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From Independent UK ( this is great fun )
Once upon a time, they were monsters to be feared. But nowadays, they are cool, sexy creatures with great hair and killer cheekbones – and what’s more, they’re everywhere...Kevin Jackson gets his teeth into the A-Z of vampires
A is for Aristocrat
These days, the word "vampire" is likely to summon up images of a brooding high-school boy with killer cheekbones (Robert Pattinson in the Twilight films), or a macho Southern dude with killer cheekbones (Stephen Moyer in True Blood), or a beautiful young athlete with killer cheekbones (Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld movies, or Sarah Michelle Geller in the Buffy TV series). But for most of the past 200 years, the word evoked a tall, dark gentleman with exquisite manners (when he wasn't tearing open your jugular) and some highly desirable real estate. In short, the vampire was the aristocrat of monsters, the toff of terror. This would have seemed a bizarre idea to even earlier generations, for whom the vampire was a brutish and repellent thing, more like the zombies of our cinematic folklore than most of the vampires we know and half-love. What changed the creature of rotting rags and still more rotten flesh into the suave, elegant stalker of grand houses? Answer: the late Romantics, and one in particular, which is why ...
B is for Byron
Related articles
Britain has been the home of vampire myths for more than eight centuries – the tale of the Alnwick vampire dates from the 12th century – but the creature only enters English literature in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in poems by Coleridge ("Christabel"), Southey and Byron. And it was Byron who wrote the very first vampire story in our literature, albeit a brief one. Byron jotted it down during the notorious "Haunted Summer" of 1816, when he lodged at the Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva with Shelley and others; it was this same sojourn which later inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. Byron's fragment was picked up, adapted and developed by his personal doctor, John Polidori, who published this longer tale as The Vampyre – and the floodgates opened. The Vampyre was a best-seller across Europe, and particularly in France, where it was widely believed not only that Byron was the author, but that it was autobiographical.
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Fangs for the memories: The A-Z of vampires
Go Ask Dallas: Sookie and Halloween
Ok, first to the trivia question ?
What Sookie book/story happens on Halloween ?
Hint : There are 2 right answers
I'll give you the correct answer(s) tomorrow (if no one post its in the comments) but here are a couple of great Halloween book quotes from books 3 & 8
In Club Dead: Sookie says to Alcide about the Club "They can come in? Regular people?" I asked, nodding toward the single metal door. It looked as uninviting as a door can look. There was no name anywhere on it, or on the building, for that matter. No Christmas decorations, either. (Of course, vampires don'tobserve holidays, e xcept for Halloween. It's the ancient festival of Samhain dressed up in trappings that the vamps find delightful. So Halloween's a great favorite, and it's celebrated worldwide in the vamp community.
Then in Dead to Worse:
We see this scene "Did you get an invitation for the Fangtasia Halloween party this year?" he asked. "No. After the last party they invited me to, they might not want me to come back,"
I said. "Besides, with all the recent losses, I don't know if Eric'll feel like celeb
Sam looked in the direction of the bar as if he could see through the walls.
"That sounds good. Make a thing of it." Ordinarily we only decorated for Christmas, and that only after Thanksgiving, at Sam's insistence. Then the next evening this : There weren't too many houses between mine and Merlotte's, but all of them had ghosts hanging from trees, inflated plastic pumpkins in the yard,and a real pumpkin or two sitting on the front porch.
The Prescotts had a sheaf of corn, a bale of hay, and some ornamental squash and pumpkins arranged artfully on the front lawn. I made a mental memo to tell Lorinda Prescott how attractive it was when next I saw her at Wal-Mart or the postoffice.
I worked too hard the rest of the night to think about any of the interesting things that had happened that day. After the patrons all left, even Jane Bodehouse (her son came to get her), we put out the Halloween decorations.
Sam had gotten a little pumpkin for each table and painted a face on each one. I was filled with admiration, because the faces were really clever, and some of them looked like bar patrons. In fact, one looked a lot like my dear brother. "I had no idea you could do this," I said, and he looked pleased. "It was fun," he said, and hung a long strand of fall leaves- of course, they were actually made of cloth-around the bar mirror and among some of the bottles.
