Renfield: Nicolas Cage’s reimagining of Dracula pulls the vampire film into the 21st century: “Don’t make it a sexual thing!” Nicolas Cage’s Dracula tells Nicholas Hoult’s Renfield in this new interpretation of the classic vampire movie. “I eat boys … I eat girls.” In a line, the film deftly dismisses a century of post-Freudian interpretations …
Vampire Survivors: how developers used gambling psychology to create a BAFTA-winning game: Vampire Survivors won Best Game at the 2023 awards. Courtesy of Poncle, CC BY-SA The independent game Vampire Survivors delivered a shock result at the 2023 BAFTA Game Awards when it defeated blockbusters God of War: Ragnarok and Elden Ring to take home …
Dracula at 125: how Bram Stoker’s vampire is a monstrous creation of terrifying sleep disorders: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Having celebrated the 125th anniversary of its 1897 publication earlier this year, Dracula is deservedly considered a classic – not least for the way its eponymous vampire remains a cultural icon. Bram Stoker’s novel has …
Goblin mode: a gothic expert explains the trend’s mythical origins, and why we should all go ‘vampire mode’ instead: Arthur Rackham's illustration of the Victorian poem Goblin Market. British Library “Goblin mode” is taking the current pandemic-ridden world by storm. This state of being is defined by behaviours that feel reminiscent of deep lockdown days …
Nosferatu at 100: how the seminal vampire film shaped the horror genre: Keith Corrigan / Alamy It’s the centenary of the cinema premiere of the German horror film Nosferatu. Now recognised as a classic of the silent era and one of the first examples of cinematic horror, it used elements of Gothic style to present …
Vampire finches: how little birds in the Galápagos got a taste for big bird blood: Jaime Chaves, Author provided For most people, the word “vampire” brings to mind Dracula or perhaps slayers such as Blade or Buffy; or maybe even the vampire bats of South America. Few will think of a small and rather lovely …
America’s first vampire was Black and revolutionary – it’s time to remember him: The Black Vampyre is an early literary example of an argument for emancipation of slaves. Thomas Nast/Harper's Weekly/The Met In April of 1819, a London periodical, the New Monthly Magazine, published The Vampyre: A Tale by Lord Byron. Notice of its publication quickly …
Older than Dracula: in search of the English vampire: The Premature Burial. Antoine Wiertz (1854) The story of Count Dracula as many of us know it was created by Bram Stoker, an Irishman, in 1897. But most of the action takes place in England, from the moment the Transylvanian vampire arrives on a shipwrecked vessel …
South Africa in the news: Vampire: Man slash 5-year-old boy’s throat, drinks his blood in South Africa: A ‘vampire’ killer slashed a young boy’s throat in the street and sat over him drinking his blood in what has been called a sacrificial killing in South Africa. According to NationalHelm ‘Tinyiko Reckson, five, was playing with …