REGULARS - The Dracula Society

REGULARS
EDITORIAL .............................................................................................1
RECENT EVENTS .................................................................................2
SCREAMS FROM THE SCREEN ...................................................6
TOMES FROM THE TOMB ..........................................................14
WHISPERS FROM THE WIRELESS ...........................................13
SNIPPETS ................................................................................................20
FEATURES
MIND YOUR LANGUAGES ..........................................................9
CROSSWORD SOLUTION ...........................................................18
THURSDAY 24th JANUARY
A TOAST TO MELANCHOLY –
Byronic readings in the Library,
The Victoria
SATURDAY 1st MARCH
BACK TO THE BOOK/LITERARY
MEETING – A new slot in our calendar
for a meeting of a literary nature: venue
and programme tbc.
SATURDAY 26th APRIL
SPRING MEETING & AGM – venue and
programme tbc.
THURSDAY 5th – MONDAY 9th
JUNE
IN THE WAKE OF THE DEMETER: A
Black Sea Odyssey – a 5 day trip to
Bucharest, Constanta and Varna on the
Black Sea.
Happy New Year to everyone, and welcome to the first Voices of 2008! By the time you read
this, our first new meetings’ calendar change will have been implemented. Many of you I
hope were able to attend our New Year screening, several weeks earlier than in previous
years, (and than announced in the last issue!) and now much more deserving of the title of
“New Year Meeting”. This change was made so that we can fit in an additional regular
meeting at the start of March (actually on the 1st this year), which will be a literary evening.
We hope to see you there for its inaugural outing as part of our regular programme of
events. Our Spring Meeting and AGM will also be a few weeks later from now on, (this year
on April 28th). See you there too!
This issue of Voices sees the return to these pages, after far too long an absence, of our
revered co-Founder President, Bernard Davies. He addresses an issue first raised in
these pages a year ago, so search out your treasured back issue archive if you want to
remind yourself what all the fuss was about! As you would expect, Bernard’s reply was well
worth waiting for.
For the first time we will be promoting our Society merchandise within these pages. We
thought that it was about time that we used this vehicle to remind members of the goodies
on offer. Personally I cannot recommend too highly the wonderful documentary made for the
Society’s 30th Anniversary, now available finally on sparkling digital quality DVD. Made in
2003 by . . . er . . . me, it contains unique and unrepeatable interviews with our founders, a
huge amount of archive footage of past Society trips and events, and every surviving
appearance of the Society on TV. If you don’t have a copy, well what are you waiting for? If
you’ve already got it on VHS, well you need to have it on DVD too (much quicker to skip
through the boring bits!) You know you want it . . .
This is YOUR magazine. Don’t be shy, contribute!
Do you have something to get off your chest? Do you have a review of something Gothic
you’ve loved, or hated? Are you brave enough to disagree with Bernard?! Our address is
inside the back cover.
Enjoy the issue.
- Dave Hawley
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BACK TO THE BOOK :
a DRACULA ‘Question Time’
(Autumn Meeting at The Old Star, St. James’s Park, 29th September 2007)
On the 29th September, our Autumn meeting brought us back to our roots with a lively
exploration of Bram Stoker’s tale Dracula. A 30+ crowd of keen members descended on
The Old Star opposite St. James’s Park tube station, and after enjoying some splendid
food, sat around our ‘Question Time’ panel. In the chair’s role was myself, with our panel of
experts: Berni Stevens, Lorraine Harrison, Jenny McDonald and Melvyn
Stinson. Those who attended heard a lively debate, with a range of questions, but for the
benefit of those who sent in questions but were unable to attend, here is what the panel –
and the audience – had to say in reply:
Jacqueline Simpson asked: “Member Tina Rath had once said that Van Helsing ought to have been
arrested for a series of criminal offences, including breaking and entering, trespass, tomb desecration and
mutilation of corpses. Does the panel agree, and do you consider Van Helsing a dangerous role model for
the young or unbalanced?”
The panel felt that Van Helsing had been brought over from Amsterdam to help and without
him we could all be vampires now! It was also felt that it was only a novel, and that one
could do what one liked when writing something like this. One audience member admitted
that we admire people outside of the law, and another said that one had to throw away the
rule book when you were dealing with Dracula . . .
Debbie Lewington asked: “If Bram had written a follow up novel, how would he have resurrected the
Count, what would have been the main storyline and could he have done it successfully?”
Unfortunately the Question Time clock was ticking down, and there was only a brief chance
for the panel to respond. In general, they thought that the Hammer Films type of
resurrection was possible, remembering the various ways Christopher Lee had been
dispensed with in Hammer’s many film sequels to the story. One panellist alluded to
deleted chapters at the end of the book, which may well have paved the way to a sequel.
