Adventures in Literature, Wednesday, Period Three [Class Eight]

[carpe_demon]

Drake was totally prepared for Halloween -- well, the class room was, at least. Somehow the front of the class was in black and white only (so anyone stepping up to talk to Drake would find themselves suddenly desaturated), completely with the occasional fluttering bat, mists, and the howling of wolves. Drake had the black cape thing going, but he was still wearing jeans and a t-shirt underneath. "Children of the night!" he said around a mouthful of fake fangs. "SHUT UP!" The wolves obediently stopped howling. The blonde woman (who was still in color) sitting off to the side was probably rolling her eyes.

Drake popped the fangs out of his mouth. "How does anybody talk with these?" he complained, tossing them down on his desk. "Anyway, today we're going over Dracula, the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. Fortunately, this time I found out ahead of time that there's someone in Fandom whom Stoker might have based his book upon. Mina Murray will be giving her opinion on the book and answering any questions you might have." Drake snapped his fingers, conjuring up a popcorn machine on one side of the class room. He had a feeling it would come in handy.

"Dracula isn't the first vampire novel," Drake said, "but it's the one that's had the greatest influence on the genre. Feel free to blame Stoker for vampires taking over the young adult section at your local bookstore, but I wouldn't hold him responsible for any sparkling. That just came out of someone else's severely deranged imagination. The book's been interpreted dozens of times in film, from creepy horror" -- and that would be a clip from Nosferatu playing now on a screen at the front of the room -- "to a more romantic and sympathetic bloodsucker" -- and now it was a scene from Bram Stoker's Dracula that had Drake totally fanning himself (Mina? Well, you'd have to ask her) -- "to humor." And a clip from Love at First Bite finished up the trilogy.

"So you've got Dracula," Drake went on, "stuck in his old crumbling castle in Transylvania and itching to move to London. He gets Jonathan Harker to hike out to see him and help him buy property and teach him about the modern Victorian world. Then he dumps Harker in the pit of vampire bimbos and takes off to England, where he starts stalking his fiancée, Mina, and her BFF Lucy. Lucy gets vamped, Jonathan escapes, the good guys rally, and Drac get staked. Or at least that's how it goes in Stoker's book. Ms. Murray is going to tell us how it really went down."


[Syllabus | Class Roster]

Comments

Guest of Honor! [Ail: Class Eight]

[carpe_demon]

Drake was totally getting an autograph by the end of class.

Guest of Honor - Her Take on Things [Ail: Class Eight]

[carpe_demon]

Go ahead and get some popcorn.

Re: Guest of Honor - Her Take on Things [Ail: Class Eight]

[funnyways.livejournal.com]

"Most of Stoker's account is drawn directly from real documents," Mina said. "There are few facts that I can dispute. Though obviously, he tacked on a happier ending when indeed, there was none."

"I stand before you not the loving bride and mother that Stoker invented. Indeed, as you can tell from my name no longer being Mrs. Harker, I have stepped away from the associations with Jonathan. We grew apart after our encounter with the Count. He could only see the monster in me. And eventually that marital distance aggravated many things."

She sighed a little.

"As for the Count himself, well... he was not a foul beast as some silly adaptations portray. He was, above all, an aristocrat. A full blooded and ruthless one, and a monster, yes. But there was a side to him that was powerfully enticing. Erotic, even, if I may be improper for a moment. But even with that, there was a monster. A creature which wished to inflict himself upon London and take it over through spreading his affliction. And that affliction he spread to me."

"There is more too it, of course, but I should open myself up for questions. Please, feel free to be candid and frank."

Guest of Honor - Questions? [Ail: Class Eight]

[carpe_demon]

Any questions?

[Ms. Mina won't be able to tag in until this evening because I fail at planning ahead, so go ahead and ping with any questions you'd have for her, don't wait for her to tag in.]

Re: Guest of Honor - Questions? [Ail: Class Eight]

[living_endless]

"How do you feel about the eternal life thing?" Didi had to ask. "Got plans?"

Re: Guest of Honor - Questions? [Ail: Class Eight]

[funnyways.livejournal.com]

"It is not as alluring as you would think," Mina said. "It becomes harder and harder to cling to what parts of me I consider human, when I think of how much I differ. The longevity will, of course, allow me to accomplish much. But I will always be atoning for the darker sides of my very nature."