Let's talk about: Count Dracula

I recently watched Count Dracula (1970) hoping I would finally find the Dracula movie that would do the book justice. It came close. 

It starred Christopher Lee as Dracula. While he didn't speak much, he did look the part and delivered pretty well on representing such an iconic character. 

The film itself did have scenes straight from the book and I enjoyed watching it. It wasn't gory like I was worried it might be. It is only rated PG.

However, the filming style was super cheesy. There were tons of close up shots of eyes and random scared faces. That was pretty funny and I could see this being the kind of movie where people get together to watch it just to make fun of the cheesy filming style. 

It had the potential of being really great but as the film went on they deviated from the plot more and more and left more and more of the things I love about the book out. 

It was my favorite Dracula adaptation I have seen so far but it still had a long way to go. 

 

Let's talk about: Bram Stoker

Abraham "Bram" Stoker was born on November 8, 1847 in Dublin, Ireland. 

He was the third of seven children. 

Bram became ill at a young age and was stuck in bed, never standing up without help, until he started school at the age of seven. At this time he made a complete recovery. While sick in bed his mother would tell him many stories, some of them horror, that probably influenced his later writings.

"I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."

He went to a private school run by Reverend William Woods. He grew up without any more health issues and, in fact, became an athlete while attending Trinity College in Dublin. He was even named University Athlete. 

He was auditor of the College Historical Society, The Hist, and President of the University Philosophical Society. He graduated with honors as a B.A. in Math. 

After his time at Trinity, he became a theater critic for the Dublin Evening Mail. No one thought much of critics at the time but they noticed Bram because of how well written his reviews were. He wrote a good review of Henry Irving's Hamlet at the Theatre Royal in December of 1876 and Irving then invited him to dinner at the Shelbourne Hotel where he was staying. 

They became quick friends. 

During this time he was also writing stories. In 1872 The Crystal Cup was published by the London Society and then The Chain of Destiny was published in four parts in "The Shamrock". 

He wrote a non-fiction book in 1876 called The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland while he was working as a civil servant, and it became a standard work. 

In 1878 Bram married Florence Balcombe, an aspiring actress, and they moved to London. Bram became the acting manager and then business manager of Henry Irving's Lyceum Theatre. He worked there for twenty seven years. Stoker was able to travel to many places with Irving's tours and as his personal secretary.

During this time he also began writing many novels. 

On December 31, 1879, Bram and Florence had a son, Irving Noel Thornley Stoker. He would be their only child. 

In 1890, Bram visited the town of Whitby in England. He stayed in a house on the West Cliff. It is said that he really enjoyed the town, the Whitby Abbey, the church's tombstones and the bats flying around many of the churches. I read that while staying in Whitby, Bram was looking at the ruins of the Abbey and imagined he saw a person or creature climbing up the walls. That sparked an idea in him. There is even a Bram Stoker Memorial Seat in Whitby. You can look across the harbor from that spot and see the Abbey, the church, and the stone steps. There is an inscription on the bench that reads, "The view from this spot inspired Bram Stoker to use Whitby as the setting of part of his world-famous novel Dracula."

 Before writing Dracula, he met Armin Vambery, a Hungarian writer and traveler who told him stories of the Carpathian mountains. He spent seven years researching the European folklore and stories of vampires. 

Bram returned to Whitby and stayed in the Royal Hotel while writing Dracula. A lot of the book takes place in Whitby using the places he would have seen while there. It is said that people still come to Whitby looking for "Dracula's grave", not realizing he is fictional. 

 After suffering from many strokes, Bram died on April 20, 1912. He was cremated and his ashes were put in a display urn at Golders Green Crematorium. When his son died, his ashes were added to the urn. His wife's were meant to be as well but were, instead, scattered at the Gardens of Rest. Those that want to visit his urn at Golders Green are escorted there to guard against vandalism. 

Over the course of his life, he wrote and published 12 novels and several short story collections.But it is safe to say he is most well known and beloved for Dracula. It is one of my favorite books and I consider him one of the best writers I have ever read. 

Let's talk about: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Last week I discussed Mary Shelley herself and we saw how her novel Frankenstein came to be. 

Today I want to talk about Frankenstein itself. 

“I am alone and miserable. Only someone as ugly as I am could love me."