My thanks to all the questioners (you know who you are), and apologies to all those who
had sent in questions, which time prevented us from tackling. We will be doing another
evening like this in the future, but maybe taking another famous Gothic work as a subject
for debate on the next occasion.
- Des Bradley
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BACK TO THE BOOK
Right, let’s have a show of hands. Who remembers Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course
on the BBC in the late ‘70s? OK, that’s about half of you. (I’m guessing). Now, for the benefit
of the rest of you, I will explain the premise behind the series. Like all great ideas, the recipe
couldn’t have been simpler (groan!)
Saint Delia, AF, BN, (After Fanny, Before Nigella), as she is known in some circles, would
begin with an introduction to what on the surface seemed like the simplest of culinary tasks.
For example, how to achieve the perfect poached egg or to cook basmati rice that is light
and fluffy. In common with a lot of viewers, I thought, “I don’t want this young whippersnapper
telling me how to cook things I have been doing quite happily for years”! However, as the
weeks progressed and I along with the rest of the nation stuck with her, we all began to
approach cooking in a whole new light. Her down to earth presentation and enthusiasm
reminded you of your favourite teacher at school. The rest, as they say, is history and she
went on to become the Big Cheese at Norwich Football Club.
Well, I hear you say, what has all this got to do with the title at the top of this report? Allow
me to explain. I have a confession to make. When I first heard that the autumn meeting was
going to be BACK TO THE BOOK, my heart sank. I had been in the audience on two
previous such evenings and I felt that they just did not work, with large passages from
Dracula being read out and very little response from the audience. It was as dry as a biscuit
(I must stop thinking about food).
Then I received the flier in the post: ‘A DRACULA QUESTION TIME!’. . . It all sounded rather
different. With an invitation to submit a question beforehand, the panel would be answering
questions in the dark, as it were, and so had to rely on their knowledge, experience and
imagination. On the evening, the role of David (or Jonathan) Dimbleby was filled by Des
Bradley. The four volunteer panellists (King’s Shilling Method) were made up of brave
Society members Jenny Macdonald, Lorraine Harrison, Melvyn Stinson and
Berni (‘curse the passing of the glass bottomed tankard’*) Stevens. After lashings of beef,
vegetable casserole, jacket potatoes, salad and pasta, the evening was off to a good start.
Kate Haynes was Keeper of ‘The Book’ – and also the time. Des had pointed out in his
introduction that he had received more questions than time would allow, but would move
proceedings along as swiftly as possible.
From the very start I could see that this was going to be a very different B2TB. The questions
were well thought out and ranged from “Did the panel think Van Helsing was a dangerous role model
for the young or unbalanced?” (from Folklorist & Writer, Jacqueline Simpson), to “Is the book
too top-heavy with male protagonists?” (from Broadcaster, Donna Dawson). The general
consensus of opinion on the first question was that – yes he was, but that he had to be to
defeat Dracula! In answer to the latter question, the overall view was that it was not. This
same question elicited my favourite quote of the evening, coming from Bernard Davis,
* A reference to the press gangs of old, we’re reliably informed!
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when he asserted in his usual authoritative manner: “The only real man in the book is Mina”.
Top-heavy indeed!
The formal Q&A lasted just over an hour – it just flew by. I cannot remember an event with
so much input from the audience. It was a great showcase for Society members, whose
knowledge in the genre was displayed to great effect – most notably Society member Clive
Popkin, who hitherto has mostly been known for his love of Hammer Films. Here he
demonstrated his detailed understanding of the book and the life of Bram Stoker.
Most members lingered long after the little white dot on the television had disappeared,
wanting to continue what had been a very entertaining Delia/Dimbleby evening. Many thanks
to all involved. I for one would be delighted if this event became an annual feature in the
Society’s calendar.
- Mark S. Rebot
Graphic by Berni Stevens
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Celebrating 30 years of
The Dracula Society
Featuring interviews, film and television footage
compiled over three decades of the Society’s history,
this hour long documentary (with bonus ‘extras’!) is
a fascinating look at what we have done, and where
we have been since our birth in 1973!
B UY I T O N D V D N OW !
Only £7.50 plus 50p p&p
Orders to:
Dave Hawley,
Flat 3,
Ashfield Court,
113 The Grove,
Ealing,
London W5 3SN
Cheques made payable to
THE DRACULA SOCIETY
5
NOSFERATU
- with live music by Darryn Harkness
This event was touring around a number of cinemas in October and I was able to see it at
the Picturehouse at FACT in Liverpool.
