http://hungrydead.com Zombies, vampires, ghosts, and other dead things that want to eat you. Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:38:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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. http://hungrydead.com/2009/02/grammar-girl-and-the-vampire-queen/ 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 ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/02/is-twilight-better-than-dracula/ Yesterday I finished my reread of Dracula. Just to reiterate: This time I approached it as 19th-century invasion literature. I'm reading it as research for an upcoming poem and an in-progress rpg. I've been somewhat underwhelmed by Stoker's writing. If you're curious about any of those points, please see the earlier posts on the ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/01/draculas-dust/ (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 ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/01/stoking-the-fires-re-stoker/ (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. The Good: Pretty much everything about this film is good. Visually, it's powerful, with great settings and ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/01/the-mummy-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor/ (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 ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/01/de-animator/ (Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com) *sigh* Yes, that's one of the cheesiest titles I've ever heard for a movie. Yes, you're right, I must have no pride at all to even think of watching such a film. But you know what? The film surprised me. Imagine if Joss Whedon decided to jam Buffy and ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/01/vampire-wars-battle-for-the-universe/ (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 ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/01/dracula-the-novel-more-thoughts/ (Originally posted at www.LesterSmith.com) 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. The letters and diaries of Mina and Lucy that follow not only further unfold the ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/01/dracula-the-novel-initial-thoughts/ (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. Not being a big fan of slasher flicks, I'm happy not to have known ahead of ... http://hungrydead.com/2009/01/speaking-out-about-dead-silence/