Back to the Books: "The Dracula Book of Great Vampire Stories"

This book is one of my most favorite books of all time.

It obviously pre-dates the internet age, where most of these stories can now be read.

But back when I was growing up, if you wanted to read good vampire stories, you had to hunt them down.

I had checked this book out of the New Lenox Public Library when I was fifteen and devoured it.

And then my mother surprised me with this book on Christmas 1984, the day before I learned I was expecting my third child.

A couple weeks later, in January 1985, I was lying flat on my back on the living room couch, re-reading all these favorite stories.

I was flat on my back because that was the only way to keep from getting sick. Despite all the children I've had, pregnancy does not agree with me.

And I was indulging myself in the book because my two-year-old and eight-month old were both asleep at the same time, a rare occurance.

At one point, I set the book down and wondered if I could write a vampire novel. I had always wanted to write a novel and had down quite a bit of research on witches and vampires when I was fifteen in the hopes of writing that novel.

So I lay there, musing on the type of story I would write.

I thought about how so many of these stories came out of the Victorian era.

I thought about how many people tend to think of the Victorian era in very romantic terms.

So, what if I wrote a story about a teen girl who feel in love with a vampire from the Victorian era, except she refuses to acknowledge what he really is?

By the time the kids woke up, and I was changing their iapers, I had a skeleton story in my head. 

I started and scrapped many drafts throughout the years. But I finally wrote the novel in 2008 and self-published it at the end of 2011. Yes, it's "Bryony."

That one book spawned an entire series and inspired a creative stroke in another BryonySeries novel.

Take a look at the lettering on the opening paragraphs - and the font - in the excerpts below.

I wanted to pay homage to that as best as I could without having access to fancy tools. So I consulted with Rebekah who does my book formatting, and I think she did a great job, as you can see scrolling through these images.

She was not able to build the letters with the fantastic detail as the original book. But she cut up pieces of pictures I'd taken of objects with interesting texture and cobbled them together as images, which she inserted near the text.

The first three pages are from "The Dracula Book of Great Vampire Stories."

The second set of three are from the BryonySeries novel "The Phoenix."

The last page has the list of stories and their authors, in case you want to find any of them online and read them, too.

One last bit of homage: I named BryonySeries character Algernon Demars after Algernon Blackwood, even though the two share nothing in common except the name.

But that's OK, I think.

Final note: the book I own is not the one my mother bought for me. I had lent it to a friend and never saw it again.

I most likely bought my current copy from Amazon. You can, too.

No Ed Calkins Today...

...no new telegrams, no updates on his epic limerick.

Just me making progress on Before the Blood and reluctant to stop to post a blog.

Ever get wrapped up in a project like that?

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Leslie Ormandy and "Simply Supernatural," Part 2

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Leslie Ormandy and "Simply Supernatural," Part 2

Leslie Ormandy teaches two Vampires in Literature courses at an Oregon community college, has re-edited and published Varney the Vampire, and is the originator of the site www.simplysupernatural-vampire.com, a delightful stopping point of all things vampire.

There, Ormandy has links to a wide variety of Victorian literature; a collection of her vampire short stories, as well as the stories and essays her students have written; and links to whimsical items for vampire fans, such as festivals, crossword puzzles, clothing, and movies.

Ormandy has also included essays and links on many vampire characteristics and topics including sex, the victimization of children, children as vampires, porphyria, evil, Dracula, religion, euthanasia, vampire as metaphor, and more.

7)  What else does the class contain?

"We talk about vintage vampire poetry; we look at some modern stuff; and they all try writing a vampire sonnet and a vampire haiku. We’ve talked about vampires as pedophiles, and, at some point, we talk about religion, because you can’t really talk about vampires without talking about religion. I wrote a short story, The Blood is the Life, about a vampire who could walk into a church because she had once accepted God.”

8) I understand you provide modern translations for several vintage stories. What led you to re-edit Varney the Vampire?

"It’s a lost story. Very few people read it, although it was once massively popular, like Twilight. Everyone was reading it, and it spawned many look-alike stories, but now, no one reads it. Also, I’m good at Victorian syntax and explaining things. It was a big undertaking, but no one else was doing it. The story is fascinating. It’s love, romance, and vampires feeding.”

9) Where do you draw inspiration for your short stories?

"A theme will suggest itself, and the little muse will sit on my shoulder and demand I write the story. I just cannot rest until I do. It’s kind of scary what comes out of my psyche.”

10) What are the criteria for student submissions?

"I am an academic and picky. Submissions have to be well-written and connect with both humans and vampires. It’s hard to define what’s well written. You just know it when you read it.”

11) Who’s your site’s primary audience?

"I have a different audience than many other vampire sites. My audience tends to be more academic, but the site is not just for my students. I’m quite well-read in the UK and Europe, and I have a large following in Russia.”

12) I understand you’re currently enjoying steampunk literature. What was your introduction to it?

"My daughter brought a steampunk book home from the library. It had vampires in it and it was set in the Victorian period, thus combining two of my favorites.”

13) What made the most impact from your trip to London for a vampire conference?

"A lot of manuscripts are buried in libraries, so the stories literally have not been read since that time period. It was incredible to touch books that old. I’d like to explore more pre-Victorian vampire stories and Greek vampire stories.”

  

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Another Famous Tolstoy

Friday, October 15, 2010

Another Famous Tolstoy

Many people have heard of Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace), but not everyone knows that his cousin, Alexis Tolstoy, wrote vampires stories. I can’t find any of them online and his book,Vampires: Stories of the Supernatural, is out of print, but it is for sale on various sites that sell used books.

That book contains three stories: The Vampire, Family of a Vourdalak (dramatized by Boris Karloff in the movie, Black Sabbath, 1963), The Reunion After Three Hundred Years, and Amena. No favorites for me here; all four are exceptionally well-written.

The novella Vampire (1841) opens with young man, Runevsky, attending a ball. One guest comments about the number oupyrs (vampires) present at the event and points them out to Runevsky. Of course, Runevsky falls in love with the granddaughter, Dasha, of one of the purported vampires and begins to court her. Strange things happen to him when he visits the family. When they tell fortunes by reading random passages from books, Dasha reads the chilling, “And the grandmother will suck her granddaughter’s blood.” Then Runevsky spends the night in a room that contains an old-fashioned portrait of a deceased relative, who naturally resembles Dasha. Known as the first modern Russian vampire story, The Vampire also weaves elements of Greek mythology and contains interesting dream states.

The short story Family of a Vourdalak is the story of a Russian patriarch that leaves home to fight a band of bandits. He tells his family if returns after sunset on a particular day not to let him inside, for he will be a vourdalak (vampire). Since he arrives immediately at sunset, the family is uncertain what to do and allow him entrance. Wrong decision.

In The Reunion After Three Hundred Years, a duchess, after a carriage accident, becomes the guest at a macabre reunion of guests. Amena is set during the Christian persecutions. A man, destined to be martyred for his faith with his companions, is sidetracked by a seductively mysterious woman.

I first read this book at my local library, so perhaps yours has it, too. Definitely worth the price if you buy.