Darryn Harkness is a member of the band Serafin (with whom I am not familiar) and his
soundtrack to the film consisted of electric piano, guitar - mostly played with a violin bow and a small amount of snare drum. It mostly creates an atmosphere to go with the film, rather
than introducing musical themes for each character as many film soundtracks do. If anyone
has heard any music by the late ‘70s band, The Doctors of Madness, they would have
some idea of the sound of the electric guitar played with the bow, as the electric viola
featured heavily for the Doctors. Some of the John Cale era Velvet Underground
came to mind as well.
It was certainly a suitable backdrop for the film, never being intrusive but blending in with the
images to create a memorable viewing of the film. I have not seen it on the big screen for a
long time and really enjoyed it, as did the whole audience, who did not giggle during the
speeded up coach scenes or any of the captions (“your wife has a lovely neck”), as some
modern audiences tend to do.
All in all, I can certainly recommend this soundtrack to the film, which can be bought via the
musicians’ web site.
- Alan Brown
6
DRACULA
(UK, 1958)
Director: Terence Fisher
Cast: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Melissa Stribling,
Michael Gough
(Cert. 12A / Release date: 2 Nov 2007)
What better way to mark the 50th anniversary of Hammer Horror than with the re-release of
Dracula – not only Hammer’s first take on the Bram Stoker classic, but undoubtedly its finest.
Thanks to the BFI National Archive, a new generation of cinemagoers can now enjoy director
Terence Fisher’s vampire saga in a brilliantly restored version. Blood and gore never looked
more appetising!
However, UK critics had a very different opinion upon the film’s original release: “There
should be a new certificate – S for sadistic or just D for disgusting”, warned an outraged Daily
Telegraph, whilst the Daily Express branded it “one of the most revolting pictures in years!”
7
Mercifully, the public paid little attention to what the critics said and enthusiastically cheered
rather than sneered. Dracula (shot on a shoestring budget of £82,000) turned into a box
office smash!
So what was the fuss about? Was it the fact that Hammer’s version took its liberties with the
source (thus upsetting Stoker purists), or was it the daring concoction of graphic horror and
sex (thus upsetting the moralists)? The answer is: both. To begin with, Jimmy Sangster’s
screenplay adaptation had to be cut and restricted due to the budget, or rather, the lack of
it. After a terrifying opening in Dracula’s castle (emphasised through James Bernard’s
legendary score), the action then switches to nearby Karlstadt – as opposed to Whitby in
Yorkshire. “I didn’t bring Dracula to England because we couldn’t afford a boat” remarked
Sangster later on. Insect-munching lunatic Renfield is completely absent, while high-flying
estate agent Jonathan Harker (played by John van Eyssen in this version) downshifted to a
humble librarian. None of these changes, however, do Hammer’s fast-paced version any
harm thanks to Christopher Lee’s menacing performance, while a further stellar cast
contributes to a bloodcurdling 82 minutes of terror.
The action kicks off with Harker arriving at the castle, posing as a librarian employed to sort
out the Count’s collection when really he’s on a mission to destroy the evil Dracula forever.
He – as well as the audience – will soon find out just how evil things will turn when
Christopher Lee’s looming silhouette appears at the top of a staircase. The mock-librarian
further gets acquainted with a buxom beauty claiming to be the Count’s captive. Valerie
Gaunt – Hammer’s original vampire babe – is truly mesmerising in playing out her wanton
lust to the max. Unfortunately, her seductive powers will save neither her nor Harker from a
sticky end, and soon Professor Van Helsing, whose character is given a clever twist by Peter
Cushing’s fierce portrayal, sets off to search for his missing friend. Meanwhile, the Count
has discovered the Holmwood household and with it Lucy (Carol Marsh) – his next victim.
As he enters her bedroom it becomes clear she enjoys his nocturnal bites, while Lee’s
Dracula is not just a cold-blooded animal but also a skilled seducer – thus establishing the
then 38-year-old actor as the new superstar of Gothic horror. Indeed, Lee once remarked
that this first Dracula vehicle was to remain his favourite, as “it would allow me to speak
proper sentences”. After Lucy’s transformation into a vampire and her unsuccessful attempt
to abduct little Tania (Janina Faye) she, too, comes to a sticky end at the hands of Van
Helsing and Arthur Holmwood (Michael Gough). Not content with the terror he already
brought upon the household, the Count moves on to seduce and kidnap Arthur’s wife.
Melissa Stribling is simply terrific as Mina Holmwood, laughing off her husband’s concern
about how pale she looks when we already know who causes her deadly pallor. In a
breathtaking finale back in the castle, Dracula and his opponents get together for the
ultimate showdown – while the impact of the movie spawned eight sequels from ‘The House
That Dripped Blood’.