I went into the novel Frankenstein thinking that I would read about Victor Frankenstein and his trusty companion Igor creating a hideous green monster that walked around with his arms outstretched mumbling and groaning. That is not what this book is. 

 

If there was an Igor in this book, I don't remember him. 

Also, while I think that the monster may have talked incoherently the way he does in the movies and our imaginations at first, we don't see that in the books. He does tell his creator, Victor Frankenstein, how he learned language so we do know that for at least part of his life he didn't know how to speak. Still, he was not quite the character we have come to believe he is. 

It was hard for me, while reading, to picture exactly what the monster would look like because of the Hollywood image in my head. But then I saw this image created by illustrator Abigail Larson of Mary Shelly sitting next to the monster. 

This is what I imagine now. Scary, yes. But not in the way we have seen before. 

When I first began the novel, it took me quite awhile to really get into it. 

The preface, said to be written by her husband rather than Mary, just bored me to death. I did not like the style, I had a hard time engaging, and I just hoped that the whole book wasn't going to feel that way. 

As the first chapter started we got to the voice of Victor Frankenstein, learning about his childhood, his family, and his inclination towards science and alchemy. 

Again, I had a hard time engaging. But I was getting more interested and wondering what was going to happen and when the action would begin. 

Then I got to the part in the book where we are hearing from the monster himself. 

We find out what has happened to him since his creation. We hear his voice for the first time. And what a voice it is. He is articulate and intelligent. And human. I was fully engaged. 

I loved the chapters where the monster was speaking. They are my favorite of the book. 

I felt heartbreak for the monster as you learn that he is really just a soul that wants to be loved, not feared. And the world, not even his creator, can give that to him.

 

From there the book became more and more interesting and more and more heartbreaking. 

Mary Shelley is a fantastic writer. It is remarkable that she wrote this book at such a young age.

 I wanted to read and review this book for this month on Scones and Crackers mainly because I thought this would be a scary read. But I really don't think this is a purely Halloween time read. This book has more to do with human emotions than the macabre. 

The monster could have been so much more if his creator would have just learned more about what he actually created. If he could have taught him and loved him, if he could have taken responsibility for his actions instead of running from them this would have been a much different tale. 

But in the end, that is what makes the story. We are left to think about our own choices. How we handle the differences of others, if we will show love in spite of fear. 

I gave it only four stars because of how hard it was for me to get into it and how long it was before I really started to enjoy it but I highly recommend this book. 

And just because I think it is lovely, here is another version of the book with one of my favorite paintings, Wanderer over the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich, as the cover because I think it is the perfect cover for this novel....

*Have you read Frankenstein?

Let's Talk About: Being Human

I have been curious about the BBC show Being Human for a while. There are five seasons beginning in 2008 and ending in 2013. I was able to watch the first episode on Netflix. 

It begins by showing a young girl, Annie (played by Lenora Crichlow), laying on the floor. She is obviously dead and while she speaks in voice over format it shows her at her own funeral/wake in her house trying to get the people there to see her. She has become a ghost. 

She then narrates the stories of the two men-  George (played by Russel Tovey) and Mitchell (played by Aidan Turner). Mitchell was in war and was turned into a vampire. George was turned into a werewolf while on vacation in Scotland. 

George and Mitchell have somehow met each other (not sure how yet) and are moving into the flat that Annie lived in and now haunts. They can see her. 

It then goes forward to them having been together for awhile. 

She seems really happy and other people are actually starting to be able to see her as well. You find this out when a pizza man delivers a pizza and she answers the door, overly excited about the fact that he can see her. I don't think she can leave the home. 

George and Mitchell both work in a hospital. 

The first episode takes us through one of George's transitions into his werewolf form, some bad vampires trying to get Mitchell to start feeding more, and Annie seeing her ex- fiance and being overwhelmed by emotions that she didn't realize she would have when she saw him, and he couldn't see her still. I am not sure I trust her ex.

I really enjoyed this episode. I am planning on watching some more to see where it goes. 

There were only a few parts that were a little grosser than I hoped but for the most part it was pretty tame. I am hoping it stays that way so I can continue to watch. 

It seems like the perfect television show for the Halloween season!

*Have you seen this show?

Harry Potter Party

October is a great month for some themed parties! 

