Digging for Dracula
Contents
DIGGING FOR DRACULA is an esoteric book that takes you far and wide through time and place. It is a tale of adventure across Europe and America on a search for literary truths and the meanings of centuries-old myths.
You will travel to the mysterious island of Vlad the Impaler and his medieval castle deep within the craggy peaks of the Carpathian Mountains; to a seat beside Bram Stoker on a cliff-edge in the eastern port of Whitby, England, a pivotal place in the classic novel; and to ‘Tinseltown’ Hollywood where Stoker’s character won immortality on stage and screen.
You will also meet with the Mummies of Dublin; the ‘Agony Aunt’ of vampire lovers in New York; voodoo artists in New Orleans; and a warm-hearted soul who by day drives a hearse and by night drives people into hysterics with his one-man Dracula cabaret show.
Grasp your garlic and prepare to enter the medieval stronghold of Snagov; the Lovable House of Horror; the Land of the Living Dead; and much more.
You will travel to the mysterious island of Vlad the Impaler and his medieval castle deep within the craggy peaks of the Carpathian Mountains; to a seat beside Bram Stoker on a cliff-edge in the eastern port of Whitby, England, a pivotal place in the classic novel; and to ‘Tinseltown’ Hollywood where Stoker’s character won immortality on stage and screen.
You will also meet with the Mummies of Dublin; the ‘Agony Aunt’ of vampire lovers in New York; voodoo artists in New Orleans; and a warm-hearted soul who by day drives a hearse and by night drives people into hysterics with his one-man Dracula cabaret show.
Grasp your garlic and prepare to enter the medieval stronghold of Snagov; the Lovable House of Horror; the Land of the Living Dead; and much more.
Preface
Aside from her husband, my eldest sister, Phyllis, worships two other men. But there is little familial jealousy. Both are dead, or so it is commonly thought. One is a man who wore a sparkling white cape, take-a-deep-breath, sapphire-studded trousers, loved the spotlight and is believed to be the all-time King of Rock n' Roll. The other is a man who wore a flowing black cape, loathed any kind of light and is believed to be the all-time Prince of Darkness.
Both Elvis and Dracula have pride of place in my sister's bedroom in a quiet suburb of Antrim, a small town that lies snug along the shores of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland. She has caringly erected small altars in homage to her heroes. Visitors are shown soundtracks from movies, ceramic statuettes, photographs, videos, keyrings, pens and wall-size posters.
In stark contrast, my mother adores neither man. The first she considers a pleasant enough singer though, being Irish Catholic, she's somewhat perplexed by the swiveling movements of his hips and eyebrows. She abhors, and is utterly terrified by, Dracula. The latter sentiment is somewhat surprising, for Phyllis Senior, it must be added, was an emergency room nurse in Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital for many years. She has seen more bullet-riddled bodies and limbless corpses than you and I have had mashed potatoes for dinner. She is also an avid horror fan. No grisly murder is grisly enough for her. Her sons and daughters have long exhausted the murder novel lists in their search for suitable Christmas and birthday gifts. Psycho and Natural Born Killers hold about as much shock-value for her as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or The Adventures of Lassie.
So, it surprised me greatly to find out in my youth, that my mother hastily retreated to her kitchen with a large basket of washing to iron every time eerie music and the sonorous tones of Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee wafted from the television set. “They send the chills down my spine,” was her only explanation, as she swiftly departed from the living room, half-hidden behind the plastic basket. She would then promptly raise the volume on the kitchen radio to allow the dulcet tones of Bing Crosby and Dean Martin to obliterate all traces of sound from the horror film that the rest of her family sat watching contentedly.....it was from this family background that I launched into my search for origins of a character that could create such vastly different responses from two intelligent, stable and mature women (who both have the same blood type).Vlad the Impaler
No search for Dracula would be complete without a perilous boat-trip across murky, moss-laden waters to the mysterious island of Snagov, Romania, to find the last remains of Vlad the Impaler, upon whom, some say, Dracula was based.Seated with Stoker
All great writers require peace and quiet to produce their great works of art, so where did the author of the most famous vampire story in the world go. We found out. And we’ll take you there.Meet the Mummies of Dublin
It’s strange to believe that dry, parched skin and bones of tall, lanky Crusaders lying in a limestone pit could inspire great writing but then again, Dracula is a strange book.
Agony Aunt of Vampires
Elfish in nature and enjoying her 70’s as if she was a teenager, Jeanne Youngson has become one of the leading advisers to young and old on all matters vampiric and has set up the world’s only Dracula Museum to stake her claim.Dracula Day in Los Banos
A millionaire almond-grower from central California, husband to an Italian actress and a Persian Princes, Vincent Hillyer decided take on a most unfamiliar role.Stinking Roses
A trip through France decades ago led to the launch of America’s most successful garlic festival, complete with ice-cream, toothpaste and wine flavored with the foul-smelling plant, warmly known as the ‘stinking rose.’A Night Among the Stars
While Stoker died almost penniless, his star character has since made rich those who either directed or acted in movies focusing on his most famous of vampires. We go to Los Angeles to talk to some of them.The Lovable House of Horror
A pair of Marlene Dietrich’s pink shoes hang from either side of his four-poster bed, but it is his haunting home in the Hollywood Hills that has brought him fame – a priceless collection of paraphernalia from the frightening world of horror movies.Land of the Living Dead
The city of floating tombs and the largest population of voodoo practitioners in the world. Surely, the picturesque Lousiana city of New Orleans can reveal some supernatural secrets about ‘those who never die.’Rubber Rats and Victim Beer
When she releases her latest literary work, she climbs into a coffin and a somber carriage pulled by dark horses with back plumes on their heads carry her to her neighborhood bookstore for the official launch. We take a glimpse into the world of Anna Rice, Queen of Vampires, and some of her peculiar merchandise.Vorld Vide Veb
When searching for the origins of Dracula, there are bites, and then there are bytes. A search for anything these days inevitably means surfing the web. You can find poems and songs about vampires as well as tips on ways to dress as well as making that most crucial of accessories – the fangs. Why, you can even do The Vampyre Vulnerability Test.Bitten, but not Beaten
No book on the subject would be complete without a moonlight night spent in the eerie ruins of the castle of the medieval Count who many believe was a model for the fictional blood-sucker.