I tacked up a life-size cardboard skeleton with little rivets at the joints so it could be positioned. I arranged this one so it was clearly dancing. We couldn't have any depressing skeletons at the bar. We had to have happy ones.
BOOK REVIEW 'The Vampire Archives,'
From LA Times
"You have heard, no doubt, of the appalling superstition that prevails in Upper and Lower Styria, in Moravia, Silesia, in Turkish Serbia, in Poland, even in Russia; the superstition, so we must call it, of the vampire," wrote Sheridan Le Fanu in his classic "Carmilla," first serialized in London in 1871 and 1872. It's not just Le Fanu's language that feels antique but his ethos and geography.
Vampires no longer appall us or even stir superstitions; these days a vampire is much more likely to rise up in a high school corridor than from the graveyard mists of some decaying Eastern European pile. Audiences still want their vampires to inspire fear, but they also need them to be human, maybe better than human. Suddenly, and weirdly, vampires feel as integral to the culture as burger chains, except the undead don't chow down on Big Macs.
In "The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published," editor Otto Penzler assembles 80-plus stories that offer a survey of the genre from the early 1800s to the present day. Byron wrote a vampire poem, as did Samuel Taylor Coleridge (the wonderfully erotic and spooky "Christabel"), likewise John Keats, whose "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" Penzler includes
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Vampire-hunting in New Orleans
New Orleans' steamy streets, Gothic buildings and voodoo myths have made it the setting of scary tales for decades
On Chestnut and First, in the Garden District of New Orleans, stands a handsome Greek revival mansion with Ionic and Corinthian columns and arches of ornate, lacy ironwork. Until a few years ago, it was the home of Anne Rice, high priestess of popular vampiric fiction and author of Interview with the Vampire, who, more than anyone, is responsible for making the Crescent City a tourist mecca for willingly gullible devotees of spookiness and the supernatural.
Rice assumed the role of Queen of the Night with brio: she would turn up to book signings in a quilted coffin, and once staged her own mock funeral at Lafayette Cemetery No 1, complete with horse-drawn hearse and a brass band playing dirges. She opened her elegant home to the public every Monday, and adoring fans clad in black would queue around the block to see the macabre artefacts it was stuffed with, including a lemur skeleton and a collection of evil-looking antique dolls, set out in rooms painted mauve and fuschia.
Guides offering tours to "Haunted New Orleans", who built their itineraries around a visit to Rice's mansion, were decidedly glum when the writer left the city five years ago, just before Katrina hit. She is, after all, one of the world's bestselling authors, and her feverish page-turners brought in hordes of visitors eager to experience the city's gothic atmospherics, along with its celebrated Creole food and jazz. This year, First Street offered rather more pedestrian fare in the run-up to Halloween: when I walked around the Garden District – it's an unmissable part of the city – a fortnight ago, I saw only pumpkins, plastic skulls hanging from porches, and the odd Frankenstein's monster tied to a tree.
True Blood goes to the movies:" Beyond the pole " starring Alexander Skarsgard
- Screenplay By:Neil Warhurst, Co-writer David L Willia
ms
- Directed By:David L Williams
- Produced By:David L Williams and Andrew Curtis
- Awards:Spirit Award nomination (Warsaw International Film Festival) World Cinema nomination (Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival)
- Plot Outline:A documentary film crew follows the first Carbon Neutral, Vegetarian, Organic expedition to the North Pole. Ever.An arctic comedy/disaster movie Beyond the Pole is Withnail and I on ice, Touching the Void with Laughs.Nobody said saving the planet would be easy...but does it have to be this hard?!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyond-the-Pole/172486521602
Stars come home: Sam Trammell ( video)
Sam Trammell, Hollywood actor and a West Virginia native, returned home just in time for the Halloween Holiday.
Trammell, a graduate of George Washington High School arrived in Charleston Thursday. He plays Sam Merlotte, a man who can transform into Animals in the HBO hit series “True Blood”.
Trammell visit was in part of the HallowEast week long celebration for local artist. While in Charleston, he stopped by several east end businesses and a local hospital to talk to fans and sign autographs.
Friday, Trammell spent time at the State Capital Culture Center continue his visit with fans and answering questions about the “True Blood” series.