- Claudia Andrei
NB: Thanks too, to Monica Wightman, for
supplying a press cutting about the re-release
of the film.
8
Mind Your Languages
I was struck by the queries raised and the general tone of bewilderment revealed by
Katherine Haynes’ review of Jamie Poole’s book Vampire In Our Midst, accompanied by an
appeal from our then Editor in parenthesis. (VOICES FROM THE VAULTS Winter 2006/7 –
Ed). It seems a pity that, after so many years and umpteen visits to Transylvania, the true
picture of that land in relation to Dracula, (both as a novel and as a media property, subject
to endless tinkering) should still be so imperfectly understood.
Naturally one makes allowances for the many newer, much younger members, who have
joined the Society since its early days. However, a plea of blank, resigned frustration from
senior lady members – generally reckoned the keenest and most vampiric readers in our
ranks – is a more serious matter. The Editors have kindly allowed me to try, if I can, to shed
some light into the dark corners of the subject. I may also be able to sort out some of the
sidelights of show-business, but it is a complicated ride. So hang on to your hats!
Of course it is true that Transylvania, with Prince Dracula’s birthplace in Sighisoara, was not
part of Romania in the 1890s. It was an ancient principality attached to the Hungarian
Crown. Yet ethnic Romanians or Wallachians lived scattered all over it, as in many other
parts of the Balkans as well. Members of the Basaraba house, Dracula’s princely family, had
at times held estates there. In the 15th century, as the King of Hungary’s liege-man, he
himself held two dukedoms and castles there, those of Amnas and Fagaras (not the
impressively restored Fagaras Castle that can be seen today, which dates from the 16th
century.) For these he did service as “Transalpine Voivode”, personally organizing and
administering the lower quarter of the Principality south of the Tirnava River, the “Terra
Blachorum” which was historically the densest area of settlement of Wallachians in
Transylvania. It also however, contained thousands of “Saxons”, German colonists as well,
in towns like Sighisoara. This conveniently put a defensive barrier of non-Hungarian peoples
on both sides of the mountains under a unified command. King Matthias was no fool.
Whoever occupied the Wallachian throne effectively ruled here as well, not the Voivode of
Transylvania.
In 1476, newly released from long imprisonment by Matthias and restored to his princely
throne, Vlad Dracula was raring to go. On November 8th – coincidentally Bram Stoker's
birthday – he addressed a letter, not only to the leaders of the privileged German colonies
of the region, but also to his fellow Wallachians, who enjoyed no privileges at all . . . It was
a stirring call for unity, both in trade and defence. “I have overthrown our enemy, Laiota, who
has fled to the Turks. God has freed the way for us. Come with bread, with merchandise and
with foodstuffs, for God has made us now one country...” One country. A dreamtime phrase,
but alas, it was not to be. Dracula had made far too many enemies among his boyars and
within a month or so he was dead. It would be another 120 years before a prince of the
9
Dracula blood, descended from Vlad's half-brother, actually united the three principalities
under his rule. He was Romania's greatest national hero, Michael the Brave. Again it was
but briefly.
The treacherous Bathory clan, who dominated so much of Transylvania, were soon
intriguing with the Poles (who were then much better known for plotting than for plumbing)
and Prince Michael was shortly afterwards mysteriously murdered. The dream would only
become a reality in 1919.
Meanwhile Transylvania was to remain an extraordinary Babel... Hungarian, German,
Romanian and different varieties of Slav speech have all been spoken there, as well as in
other Romanian lands, since the Dark Ages. To them were added the tongues of other, later
in-comers, such as the Asiatic nomads and the Gipsies All of these are sharply
differentiated, being only distantly related, if at all. At no time did any of them appear to have
become "more like" any other, although they borrowed words from each other quite freely.
For a start, Hungarian or Magyar was unlike any other language in Europe, its only close
relatives being two thousand miles away beyond the Urals in the Ob River Basin of Western
Siberia. German and the ancestors of Slav languages were connected, but only remotely,
and comprehension between them was virtually nil. Romanian too was very, very distantly
related to all of them, but you would be hard put to recognize the fact. Another snag was,
that while Prince Dracula, when alive, could compose his thoughts in his ancestral tongue,
he could not write them down.
Medieval Wallachian was then still an unwritten patois, half of it based on the rustic Balkan
Latin bequeathed to the nomadic Dacian shepherds by the retired Roman legionaries who
had settled there in large numbers when the armies withdrew in A.D.271 - the Veterani
(Romanian batrin = "old"). It also contained some ancient Dacian words. Its earliest known
document is a letter dated "1521". The other, larger half consisted of a mass of vocabulary
borrowed from Old Slavonic, the literary and religious language of the Macedonian Slavs,
devised for them by Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 8th century in imitation of Greek. As
this remained the language of worship for the Orthodox Romanians too, right up until the
late 17th century, it naturally had great prestige and influence, becoming the official and
administrative language of their principalities as well. With the development of writing a
standardized Romanian slowly took a couple of hundred years to come into its own.
