TheCabinet.com :: View topic - Anyone here actually been able to finish DRACULA?

Horror Literature Forum

Literature

Edgar Allan Poe Library

Horror Classics Library

Grimm Fairy Tales

Horror Literature Forum

Horror Literature Quotes

Anyone here actually been able to finish DRACULA? Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next

This topic is locked: you cannot edit posts or make replies.

Horror Literature Forum

View previous topic :: View next topic

Author

Message

Guest

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2000 6:46 pm Post subject:

I am so glad that at least Fenny has taken my advice people! I know u probably get sick of me lecturing u on Dracula (and other vampire novels) but it really is awesome. Ever since I read it I have been a big vampire fan. Anyways, tell us how u like it Fenny dear. Submitted By: Misty

Guest

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2000 11:04 pm Post subject:

Jonathan, any relation to Harker? Thanks for that info on the Hommy-Beg, Eric. I was wondering about that. It's such a flash and dandy dedication for the era. I'm enjoying it immensely so far, Miss Misty. Got to love that Victorian language. I've seen so many Dracula movies and different conceptions of what and who Dracula is, but this piece of fiction has me riveted to the page like it's the first time round, it delivers in the chill department. The early section with Jonathan Harker trapped in the castle is both horrifying and suspenseful to the utmost. Well, I'm still early on in it but it's shaping up to be quite an enthralling read...very sexy too, in its own classical luscious manner. I'm really impressed with how good and clear the prose is. I thought it would be harder and more tedious, like very often is the fashion of classics. Submitted By: Fenny

Guest

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2000 2:48 am Post subject:

I am so glad u like it so far! I have read it several times and am still enthralled each time I pick it up. For some reason I never seem to get sick of Dracula(perhaps that is why they call it a classic) and it's just as good the second and third time around! Submitted By: Misty

Guest

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2000 12:28 pm Post subject:

Okay, Fenny mentioned the words sex and luscious in the same sentence. I'm getting out my copy of Dracula again and going to try and get through it this time. Submitted By: phangoria

Guest

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2000 7:51 pm Post subject:

Oh yes, Phango. There is definitly a charged erotic tone in this book. It's sort of kept restricted under staut and elegant good manners so typical of the English at this time period. But its very much a presence. This Lucy Westenra character fairly oozes sex, all sort of wrapped up under all her innocence...and it's about to brim over! My God, Old man Stoker maybe really wanted to write a bloodsoaking porno, an exercise in turn of the century orgiastic delight, but sort of felt the need to masquerade it behind a shilling shocker! Okay, I'm piling on the butter, but DRACULA is so far great. Try it again sometime, P. It might appeal to your...Hot Blood Reading DRACULA reminds me about a book written by a Doctor in criminal psychiatry, Roderick Anscombe. This takes the well trodden path of Dracula but mixes it with real life psychology and skips the supernatural elements. Anscombe interviewed about a hundred murderers, often very soon after their acts had been committed. The result is that you have Dracula as a serial killer. Here's a take: "Dazed, I watched her heart continue to pump blood through the wound for several more seconds, and it was not until the flow finally petered out that I began to realize what I had done...Gently, I pressed my lips against the soft, surrendering edges of the wound and tasted the still unclotted blood which welled there." -from THE SECRET LIFE OF LASZLO, COUNT DRACULA by Roderick Anscombe. Pretty unlike the old romanticized notions of bloodsucking, isn't it? I think it would have been interesting to read this novel in the wake of Dracula to see and experience the difference in juxapositions. Submitted By: Fenny

Guest

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2000 8:03 pm Post subject:

well I am glad that you guys have become enthusiastic about vampires and stuff like that cause vampires are really the sexiest of all the characters in horror I think. And they are the most entertaining(just my opinion) so it's cool that I can share my opinions about vampires and not get criticized for it. LOL Submitted By: Misty

Guest

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2000 8:16 pm Post subject:

Yes, they have these qualities about them that make them very fascinating. I feel very much like a vampire to. Usually dressed in black and preferring the night to day and such. I'm really not that comfortable in broad daylight, especially not in direct sunlight! And I have something you don't have...genuinely bad accent when I try to talk English- "I do not drink...wine." :~) Submitted By: Fenny

Guest

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2000 10:21 pm Post subject:

Misty, Are you saying that vampires are more sexy than that shag machine Dr. Hannibal Lecter? Submitted By: Mr Self Affliction