We spoke to Tiffany Nicholson of St. Albans a fan Trammell, “I’m so excited because I’m a big fan of the book an also of the television show, so I’m very excited to meet him an especially since he’s from our area.”
After leaving the Culture Center, Trammell will rapped up his tour with an “Inside the Actors’ Studio” style interview at the Kanawha Player’s Theater.
Win a Spooky Trick ‘r Treat, er… Treat
Film School rejects has a great contest - remember Andy really liked this graphic novel !
Two (2) lucky readers will each receive a copy of Trick ‘r Treat on Blu-ray AND a hardcover copy of “Trick ‘r Treat: Tales of Mayhem, Mystery, and Mischief.” (Click here for more info about this very cool book.) As this is my first contest for FSR I thought long and hard about how I would determine the winners. What types of questions would I ask? What kind of self-portrait photos would I request? Then I realized that even if I didn’t get arrested for encouraging illegal picture submissions I’d still end up having to actually judge all of the entries.
So let’s do this instead… All you have to do to enter is be one of our Twitter followers and re-tweet this article. Go to Twitter and follow @Rejectnation and stay in the loop on all things FSR. Here’s a quick 1-2-3 guide to entering:
- If you don’t already have one, go to twitter.com and sign up for a free account.
- Go to twitter.com/rejectnation and follow Film School Rejects.
- Re-tweet the following twitter update by posting this to your Twitter stream: RT @rejectnation: Win a Spooky Trick ‘r Treat, er… Treat – http://tr.im/DErS (RT to enter)
Winners will be chosen at random on November 5, 2009. You must be 18 to enter and you must reside in the U.S. or Canada.
Please Don't Kill Bill, Charlaine!
Well, here the rumor pops up again, this time from Alan Ball's comment at the Paley event the other night ( I took this photo in Houston last January at a Charlaine event)
He said something like " I know in the book world that Charlaine had to be talked out of killing Bill in the last book but I’m saying in our world Sookie and Bill have a connection that will not die" in response to a question.
Charlaine responds on her message boards:
duckpond100 2009-10-29 18:31
I understand that Alan was commenting on the differences between the future of the series and the plot of the books at Paleyfest, and remarked that I’d been “talked out of” killing Bill. That’s leaving an inaccurate impression with many readers, my moderators have told me.
Unfortunately, in a conversation with Alan some months ago I did tell him that when I was finishing DEAD AND GONE I did consider the possibility that Bill might die in the fairy assault on the field hospital. I did not realize that Alan might remember and repeat my words. During the course of the Sookie series, I’ve considered killing off several characters who haven’t bitten the dust yet and may never. That’s one of the choices a fiction writer considers with every book. And you’ll notice that in the end, I decided that Bill had more story to tell.
So please don’t give Alan’s words any more weight than they’re due, or blow them out of proportion. It never occurred to me that he might repeat a casual remark of mine about a possibility that never came to pass.
Charlaine Harris
Friday, October 30, 2009
A Writer goes on a journey: Charlaine Harris
from Writer goes on a journey
Background
Charlaine Harris looks like a very sweet mother figure, with three teenagers, three dogs and a duck. It’s probably cliché to say this, but she doesn’t look like the sort of person who would dream up the darkly handsome Bill, or frighteningly fine Eric. Vampires, werewolves, shifters and a whole bunch more, Charlaine Harris is the pinnacle of the sub-genre that has so captured the reading world. It’s not just romance and sex Mills and Boon style; Harris ultimately is a mystery writer.
She has written over 30 novels and numerous short stories since 1990. Her most famous series is that of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as the Sookie Stackhouse novels (2001). It was barely a few years before Alan Ball, executive producer of Six Feet Under, brought Harris’ popular book onto television with the series True Blood. Gathering brilliant talent such as from England, Sweden, Australia as well as the US, the series has received critical acclaim and attracted many awards.
Charlaine is working on the 10th Sookie novel, Dead in the Family, and also on a new series she started in 2005, Harper Connelly.
Q&A
- Where were you when you thought of Sookie and her story?
Sitting in my office, which is a separate building attached to my house.
- Do you find the characters sometimes take control of the story and take you to places you didn't expect? (What was the most surprising moment when a character did this, what moment did you not expect?)