This is where our then Editor showed herself to be pretty smart, when she concluded that
"more than likely Dracula was multi-lingual anyway..." He certainly needed Old Slavonic for
more than just his prayers… Like most royalty he was unbelievably out-bred. To start with,
he had generations of Serbian and Bulgarian cousins galore. He had French genes and to
complement them, a few English ones too!
10
BACK TO THE BOOK
ABOVE:
The BTTB Panel left to right: Melvyn Stinson, Jenny MacDonald, Lorraine Harrison, Quizmaster Des Bradley and Berni Stevens.
BELOW:
Lorraine, Des and Berni.
THE BRAM STOKER DINNER
ABOVE:
DS Member Julia Kruk (left) with actress Carol Marsh (Lucy in the 1958 Hammer film of Dracula)
Author John Llewellyn Probert receiving the DS Children of the Night Award for his book,
The Faculty of Terror.
THE CHRISTMAS PARTY
DS member Lois Berman and Bob Palmer show off their raffle prizes– and empty bottles – at the Christmas
Party which was held at The Victoria.
His scribes took care of his correspondence of course, and to Western countries they wrote
not in Slavonic, but in Latin. (Latin indeed retained an important role in the Austro-Hungarian
Empire right up until the late 19th century, being still used between scholars of the different
races, just as it had been in the Middle Ages.) He had also married for a second time to a
relative of the Hungarian King, so his Magyar could not have been so rusty. The language
came close to dying out after his death, following Mohacs and the Turkish occupation of
four-fifths of the country, gradually regaining ground with the 18th century as the Habsburg
re-conquest advanced.
In the Transylvanian melting-pot, however, the polite language had by then become German
among the educated classes. Having been raised in the German colonial city of Schässburg
(Sighisoara), young Vlad would have acquired some of the antiquated Rhineland dialect
spoken there, but over the next two or three hundred years he would have needed to polish
it up a bit.
It was only practical after all. Take that scene in the book at Castle Dracula, where “the
Count” is berating his three vampire consorts – no doubt of assorted racial origins. He is
clearly addressing them in German, the only language that they probably had in common
and certainly the only one that eaves-dropping Jonathan Harker could have understood a
word of.
I make that at least four languages, besides which as a youngster Dracula must have
become fairly fluent in Turkish while held as a hostage along with his younger brother, Radu.
Much later we know that he also controlled a fierce band of gipsies. Gipsies of course were
traditionally multi-lingual themselves, preferring to keep their own Romani speech (which
rather confusingly has nothing whatever to do with Romanian!) a secret. However, we
cannot be sure. With his quaint, stilted English that would have been six or seven languages
that he might have acquired. Mind you, he had had 400 years in which to do it. Which of
them he would have been most likely to break into is anyone's guess. His mood of the
moment might well have dictated that. Stage and film directors can only take pot-luck!
I therefore have no problem with Gary Oldman rattling off his Romanian to please Francis
Ford Coppola, any more than I object to my fellow Founder-President, Bruce Wightman,
leaning out of a coach, beard first, doing the same. That was in Louis Jourdan’s 1977 TV
version, back in the days when the BBC still knew how to adapt effectively and had not been
reduced to “spoofing” the Gothics. There are traps for the unwary, however, even in a single
word.
In Universal’s remake of Dracula (1979) Frank Langella as “the Count” scornfully dismisses
the drowned crew of the "Demeter" (courtesy of Stoker) with the words: “They were
Romanians... I am Shekel!” Oh dear! The perils and pitfalls of being a studio dialogue coach!
That Hungarian word “Szekely”, for example. No one has been able to pronounce it ever
since Bram insisted on using it in Chapter 3. Thirty years ago Peter Wyngarde, in his
11
own stage adaptation, chose to use it as an exotic alias. With the rest of the cast following
suit, it came out as “Count Such-a-kelce”! Now... Take a deep breath and say after me –
“Sack-ay-ee”, with the Magyar stress on the “Sack”. Easy.
In the novel Stoker has “the Count” apparently posing as a Szekely, possibly to try and
confuse and mislead Harker. Yet it is not so far-fetched a notion as it seems. Nothing is
known of the identity or origins of Prince Vlad’s mother or grandmother; one or other at least
could have been of aristocratic Szekely descent, as more distantly are our present Prince
of Wales and Princes William and Harry. The well-known Szekely surname of Ördög,
meaning Devil’s kin or offspring, is the Magyar equivalent of the Wallachian Draculea and
might signify a different branch of the progeny of Vlad's father, Vlad Dracul, or “Vlad the
Devil”.