Guest

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2000 12:41 am Post subject:

Well yes Mr SA Dr.Hannibal Lecter was definately a shag machine but u have to admit that vampires are like the ultimate in sexy! I mean c'mon they drink people's blood and are always "shacking up" with people. In fact in some vampire novels I've read they can actually go overboard with the sexual stuff ya know what I mean? Anyways, I've always felt that way about vampires myself. LOL Submitted By: Misty

Guest

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2000 12:45 am Post subject:

Oh and Fenny I know how u feel I've always considered myself to be more like a vampire than is probably acceptable in society. Perhaps I shouldn't have read Dracula when I was 8. I think maybe that messed me up. LOL Submitted By: Misty

Guest

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2000 1:40 pm Post subject:

So, here's a question for all you vampire lovers... Who has read "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu? I had always been under the impression that Stoker was the first to solidify the creature of a vampire into the popular psyche, but it's obvious (in my opinion) that he read Carmilla before he wrote his book. The settings are similar, and the two girls in Carmilla are an awful lot like Mina and Lucy (although not exactly the same). All the sexual overtones are there, the obsession, the mystery surrounding this creature of the night. The major difference is that the vampire in Carmilla is a woman, and in Dracula, he's a man. Any thoughts? (BTW, I don't want to imply that Stoker copied anything from this book or that his piece is any less than briliant. I just found a lot of interesting comparisons between the two, and wanted to know what you guys thought). Submitted By: Deena

Guest

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2000 2:43 pm Post subject:

I think I read Carmilla a long long time ago. Doesn't it have something to do with a new governess and it turns out the governess is a vampire? If its the one I'm thinking of, then from what I remember it seemed to be a seething mass of latent lesbianism. But then again, aren't all female vampires who feed off of females latent lesbians(big smile here)? I think the more I post on this board and read the posts in reply, I am breaking free of my apathy towards the vampire genre, a fact I had mentioned before in a different post on this board to Mr. SA, I believe. I have a point, though... is it just me being a wanton female again, or do most vampire novels have an undertone of dark sexuality to them as a rule? The whole intimacy of sharing bodily fluids, the dark mystique of the vampire myth; are all vampire novels sexually charged or is this just my perception? Submitted By: phangoria

Guest

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2000 12:01 am Post subject:

I also read 'Carmilla' a long time ago and my memory of it is somewhat vague but there definitely was an undercurrent, hell, "over"current, of lesbianism suggested. I don't remember there being any blatent blood-letting in the story. The narrator, I think, was just concerned about the tremendous influence the governess was having over the girl. "is it just me being a wanton female again, or do most vampire novels have an undertone of dark sexuality to them as a rule? The whole intimacy of sharing bodily fluids, the dark mystique of the vampire myth; are all vampire novels sexually charged or is this just my perception?"--Phangoria Nothing wrong with a little wantonesss, Phango!;^) And you're right, this is the attraction that many people have for the vampire myth. I guess this raises a question of who you, and others, identify with in these stories, the vampire or the victim? Is there a gender preference here, I wonder? I have to say that I usually find myself identifying with the fearless vampire slayers, though. I would like to suggest that you read LIGHT AT THE END by Skipp and Spector. This isn't your Count Dracula vampire. He's much more down and dirty than that. There is a character in the story who fancies herself a vampire groupie, or wants to be, mostly because of what you so rightly call "the dark mystique of the vampire myth." Once she does finally meet the vampire, she finds out to her great misfortune, that most myths are just that: myths. Submitted By: Layback76

Guest

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2000 2:47 am Post subject:

I've heard people say that THE LIGHT AT THE END is Skipp & Spector's best book. Would you agree with that Layback? If not, which one would be the best to start with? Submitted By: Mr Self Affliction

Guest

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2000 4:25 am Post subject:

Yea, Mr. SA, I'd have to agree with those people. I think I've read all of Skipp and Spector's stuff and LIGHT is my favorite. It's about a vampire in the subways of New York and the group of people who band together to hunt it down. I gave my copy away years ago so I have a hole in my S&S collection. Submitted By: Layback76

Display posts from previous:

		All times are GMT Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next
Page 2 of 3

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

Horror Literature Forum Search

Edgar Allan Poe Library | Horror Classics Library | Grimm Fairy Tales |
Horror Literature Forum | Horror Literature Quotes