The writer should always be in control. Those sudden moments when everything falls into place are the best reasons to be a writer. Of course it’s not the characters taking control; it’s another part of your brain, a part that knows the characters so well it’s suggested a plot twist.
read onTrue Blood Dallas Halloween Treats from readers
Thanks to everyone who sent their Halloween recipes , photos etc
Ash on her very nice foodie blog [butterflyfoodie.blogspot.com] says 'Here's some spooky treats I just posted to my blog!'
creepy black ball cupcakes and vampire bitten cupcakesThe lovely Rita sent some photos of her den decorations ( left)
and the wonderful Lady Jane shares her Pumpkin Roll recipes.
Get busy!
*Remember my email was down and maybe missed some emails-if you sent me something and don't see it send it again, please!
Pumpkin Roll
Dark Shadows at Twilight: A Paley Center Vampire Weekend
Super vampire fun! Wonder why they didn't do this closer to All Hallow's Eve? The New York branch of the Paley Center just announced a vampire themed event the weekend of November 13th, with screenings of several past PALEYFEST events—with reunions of the casts and creative teams of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, True Blood, and Dark Shadows, and 
more. Didn't know they did an Angel Paley event in 2001! There will also be a live panel with a bunch of bloggers and editors. Also:
"The Paley Center for Media has partnered with Entertainment Weekly to explore what’s going on. EW’s Ken Tucker will moderate a panel of informed fans to debate the relative merits of vampires across media, with special attention to the rankings of the Paley Center's TV Vampire Poll (vote through November 2). A display of EW’s coverage of the undead phenomenon will be on view in the Spielberg Gallery through November 15."
note: love the comparison of Angel/Spike to Bill Compton/Eric Northman in that poll.
Click below for the deets:
http://paleycenter.org/dark-shadows-at-twilight-a-paley-center-vampire-weekend
Twilight-themed restaurant planned for Wash. town
Won't be long until we see a Merlotte's in Shreveport, huh ?
FORKS, Wash. — A new restaurant set to open next year in Washington state will be called Volterra after a city in the popular Twilight vampire novels, which are set in the town of Forks.
Owners Annette and Tim Root told The Peninsula Daily News it will be a family restaurant, and they have applied for a liquor license.
Forks already has the Twilight Lounge that features concerts and other events for fans.
The Twilight books and movies have brought vampire tourism to the remote former logging town on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
The Chamber of Commerce says thousands of visitors come asking questions, such as whether it's safe to go camping with the vampire problems in the area.
Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com
True Blood and Vampire Wines for Halloween
Another proof that Halloween is influencing the market at all levels is the wine business. Really, one key difference between the wineries in the United States and the wine makers in Europe is that the American wine makers explore other avenues than the wine connoisseur language. Let’s face it, when I host a party I am looking for a wine in the $13 to $20 price range to s
Going back to Halloween, vampires are in. There are many TV series and movies on vampires. In fact, we almost selected True Blood as the theme for my husband birthday party (more on that, later). It is sad that at the time, I did not know that I could have ordered a True Blood wine from Vampire Vineyards. Although $30 is too much to serve at a 35-guest party, I might have bought 2 or 3 bottles as a display.
Vampire Vineyards produces several wines with names that scream Halloween. You can choose between Vampire, Chateau du Vampire (Vampire Castle) and Dracula. The advantages with these is that you do not have to made your own wine label. Hopefully for us, that line ranges from $9.99 to $19.99.
'True Blood' actor ( Sam Trammel) happy to help hometown
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For actor and Charleston native Sam Trammell, West Virginia's shifting seasons have a certain familiar charm.
"I love coming back. It's just so pretty, especially this time of year with the leaves changing. It's stunningly beautiful," he said.
Transformation is a concept Trammell is quite comfortable with. He currently plays shape-shifting bartender Sam Merlotte on the fantastical HBO series "True Blood," based on the novels by Charlaine Harris. Merlotte can shift into different animals - most often a border collie - and then revert to his human shape.
It's this theme of metamorphosis that brought Trammel back to the Mountain State this week. The actor, who spent the majority of his childhood in Charleston and now lives in Los Angeles, is headlining "HallowEast," a four-day fundraising effort organized by the East End Main Street program. The event is designed to promote growth and sustainability in that historic area of the capital city.
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