men would give the best chance of success.

Just goes to show that logic is no help when your assumptions are wrong.

Yes. It is very Victorian and I'm glad I didn't live in those times.

Along side the 'Daily' Dracula readings I've been also reading the corresponding Sparknotes summary pages. It's pretty interesting commentary. I was previously unaware (or had forgotten) Dracula's pull on people from a distance.

[Jude]

Just a random observation that has little to do with the actual story: I noticed that the word "bus" was apostrophized as " 'bus". I had to look it up, and it was short for "omnibus". I thought it might be "autobus", because that's what we call it in French. I've often noticed, reading books from the 1920's or '30's, that some words are apostrophized that aren't today, because the short form of the word was used so frequently that it replaced the complete form of the word.

Anyway, it just struck me because I'm a total language geek. Carry on.

[Inanna]

I didn’t notice that!

So is Lucy going to become a vampire?

[RoseMorninStar]

I didn’t notice that!

So is Lucy going to become a vampire?

Yes, I think so. There are several things I took as clues; her uncharacteristic wanton sexual response, her teeth seemed to grow more prominent-especially the canines, the double puncture wounds disappeared from her throat, and she became more voluptuously beautiful in death. I also think she knew she was becoming a vampire because when she was lucid, she thanked Dr. Van Helsing for not allowing Arthur to kiss her on the lips. She also the clung to the garlic while awake but pushed it away while she was asleep.

[Alatar]

I love seeing the response of first time readers.