Vampire Reviews: Dracula's Guest

[@ColdSteelKid]

I fully support you doing multiple videos to read through Carmilla.

[@KnightoftheDark123]

Honestly same, I love the feeling of hanging out with one of my friends and talking about a book. Not to mention the historical analysis/explanation is just great

[@CT_Phipps]

@@KnightoftheDark123 100% agreed!

[@daniellageorge3209]

I think the hand that pulled Harker awy from the tomb and the lightning may have been Dracul protecting his guest from other vampires and creatures of the night, because he has plans for Harker.

[@billuraral1870]

Maven should consider being an audiobook narrator. Her voice is so soothing, yet so gripping. Almost like a vampire...

[@kramermariav]

Is Jonathan Harker the first "horror movie idiot"?

[@mathieuleader8601]

prehistoric

[@bymeerabrowngothicroyal]

He said himbo rights.

[@dubbingsync]

Kind of... because clearly he didn’t know about vampires at the start of the book, he also didn’t duck out when all the weird stuff happened at the Castle... Manor... I can’t remember what it is of the top of my head... somehow.

[@MichelleAnnM]

Pretty much, yeah. Kinda makes the Keanu Reeves casting make more sense, in a way.

[@lc7581]

Love this mini-series; there's enough shade that a vampire would be comfortable here during the day ;)

[@CanIswearinmyhandle]

Dear Hotel manager; My guest is a dumb idot, please make sure he doesn't die. -Dracula

[@Visplight]

Yup. "Please keep my idiot alive - he has no gatdamn sense."

[@mohamadmostafa2987]

😂😂

[@creepycarlos5634]

Still would love to hear your thoughts on the BBC Netflix Dracula series. Very divisive series as I’ve seen.

[@yeahjustme3680]

It was an episode of Doctor Who disguised as a Dracula series imho. 😂

[@chavamara]

Still convinced that the "wolf" was Dracula. He is VERY determined to get Jonathon to Transylvania, so much so he is willing to make a quick jaunt to Germany to keep him from freezing to death!

[@jacquig1939]

Bram: It's sexy vampires England: The women must be repulsed by the monster Hollywood/Iceland: We got you Bram

[@liam1558]

England making the Hammer Studio films: Sexy vampires are actually cool now.

[@ludovico6890]

The two are not mutually exclusive.

[@katherinealvarez9216]

I'm beginning to see why people later on ship heroines with the monsters. The guys they were with are pretty insufferable. Edit: I GOT INTO DRACULA DAILY AND RE DRACULA. NEVERMIND JONATHAN HARKER IS THE BEST NO ARGUMENTS!

[@ninavale.]

It seems a lot like Coppola was very close with his portrayal of Harker as just a plot device to push things forward...

[@sundered_ant]

I personally ship guys with monsters - doesn't happen often enough.

[@katherinealvarez9216]

@@sundered_ant any favorites? Any you can recommend?

[@sundered_ant]

@@katherinealvarez9216 I thought about it for a while after I eventually saw your comment and I'm sad to say that I don't have a lot to recommend :(. I suppose the most concrete examples I could think of would be "Let the Right One In," which Maven reviewed on the channel, and the old Chinese legend "Legend of the White Snake." And for something more comedic, I would recommend the Malaysian film "Pee Mak " which is currently available on Netflix. There are certainly a number of works in which a man gets together/is in a relationship with a female fantasy creature or alien, but I don't think the idea of inverting the gender roles typically seen in Woman & Monster/Beast and the Beast stories has been explored that much.

[@bethbaxter2891]

In a lot of the Dracula sequels I’ve read, Johnathan turns into a real jerk, very undeserving of Mina

[@rjmayo]

I’m really enjoying these Vampire Read Through videos! I heard this story several years ago on Selected Shorts, and it’s really cool to hear it with the commentary, context, and history you include.

[@robertbussie9979]

Your read, review, and insights of this story is excellent. It is entertaining and very informative. I especially like the extra historical information along with the comparisons to "Dracula" and other stories. I am a Librarian and will be ordering your book "The Company of Death" for my library. Since, your video of "Dracula's Guest" is so well thought out I can't wait to read your book and share it with our patrons.

