The Vampires Want to Wear My Mud Shoes

One of my personal traditions is that, every October, I re-read Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s such a rich novel that I usually find at least one detail I’d never noticed before. This year, though, in addition to reading the actual novel, I’ve been reading a children’s version to my daughter (after all, what else can follow Frankenstein?). It’s easy to … Read More

“I am fearless, and therefore powerful”: the Monster and the Siren

We sometimes forget, because familiarity negates it, that Frankenstein’s monster is supposed to be scary. I’m talking specifically about the Boris Karloff monster from the first three Universal films, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and (my favorite) Son of Frankenstein. I suppose the later films with other performers as the monster (Lon Chaney, Glenn Strange, Bela Lugosi, etc.) could also be … Read More

The Manic Pixie Pout-Pout

Since I now have another two-year-old, I’m back to reading the simplest books to her at bedtime. Most of these books are innocuous, if occasionally incompetent (i.e., Big Snowman, Little Snowman, a Frozen tie-in book that probably takes longer to read than it did to write). A few are brilliant, such as Room on the Broom. But I’m here to talk about … Read More

It was the best of lines, it was the worst of lines

Is there a more famous opening line in all literature than, “Call me Ishmael”? It introduces a mystery (the narrator doesn’t say, “My name is Ishmael,” he says you can call him that), it sets up the tone, and it tells us that the narrator has a wry, dry wit. It’s brilliant. So brilliant that even people who’ve never read … Read More

A Vampire Fit for Kids: Rewriting Dracula

There are many stories that would fascinate children, if told in a way they could understand. What little boy wouldn’t love a story about a mad sea captain battling a monster whale, yet try reading Moby Dick to a child and see how fast their eyes glaze over. Tania Zamorsky faced this reality when, as part of Sterling Publishing’s “Classic … Read More