The Szekelys are perhaps the only true Transylvanians, for they have guarded its frontiers
for centuries and claim allegiance only to its sacred soil and to no one outside. Least of all
to the Hungarians whose tongue they long ago adopted, just like the other nomad tribes
from Asia – the Pechenegs, the Kumans and the Jasz, who sought refuge in Hungary’s vast
plains. Prominent clans, such as the Ördögs joined Michael the Brave’s banner in 1595,
sharing in his campaigns. Following his victory over Cardinal Andreas Bathory at Selimbar,
near Sibiu, in 1599 they waylaid and killed the treacherous prelate. For this crime the Pope
anathemized and excommunicated the entire Szekely nation for a hundred years. The
Szekelys didn’t care. They simply turned Unitarian in droves!
By 1867 the Habsburgs’ fortunes were at a low ebb and they were obliged to grant
Hungarian demands for a free hand in Transylvania. Its ancient charters of privilege and
unique system of land tenure were abolished and it was carved up into unhistorical, bitesized counties, indistinguishable from the rest of Hungary. Maps, atlases, place-names and
railway timetables, all were changed, while Magyar was made the compulsory language in
all schools and intended to be the only official language in the future.
The Great War of 1914-18 changed things yet again. On the losing side, Austria and
Hungary shrank into two detached rumps with more or less uniform, monoglot populations,
while Romania was at last able to incorporate Transylvania. The old Principality could not
be restored, so the counties remained. It even survived losing its northern half under the
Nazis between 1940 and 1944.
After World War II the intentions of the Marxist-Nationalist regime in Romania became
clearer. Many Transylvanian Germans re-emigrated to “the old country” which their
forebears had left 700 years before, while ethnic Romanians were bussed in from Wallachia
and Moldavia to fill up the gaps. Yet even today the situation has not completely changed.
Transylvania is still a fascinating patchwork of peoples – Ukrainians, Serbs, Slovaks,
Szekelys – all Romanian citizens. Armenians even. (The Society’s first and favourite driver,
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the late George Vartanov, was really George Vartanian.) But then, Dracula was a
fascinating patch-work himself.
His Basaraba ancestors were almost certainly of Kuman Turkic origin. He was also a bit
Russian, French, Viking, English, Ancient Briton, Hungarian and Tatar. . . at least. I often
said to the Romanians that it’s no good trying to keep him to themselves. His D.N.A. was
so mixed up, he was a citizen of the world! That’s why he made it his oyster so successfully.
To further emphasise the point, I feel I should mention that at least one of the imperial
dynasties of Byzantium with whom his ancestors had inter-married were more than likely
part-Jewish. Remember Alfie Bass in The Dance of the Vampires? (“Oy, veh! Wrong
vampire!”) Well, you did ask . . .
- Bernard Davies
(November 2007)
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Fangland
John Marks
Vintage, 2007, pbk., £7.99. ISBN 978-0-099502-77-7
This, in my view, is a truly disappointing read – a novel where the blurb on the back of the
cover is the best thing about it! And the plot sounded so promising too: a US TV news
reporter called Evangeline Harker, travelling to Eastern Europe to meet a mysterious
warlord/corrupt leader/repulsive old freak . . . Fill in the blanks – yes, you’ve guessed it, this
is an updated version of Dracula. But before you head off to acquire a copy, let me warn
you that this is not Gothic horror nor is it a resonant palimpsest of the original. It is just a
turgid, repulsive, convoluted book that will, however, send you to sleep if you suffer from
insomnia.
John Marks has made use of some of the structural devices of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but
he has done so without wit or ingenuity. As a novel inspired by Dracula, Fangland
compares very poorly with a novel like Elizabeth Kostova’s superb novel The Historian. I
know that members of the Dracula Society were divided over The Historian, but at least
Kostova’s novel, arguably, had a powerful sense of place, a well-constructed plot and
characters about whom it was possible to care. In addition, the book was based on ten
years research and travel, not to mention passion for the subject, and the author managed
to make the Dracula theme her own. With FANGLAND, in contrast, I had the impression that
John Marks couldn’t think of his own plot, so he just ripped off someone else’s. Not only has
he made lazy use of Bram Stoker, I’ve a strong suspicion he’s borrowed a notion or two from
Kostova when it comes to aligning the vampire with international terrorism and abuse of
political power.