[@walterfechter8080]

My grandparents were from Romania. They didn't hold with superstition. They both read "Dracula," and found the novel to be amusing, but they were impressed by Stoker's use of real locations within Romania. My grandparents had encounters with real monsters (Nazis).

[@KerrieKruegner]

Yes the monsters be human and living not supernatural and undead

[@margaritavlacci]

Reading Dracula's Guest after reading J. D. Barker / Dacre Stoker's Dracul is fun because of the intertextuality, I'll say that much

[@jamiepollard7857]

I love that you pronounce "Nacht" Like "naked"(nackt) it draws such a great picture of nude witches dancing around a fire 😆

[@otterzrkuhl]

Dracula’s Guest is an oddly spooky title.

[@FullMoonOctober]

I just imagined Dracula singing 'Be Our Guest', and now I can't take this serious.

[@otterzrkuhl]

FullMoonOctober Oh my god I’m dying!

[@darthgriffin7741]

Lynnette Ott that’s horrible! I hope you’re okay now!

[@Xagzan]

Love all the videos on classic, early vampire lit. You know I can't remember if I ever actually read this. Although I think it is coming back to me as I'm watching.

[@colinsetford4179]

I think it’s Renfield and is the reason he’s under the care of Dr Steward in Dracula.

[@FullMoonOctober]

That's not a bad theory. If there was a missing 100 page 1st chapter, and Dracula's Guest is only 20, than it's possible that he started out the book writing about Renfield's decent into madness before introducing us to a more central character. A sort of teaser for what was to come. Although that's usually more of a prologue than an official chapter.

[@SonNeko]

I recommended one of the books you reviewed to my mom and she is already up to volume 11, so thanks for the recommendation! I'm glad she is enjoying them. Also thank you for reading Dracula's guest. I love the comments and notes you add during the readings! It really helps me understand the story better!

[@KerrieKruegner]

Thankyou for reading me a story! Was going to mention the sequence in Fantasia but you beat me to it! Enjoying this Thankyou🕷🕸

[@bakaro88]

Yes! Please read Carmilla! I really like this format and how I always learn someting new

[@mekinot]

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this one. Also, Bram Stoker's writing is a lot better in its original language. I read Dracula in Spanish (since it's my first language) and it was insufferable, but it really does seem to be a translation thing.

[@DarthArachnious]

The dead village was in the second season of Castlevania. And the haunted blighted road is a major feature in The Course of Strahd. Truthfully I see more elements of this the more I look for it. Even Gideon Fell: The Hollow Man features three graves on a Romanian crossroads.

[@muhammedebrahim3370]

You should do a review for Powers of darkness on it's own, its be interesting

[@VTimmoni]

I'm good with any public domain content like this. Thank you so much for making these. I adore them. They are perfect background while working from home

[@chantelschneider3045]

I’m down to have a six part series of that book!

[@JennaWeisz]

Well done! So happy to learn more about the background of Dracula.

[@HeirofAzaran]

Thank you for letting us know about the Powers of Darkness, and the history of Dracula. I love it when you do this!

[@christopherpitcairn8617]

loving this series - would love to see a readthrough of Carmilla!

[@renatapaiva4805]

loving the vampire reads! makes me feel like I'm back in a (good) class from my translation undergrad

[@MysticaFaery]

Harker' attitude and general condescension gets on my nerves! This Herr Johan clearly knows two languages even if his English is broken. How many languages do you know, Harker? But then he clearly understands everything said at the graveyard? The power of Englishness? Maybe a benefit that comes from hugging vampire-wolfs? It seems unlikely that they would all speak English when under duress? And this sentence... "He is English and therefore adventurous?" 🤔 seems very convoluted as a reason to suspect Jonathan running of. But Dracula really wants that house in London I guess. Loved listening through this and yes! Six episodes of Carmilla sounds great

[@bennett8535]

I think that in the novel, Harker can at least speak German. In this story, he can read the Russian on the tomb, so it's reasonable he can also speak that. Assuming he had the full-on classical education that the Victorians were so proud of, he would have learned some Latin in school and either French or German or both if so inclined. I'm not sure what social class he was part of (certainly not the land-holding class) nor how complete his education was.

[@Visplight]

"Adventurous" is polite-talk for "too dumb to come in out of the rain."

