Grammar Girl’s most recent podcast, “Vampires Have Grammar Questions Too,” features a couple of grammar questions literally spoken by characters from Mary Janice Davidson’s Queen Betsy series of novels.

Well…all things considered…yes.

Before you break out the stakes and torches, let me briefly lay out my reasons for that opinion.

First, I’d ask that you read my various posts (1, 2, 3, & 4) about the experience of rereading Dracula recently. They lay out what I see as both the strengths and weaknesses of that novel.
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Yesterday I finished my reread of Dracula. Just to reiterate:

1. This time I approached it as 19th-century invasion literature.
2. I’m reading it as research for an upcoming poem and an in-progress rpg.
3. I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed by Stoker’s writing.

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(Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com)

In my rereading of Dracula, (this being my third time through since college—this time as research for a poem and the When Shadows Rise rpg), I’ve reached the point where Harker and Godalming are pursuing the Count by steam launch up the Sereth and Bistritza rivers toward the Borgo pass. Harker opens by writing in his journal by the light of the boiler fire Godalming is stoking. (Hence my post title.)

It’s striking how much more exciting Harker’s journal is than Dr. Seward’s has been, or Mina’s since the death of Lucy. (You may recall my saying in a previous post that the letters between Mina and Lucy are well done.) In part, I have to give Stoker his due that Harker’s persona is simply more focused and driven—at least in his own journal. And in part, I suspect, it’s that the group is again entering foreign lands that Stoker himself once visited and found interesting. There is, to be sure, a fascination in the exotic, and a sense of danger in simply being away from home.

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(Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com)

In this third of the series of Mummy movies, the O’Connells find themselves in China, battling the resurrected Han emperor, who wields magical powers, and his army of terra cotta warriors.

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(Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com)

This one’s from a couple of years back. It’s loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft’s tale, “Herbert West—Reanimator.” The game has a pleasantly creepy ambiance: Those silhouettes of bare trees against the different background colors, the whistling wind, and the endless, shambling creatures make it nerve-wracking enough to keep you tense, while the play is engaging enough to keep you shooting to the bitter end. (Watch for the various different ways you can die.)

Use the shift key to switch between revolver and shotgun. Sometimes that’s critical. And best of luck.

De-Animator

—Lester Smith

(Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com)

*sigh*

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(Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com)

It is a given that Dracula is a great novel. Not as great as Frankenstein, I’d argue. But great nonetheless. It’s very longevity argues the fact.

It is not a given, however, that Bram Stoker is a great novelist. Consider that it took him ten years to write Dracula, and that nothing he wrote before or after has stood the test of time. Most often, authors grow better with practice. Stoker did not. His final novel, Lair of the White Worm, proves that point. In effect, Bram Stoker was the George Lucas of his day—without the financial success of Industrial Lights and Magic to add clout to his later efforts.

I argue this about Stoker in order to say that while Dracula may be great, it isn’t perfect. There remains room to discuss what works best in the novel, what drags, and what writers might learn from analyzing the good and the bad in it.

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(Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com)

1. Jonathan Harker’s journal makes a great beginning. The story therein is quite moody and wonderfully tense, and the uncertainty at the end carries a reader well into the next part of the book.
2. The letters and diaries of Mina and Lucy that follow not only further unfold the plot but also reveal the voices and natures of these two young ladies. I suspect Stoker had a great time writing from their point of view.
3. I had forgotten just how drawn out and dramatic Lucy’s “illness” is in the book. Most of it is told from Dr. Seward’s point of view, and effectively and entertainingly so.
4. Van Helsing really bogs down the book. His dialogue is virtually endless and pretty much pointless. I’m not sure what Stoker was thinking here, unless he just wanted to make the Dutch seem like windbags. Certainly his writing shows none of the delight in previous parts of the book. Also, I think Stoker may have let Lucy’s death subdue his writing at that point; it seems to lack heart.
5. Mina’s personality and diction begin to return some life to the tale. Even Van Helsing seems more direct around her (and not simply because it’s time to move the plot forward).

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(Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com)

Just to be clear, of the four movies by this title, I’m talking about the 2007 film, about a murdered lady ventriloquist taking her revenge on the town that killed her.

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