We chose to do a Harry Potter party this year since we had just finished reading the books as a family. 

I invited my mom over to help us celebrate. 

First: the decorations-

 

I printed off a bunch of Harry Potter themed signs from here and here. 

This sign was leading out our door to the backyard but you will see more about that later. 

I printed out a picture from google images of Moaning Myrtle and then laminated it and stuck it to the toilet. That got some good laughs. 

I hung up a Hogwarts sign and then put other signs around the two rooms we would be using for our classes.

We made these really cute Pygmy Puffs. I got the tutorial for them here. 

I haphazardly hung a "brick wall" to go through on our way to Hogwarts. 

My mom was hanging out in the girls' room while they waited for me to finish setting up. I opened the door, hooted like an owl, and threw in the invitation you see Abi reading here. 

They got their tickets for the Hogwart's Express and made their way through the red brick wall to Platform 9 3/4. 

We went through Hogsmeade, stopping for some photo ops. 

Then we went straight to school, where our first class was Herbology. 

We had to safely remove these mandrakes from their pots. 

And then we got to snack on the pudding inside. 

After Herbology, we attended Potions class. 

We mixed some baking soda and vinegar. 

We tried the dancing worms experiment found here, but it didn't actually work for us.

After succeeding and failing at some potions, we went to Care of Magical Creatures. 

We picked out our Pygmy Puffs and learned how to take care of them. 

Then it was time for Charms. 

We used Wingardium Leviosa to keep balloons up in the air. 

Then we had Transfiguration where we turned rats into tea cups. 

Maddy "drinking" from her tea cup. 

We also "transfigured" ourselves into different magical creatures and had to guess what they were from clues given by the others.

I thought I had pictures of the next activity but I must not. 

We went to the Owlery and wrote letters to my niece that is living in Washington state and mailed them using the Owl Post. 

Then it was time for Defense against the dark arts.

We threw the "dementor" balloon at each other and had to use our Expecto Patronum spells. 

Then we blew up more balloons and used them for boggarts. We had to say what our biggest fears were and then say what our boggarts would turn into before we did our spell. 

This was SO much fun. 

Eventually Abi realized if she did it with a balloon that wasn't tied that it could fly around the room deflating like it does in the movie.

Here are some videos of that. 

After that we had Divination class. 

We did this like mad libs. I wrote out different characters, locations, spells, numbers, etc on pieces of paper and then everyone picked them out and we read the mad lib using them. It was so funny.

After theses classes we had lunch. They don't look the way they were supposed to but I looked up a recipe for Cornish pasties. They used meat, potatoes, and vegetables. I didn't have enough time to do them in the right shape so they didn't look great but they tasted good.
We had some orange crush disguised as Pumpkin Juice.

At this point we had to take a break for a few hours while my daughter was at an activity.
When we got back we went in the back yard to play our version of Quidditch.
I had my mom hold a circle goal made of glow sticks. The person making the goals had to throw the ball through the hoop 15 times before the other person found the Golden Snitch.  ( a smaller ball I had hid in the bushes) The Seeker had to run around on a broom looking for the hidden Snitch.
Abi didn't find it before Maddy got to fifteen goals so then it was Maddy's turn.

Abi also made the 15 goals before Maddy found the Snitch, so then it would be Abi's turn to be Seeker again.

Abi as seeker again...

She found it!!

After our game we visited Honeyduke's treat shop where we were able to fill our treat bags with lots of yummy snacks. 

That way they didn't all get eaten right then!

We also had our butterbeer!

I used a really good recipe this time for frozen Butterbeer. 

We got Cream Soda and filled up some plastic cups about halfway. Then we put them in the freezer for a couple of hours so that it was a slushy consistency. 

Then I poured a little more Cream Soda into the cup and mashed it together. 

After that I poured a tiny drop of imitation rum extract into each cup. 

Then I used a bunch of whipped cream (just from the spray can into a bowl) and mixed it with a few big tablespoons of Butterscotch ice cream topping. I can't give you exact measurements for this, I just mixed them until it had the right consistency and then spooned it onto the top of the cups. 

It was yummy!

We finished our day by relaxing in the Gryffindor commons room and playing our Harry Potter Clue game and Harry Potter Scene It. 

Such a fun party and perfect for this time of year!

*Do you have any parties planned for this month?