[@MysticaFaery]

@@bennett8535 thanks for your answer, was 10 years since I last read the book. He is still super rude to the poor worker

[@benjaminkeith1417]

Me: At 0:10 + Listening for a review. At 5:15 = *Me realizing we're solving a mystery.* At 7:44 = Jeez... 1) people really have been stumped by that missing opening... and 2) ... *I think Maven likes Vampire facts. Just a little.* But fascinating, I'd known it was either a early draft and or a part of OG story but... *I had NO IDEA: there was THIS much to it. But...thanks...* Legit learned something.

[@Kumohoshi]

I love all of your videos and the in depth knowledge you share. I always get a kick out of whenever you mention Polidori because I first heard of him in another book, "Bite Me, Your Grace", where he is an accidental antagonist(?) nearly outing the vampire society with his book The Vampyre.

[@WTFM]

i wonder if youll ever cover "The Silver Kiss" (a vampire book). i rediscovered my love for the book a week ago. read it back in highschool and hadn't been able to get my hands on it for years.

[@JuanRamirez-xh3kc]

Well done,her commentaries are adorable.

[@guushertoghs2143]

I would love it if you read through Camilla. I would love it even more if Vampire Readthroughs became a permanent feature. Stories make everyone happy!

[@WHR17]

Had never heard of Dracula’s guest, really enjoyed your reading!!!

[@ianlearningcom]

Fascinating! Can't wait to read Powers. Didn't know about it.

[@margaretschaufele6502]

Really enjoy these. Also, beautiful necklace. BTW, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the ingratitude these people show to the kind wolf that saved the protagonist's stupid life. Still annoys me though.

[@yellowsquashbanana]

I bought the Vampire Super Pack after seeing it on another of your videos. I wanted a bunch of contemporary vampire short stories and am enjoying the book immensely.

[@inshayana]

6 videos of carmilla sounds amazing!

[@MeliMiyoko]

I love these read throughs because I have trouble focusing and the snarking and commentary break up the story enough to keep my attention :)

[@Mixen9408]

It just hits me when you mentioned how Jonathan Harkers goes throught the same thing with Dracua, as in this short story. Maybe Draculas Guest was intended as a short story version of Dracula in case no one wnated to publish a full lengthe book or it was simple the original version of Dracula and as some writers do before starting writing the big 800 pages 7 book long fantasy epic, they try out the characters or themes in a shorter format? :)

[@culwin]

So "Powers of Darkness" is the localization of a Director's Cut.

[@spews1973]

My favourite vampire short story/extract form an early draft of a novel read and commentated on by my favourite vampire expert. Love it! And yes. Of course I'm up for a six-part reading and discussion of "Carmilla".

[@emmastephens1178]

Yes Dracula's Guest. So happy😍

[@MajaBiana]

I would definitely listen to/watch you read all of Carmilla! It's like story time including all the cool annotations

[@Verenjuoja]

I know these are not popular, well known stories, but if you'd like to make more read-throughs of older vampire stories, I recommend Wake Not the Dead by Johann Ludwig Tieck, The Last Lords of Gardonal by William Gilbert and La Morte Amoureuse by Theophile Gautier. Would be very curious to hear your thoughts and analysis on any of them.

[@recklessroges]

I would enjoy listening to you read Carmilla.

[@themelinatrikilis8628]

I love these vampire readthroughs! 🦹‍♀️🥰

[@dubbingsync]

It’s got Blue Font... Those look more like blank pages because of that.

[@gaz0428]

yay, these are fun. Thanks for posting.

[@LordOdor]

I find it interesting how the English line 'the dead travel fast' has become somewhat iconic, whereas the original line 'die Todten reiten schnell' isn't referenced a lot. It just doesn't have the same ring to it, literally meaning "The dead ride fast". German just doesn't have a word with the full scope of usage that 'travel' has. News, horses, people - ghooosts... they all can travel, whereas the German equivalent "reisen" would sound odd with 'the dead', so you'd put a more specific word there, hence 'the dead ride fast' in the poem where Lenore is swept away by her dead soldier boyfriend on a ghostly horse. (Precise words seldom make for iconic lines. Not exactly diversely applicable.) Isn't language fascinating?

