Saturday, May 26, 2012

Godfather Of The Horror Story...!

Ever since I was a kid, the old time horror stories and movies have been  favorites of mine.

I really don't know what the fascination is with scary stories, but to me it's the ultimate in escapism! I guess my second favorite is good mysteries, but you already knew that, right?

May 26, 1897:
Bram Stoker's novel Dracula goes on sale in London

Horror writer Bram Stoker's classic vampire tale, Dracula, is first offered for sale in London on this day.

Through fictional journal entries and letters written by the novel's principal characters, Dracula tells the story of a Transylvanian vampire and his English victims. Stoker had been publishing horror stories since 1875 and published his first novel, Snake's Pass, in 1890. The horror genre, which was born of folk tales and legends, had received a boost in 18th century England through the Gothic movement. It persisted in the 19th century thanks to works like Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein.

Stoker was born in Dublin and bedridden for his first seven years of life. However, he later distinguished himself as an athlete at the University of Dublin. He worked in civil service for a decade while writing drama reviews. In 1878, he became the manager of Sir Henry Irving, an actor he admired. He managed Irving for 27 years. Stoker wrote several other novels before his death in London in 1912, but none equaled the popularity of Dracula.

Back when I was a kid, Saturday night was always the main night to watch old horror movies. All we had was a black and white television, but back in those days most of the scary shows were done in black and white anyway! Worked out just fine and gave me a lot of fun memories!

How about some fresh coffee on the patio this morning? Mind if I water the plants while we visit?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dracula is a very good story and to be honest they actually get better on film made in black and white. Today they tend to show just to much blood and gore. That isn't scary just disgusting.

Have a great day!
Christer.

HermitJim said...

Hey Christer...
I have to agree about the black and white being best for horror movies.

The original book is very good and I enjoyed the story!

I sure do appreciate you dropping by today!

Phyllis (N/W Jersey) said...

Just love the old B&W horror movies!
They are still available to watch on line. Like mentioned above, today's movies are just too much gore. They leave nothing to the imagination.
Very, very foggy here. I can't even see our garden!

chinasyndrome said...

Jim,here in Indy as a kid, we all watched a Sat night program called Sammy Terry. Now it would be stupid I guess because you could see the fishing line holding up his spider George and cheesy B n W movies.But as a kid we sure looked forward to it!Times have changed and not for the better.Except for Zombies, yep I love Zombies! Remember aim for the head! Have a great Memorial weekend and remember those who can't be with us!

China
III

Sixbears said...

Ah yes, back when vampires were truly scary creatures of the night.

Coffee on the deck this morning, as it's a warm one for here.

Dizzy-Dick said...

I have that book. It was given to my Dad in 1930 and has a print date (in USA) of 1897. A good read.

BTW did you ever listen to the old scary stories on radio when you were a kid, like "Inter-sanctim", "the shadow", etc.? Remember the one that started out with the creaking door?

BBC said...

I never did get into them.

I predict that tomorrow we'll be watching horror cartoons.

Phyllis (N/W Jersey) said...

Dizzy-Dick: When the skip is good, I can pick up a Canadian radio station at night that has all the old radio programs, including the commercials!
Could probably stream it on the computer, but it is so much more fun to listen to them on my old portable radio!

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
Maybe we just scared ourselves, but either way it sure was fun!

You got fog and I got hot! Gonna be a strange weather year!

Thanks for coming by this morning!


Hey China...
That's what I'm talking about! It was all about having fun!

Here in Houston, the host was a guy named "Dirty Jim Ross!"

My friend, thanks for coming over today!


Hey Sixbears...
I think the things that went bump in the night were a lot more scary back then than they are now!

Today, if you want a real horror story...just read the paper!

Have a great day and thanks for coming over this morning!


Hey Dizzy...
Wow! That's an old book! Could be worth a lot to a collector!

I do remember a lot of the older radio shows...my favorite was "The Shadow" and "Boston Blackie".

Like I said! Fun times!

Thanks, buddy, for dropping by!


Hey BBC...
As far as tomorrow, you just never know!

Thanks for coming over today!

JO said...

I too loved the B&W old movies. All old movies were fun to watch or scary. I don't even watch any of the new stuff it is like everyone else has said just to gory.

I don't mind you watering your plants I love the smell of wet earth.

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
Maybe the old films were more fun because we were not subjected to a daily dose of the horror like what's in our papers!

The smell of freshly watered earth falls in the same category as fresh cut hay! Wonderful smells!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming over this morning!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Nope, not for me HJ as no type of horror film has ever been on my favorite list,even the old classics. I can remember seeing The Fall of the House of Usher, a Poe story which starred Vincent Price and boy was I scared.

Gorges Smythe said...

I really should read the book. The only parts of the movies I've seen are occasional clips on the boob tube.

Labrys said...

My eldest son has been reading this only this month. I read it back in 1984 when stuck someplace unpleasant on emergency leave.

The best modern treatment of the Dracula legend, in my opinion, is a very under-read novel called "The Historian".....it is gripping and with more creep than the average steep river bank!

HermitJim said...

Hey Beatrice...
Guess that that's the reason there are so many different genres, so that all can have what makes them happy!

Don't worry, I'll watch your share for ya!

Thanks so much for dropping in!


Hey Gorges...
Many times the books are so much better than the movies! This is one of those!

Thank you for the visit today!

HermitJim said...

Hey Labrys...
I haven't read the "The Historian", but you can bet I'll look it up now!

Thanks for the review and the suggestion!

Thanks for coming over today!