John Marks worked for a US TV news channel and it shows – not in a positive way. His
characters are deeply unsympathetic: Evangeline, a hard-nosed, sarcastic US TV reporter,
makes a lousy heroine and if she’d been ravished and murdered on page 100 (she isn’t), it
would have been a relief. There’s no-one else to care about either. I don’t know why I
struggled through this peculiar mix of schlock and tedium to the bitter end, but I finished it
with a sigh of relief and will not be recommending this book to anyone!
- Sue Gedge
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Ghostwalk
Rebecca Stott
Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2007, hbk., £12.99. ISBN 978-0-297851-36-3
After the death of an historian, her son (a research scientist) asks his ex-mistress to
complete the book his mother was working on. The book is about the alchemical societies
of seventeenth century Europe and how the young Isaac Newton was assisted by them
during his early days at Cambridge. While working on the manuscript, Lydia (the ex) starts
to find herself at the centre of events echoing those of three hundred years earlier.
Rebecca Stott is a Professor of English Literature at Anglia Ruskin University (previously
the poly’) in Cambridge, and has previously written non-fiction books on Victorian literature
– and even a cultural history of the oyster. At a recent talk that she gave, she declared that
one of the starting points for this novel was finding a footnote in a biography of Newton
about a series of mysterious deaths that had proved advantageous to his career. She also
said that the book had involved a lot of research – for instance, into the history of Newton’s
prism, now on display in the Whipple Museum. (Well worth a visit if you are ever in
Cambridge). In her talk, the author admitted that, while a fan of M.R. James, it was to Henry
James that the book looked for its particular style of the ghostly. The first real manifestation
does not appear until almost halfway through the book. At times, while reading the tale, I
wanted to yell at the narrator to not be so stupid and trusting, as many of the characters are
later found to be duplicitous. Regarding style and atmosphere, however, the scenes set in
fens that I have visited or travelled through were particularly evocative.
I know that local Rosicrucians still hold Newton – being a Lincolnshire lad – in high esteem:
I wonder if this book might make others re-appraise his career?
- Bathsheba Flourish
Greywalker
Kat Richardson
Piatkus, December 2007, pbk, £6.99 (ISBN 978-0-749938-96-3).
Previously published in the US by Roc, 2006
OK . . . this is where I hold my hands up in surrender and admit to liking a book where the
heroine sees dead people . . .
Greywalker is the first book in a trilogy by Kat Richardson, all of which feature Harper Blaine
a private investigator – (they do all seem to be detectives of some sort don’t they?)
Harper is brutally beaten up whilst questioning a suspect and actually dies for two minutes.
15
As we all know, those two minutes can make a lot of difference and in Harper’s case, she
begins to see weird things all around her in everyday Seattle. She sees terrifying shapes
emerging from a dank, grey mist – shapes that evolve into snarling, evil creatures. At first
she assumes the beating has given her irreparable brain damage – well you would,
wouldn’t you?
Unfortunately for Harper, she’s neither brain-damaged nor crazy and her two minutes of
death have transformed her into a Greywalker. This means that she is able to move
between our world and the mysterious netherworld where vampires, ghosts, necromancers
and werewolves exist in a realm dominated by witchcraft. Sometimes she can see both
worlds running parallel together – which makes crossing the road even more dangerous
than usual!
This book is well-written, sharp and exciting. There’s plenty of action and lots of paranormal
surprises which lift it above other books in the genre. It seems there’s yet another category
emerging from the US – Urban Fantasy – which thankfully means not everything is
paranormal (and erotic) romance.
Kat has earned comparisons to Jim Butcher, Tanya Huff and Charlaine Harris, but
personally I thought she was streets ahead of both Huff and Harris and definitely on a par
with Butcher. An example of a contemporary paranormal thriller at its best.
- Berni Stevens
‘Non-stop action . . . a great heroine, and enough
paranormal complications to keep
you on the edge of your seat’
CHARLAINE HARRIS
Meet Harper
Harper Blaine.
Blaine.
Meet
She sees
sees dead
dead people
people .. .. ..
She
16
From an exclusive design by artist and honorary Life Member,
KEN BARR, the Society’s postcard depicts scenes and characters from
Stoker’s Dracula, cleverly incorporated into the face of ‘The Count’*.
* Please note that the copyright line will not be printed across the postcards
These postcards are now available at the following prices:
Single postcards @ 30p each, 12 postcards for £3
To order, send a cheque made payable to The Dracula Society, with your name and
address and how many you would like. Orders of twelve can either be sent out for an
extra 50p p&p, or can be collected at Society Meetings.
A collection of short stories written by DS members,
with a striking cover illustrated by Ken Barr.