[@teogonzalez7957]

the dead travel fast from the poem Lenore when death reveals himself to her.

[@sassysally2995]

My favorite short story! 🧛🏻

[@ethansloan]

I paused the video to read the wikipedia article about Powers of Darkness. You're right. That is fascinating.

[@GooGoo491]

I would like to hear your thoughts on the BBC tv series Young Dracula.

[@kuriosastoryteller]

Thank you so much for the read and all the information!

[@thenayslayer]

Yes, give us Carmilla! I vote; yea!

[@alexandersmith7061]

I have a theory: The guest wasn’t Harker like we think. It’s Renfield

[@Heothbremel]

^so this is officially my new headcanon for this....:)

[@howdyhowdyhelga]

oooh, right! because we never get much about renfield in the actual book, so it would make a lot of sense.

[@TheSleepyShadow]

I like to think it's Quincey Morris. It would certainly fit the "adventurous idiot" we have lol

[@redere4777]

It makes more sense to be Harker. Dracula's Guest is set in Munich on April 30th and Dracula starts with Harker leaving Munich the following day on May 1st. There's also the fact that an earlier draft of Dracula apparently has Harker briefly mention the wolf and other events from Dracula's Guest.

[@LucyLioness100]

Some of those “fan fic” theories sound close to what played into later adaptations of “Dracula”; particularly the Coppola version where the over-sexualization is so rampant

[@bennett8535]

Bennett again. NPR (National Public Radio for non-Americans) did a radio dramatization in 1999 of this story. It follows the plotline faithfully, although the narrator is now an American woman. It's very well done, very atmospheric. The link follows. It's 2 half hour episodes, and episode 2 will start as soon as 1 is finished. archive.org/details/DraculasGuest A note of interest, regarding the Balearic slingers mentioned during the hail storm. Way back in Pre-Roman and Roman times, sling shot shooters (?) from the Balaeric Islands (now part of Spain) were respected and feared for their abilities and were regularly hired by various nations as mercenaries. So this is an example of Stoker showing off his good ol' classical education. (Me too, I guess.) I got the idea that maybe the tall thin man in the distance and the wolf were both Dracula. In wolf form he could have covered great distances quickly, and he was very possessive of Harker ("He is mine!") and perhaps he sent the lightening bolt that was so (truly) fatal to the woman in the tomb, then wolf-hustled his way back home. Just a thought.

[@jamiepollard7857]

"it took all the strength I had just not to fall apart" - Jonathan, probably

[@gstone8255]

We still have that holiday in Sweden !

[@cayreet5992]

There's actually a real story about a countess who lived in the area where Carmilla is also supposed to live who was thought to be a vampire (or at least outright weird) by the people living close to her castle. The woman was only out and about at night, she barely ate and she seemed to waste away. She died in Vienna during a trip there and was brought back to be buried in a very secure grave under the local church - to make sure she'd never come back for sure. Modern scholars suggest that she had a form of cancer - stomach cancer, most likely - so she barely ate, because her stomach couldn't handle it any longer, and barely slept, because she was under constant pain. There are also stories about her drinking wolf's milk (having her hunters catch female wolves and having her servants milk them), because she direly needed to give birth to an heir and thought that would help.

[@elizabethdingus729]

I'd love a Carmilla series. Your videos on some other Carmilla content got her stuck in my head. I eventually read the novel and wrote an adaptation in the form of an intentionally heavily bastardized play (I'm still editing it and such), because of your discussions of Carmilla. Also I'd love to see your commentary on Laura because of the way you roast Jonathan in this video, she's naive to the point of misogyny.

[@jdrobertson42]

Gotta love the ego here. Munich in the 1890s was the third largest city of a major European power with a population that was doubling over a 20 year period as the city industrialized. But apparently they all hid indoors on this night. Because foreigners are just like that.

[@AnIdiotsLantern]

They aren’t superstitious they just think Mr Harker is an asshole

[@therealglitter808]

Totally here for a Carmilla multi part read

[@TheLadyLiddell]

There are actually a couple vampire series I read as a tween that I loved that would be interesting to see your take on. Now, here me out on this because on the surface they sound utterly ridiculous. Vampirates and Blood Ninja... vampire pirates and vampire ninjas, respectively. But Vampirates especially is a series I adored and still wish they could be made into movies someday.