Price only £2.50 plus 50p p&p
Orders to:
The Treasurer,
The Dracula Society,
213 Wulfstan Street,
East Acton,
London
W12 0AB
Many thanks to all those puzzlers out there who entered my prize crossword in the Autumn
edition of Voices. It was a first for me and, I think, for Voices, so your feedback and any
comments would be most welcome. I really enjoyed setting it and if you would like to see
more in the future, please let us know.
Our honoured guest, actress Carol Marsh (Lucy in Hammer’s 1958 Dracula) plucked the
winning entry out of the hat at the Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner on 10th November. The
lucky winner was Melvyn Stinson. The mystery prize was a copy of Bram Stoker’s
Dracula – Sucking Through The Century by Carol Margaret Davison. One of the
contributors to this book, who talks extensively about the Dracula Society, was our very own
Bernard Davies, who duly signed this fascinating book for the winner.
- Bill Southeron
18
M.R. James at Christmas and A Warning
to the Furious
BBC Radio 4, Christmas 2007
With the turning of the year the BBC has half a tradition of ghost stories, and once again
they chose to adapt the works of M.R. James. Dramatised by Chris Harrald and introduced
by Derek Jacobi, these 15-minute plays formed part of Woman’s Hour, with a repeat in the
evening. The first – on Christmas Eve – was Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,
where the production chose to change the ending. The second was The Tractate Middoth,
in which – for no reason – they changed the date of the book and added a plague of
spiders not found in the original tale. The third was Lost Hearts (a favourite of mine, being
set in Aswarby Hall in Lincolnshire which was demolished in the 1970s). In this version,
they created a second framing sequence (after Jacobi’s introduction), a new character, and
pointlessly changed the hurdy-gurdy to a concertina, as well as the month in which the
terrible incidents occurred – though this was to make them happen at Christmas to
coincide with the broadcast date. The fourth story was The Rose Garden, in which the
surnames of the main characters were changed. The last to be broadcast was Number 13:
the pointless changes here were the name of the innkeeper and the ending of the story.
I had to wonder why, if the original tales needed so many ‘improvements’, they bothered
in the first place!
A much better effort was the afternoon play A Warning to the Furious (28th December) by
Robin Brookes and produced and directed by Fiona McAlpine. In this, a feminist filmmaker
and her crew journey to Aldeburgh to make a documentary about M.R. James. Whilst she
has her own agenda, the proprietor of a local bookshop has secrets that he might wish to
share. There is a running joke in that whenever her assistant asks if the filmmaker has read
a particular story, she has to admit that she’s not read that one. This play more than made
up for the shoddy nature of the series of ‘adaptations’. If either were to be discussed with
a view to being nominated for the Hamilton Deane Award, this play is the one,
whereas the series deserves to be consigned to a crypt from whence it might never trouble
us again.
- Bathsheba Flourish
19
THE GHOST OF BRAY
The following item comes via Renee Glynne, responsible for Continuity at Hammer Films
throughout its history, and now a fully-fledged member of the Society. It forms part of a letter
from a retired Assistant Director, Joe Marks, and was published in a recent edition of the
Veterans Magazine . . .
“[regarding] the Ghost of Bray, I was later told the full story – that, in the days of olde, long
before it was a film studio or the Kit Kat Club, two people were playing a game of hide and
seek – one of them hid in a cupboard and could not get out. He was never seen again until
his Ghost started to appear at Bray many years later from behind a bricked up wall at the
top of the stairs. The ‘grey shadow’ that brushed close to my shoulder still haunts me. I did
not scream – I only felt the cold trickle of sweat running down my back, as he appeared to
be quite harmless – although, with a sword at his side, you never know. Funny thing is that
the actor Edward de Souza and the make up man whom I went to bring onto the set were
sitting quietly in their chairs. To me, the thick oak-panelled door of Jimmy Evans’ make up
room was open, just partly – but it wasn’t, according to Jimmy, as he always locked the room
when he left, even showing me the key. So it seems the Ghost of Bray must have walked
through the door.”
- Joe M. Marks,
Shepperton, Middlesex
A REMINDER TO MEMBERS
The Dracula Society respectfully reminds its members that any communication
with representatives of The Media - whether on screen, audio or in print – regarding
the Society and its activities, must first be approved by an Officer of the Committee.
Members may film or record Society events and meetings for their personal or private
use, and where guest speakers have given prior permission. Such recordings are
copyright and remain the property of the member concerned.
20
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The
Dracula Society
Website: www.thedraculasociety.org.uk
Contributions for VOICES FROM THE VAULTS
email: [email protected]
(Please use Arial 14pt, justified text )
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Nothing accepted for the Spring Issue after 10 March 2008
Design by Berni Stevens
Front cover photograph of Lord Byron (1788-1824) by Neurdin