[@EvaSnyder]

I totally think there are 2 vampires in this story: Dracula in the the form of the mysterious man and the wolf, and the lady in the tomb. Dracula had to be nearby in order to get the letter to the landlord in time. It's called Dracula's Guest because the narrator is saved because he is under Dracula's protection as Dracula's guest. Walpurgisnacht is April 30 the eve of May Day (the opposite side of the year from Halloween). Saint George's Day is April 23, so St George Eve is April 22. This may have posed a timeline problem, Harker can't be here on the 30th and then arrive at Dracula's castle on the 22nd.

[@redere4777]

There's actually a simple explanation for the timeline. In the novel, it's mentioned during Jonathan's conversation with the landlord's wife that Saint George's Eve is May 4th in Transylvania. This is because when Bram Stoker was writing much of Eastern Europe used the Julian calendar which is 12 days off compared to the Gregorian calendar we normally use, in fact some countries in Eastern Europe still use this calendar except now it's 13 days off. So the timeline goes as follows; Jonathan was in Munich on April 30th for Walpurgisnacht as described in Dracula's Guest, the novel Dracula picks up with Jonathan leaving Munich on May 1st, arriving in Transylvania by train on the 3rd, and speaking with the landlord's wife on Saint George's Eve on the 4th before getting on the stagecoach to Dracula's Castle.

[@sassysally2995]

Please do a review on "the brides of Dracula" with Yvonne Monlaur!! It's so good! 😍

[@spiderlime]

lenore was also the inspiration for a symphony by joachim raff. it's beautiful. also, please review the script for james whale's dracula's daughter. it's a feast. also the philip j.riley script for dracula vs. the wol;fman. you won't regret it.

[@thebovineavenger]

One of the first vampire books I read was. Vampire Memoirs. It was AWESOME for a small time author. You have GOT to find the book and read it and review it. It is such a weirdly odd good book.

[@taanbrown4275]

love to see more!!

[@kramermariav]

Love that dress! Very nice

[@Link_Ezzie]

I was wondering if anyone had seen the French musical: "Dracula, l'amour plus fort que la mort". (Dracula: Love stronger than Death) It's on youtube, a rock opera type musical, very camp, pretty entertaining with some good songs in there. (With a weird short 3D-visuals part right in the middle of it? Idk why, it was 2011, they thought it was cool I guess, you can easily ignore it.) I don't think there are English subs though. ---SPOILERS:--- In this version Vlad Tepes became a vampire + mute (he expresses himself solely through dance) after Elizabeth's death, with a band of underlings talking for him instead. He doesn't really have any brides, he pretty much just adopts misfits and hot people into his circle in this one, making him more likable. They definitely went the full romantic-route, based on the 1992 film, not the book: With Mina fully falling in love with Dracula, telling Jonathan she had always been free, not under any supernatural control, just wanting the D I guess. She goes as far as to beg him "I promise I'll renounce my love for him, if you only let him live." But eventually she still is pushed to put a stake through his chest, with Dracula finishing the job and pushing it further into his own heart.

[@chantelschneider3045]

Also if you’d like it to look at a series that’s quite different from the shows and movies you normally review; look up the Korean drama “the scholar who walks the night“. It’s a historical Korean drama with vampires! There is a bit of a twist on their mythology of vampires that I think you might enjoy.

[@KerrieKruegner]

There’s a great Scandi vampire film called Frostbite Great film A couple of ffbeat hilarious scenes

[@davidramirez1021]

Cool channel, love the insightful analysis of the various vampire media. Thought provoking! Ever consider reviewing the Marvel "Tomb of Dracula" series from the 70's?

[@spellfire2098]

still love that he did a lot of the dracula work in my town mmmmm whitby

[@jamesgoldin7063]

VERY interesting connections!

[@medicaoctavia8002]

I’d love to hear a discussion of at least how Carmilla differs from The Vampire Lovers and other depictions of that character.

[@Lycandros]

Words to feed the Al Goh Rhythm.

[@bymeerabrowngothicroyal]

🧛🏻‍♂️ Happy belated Dracula day 🧛🏻‍♂️

[@sashade5033]

This short story is so refreshing because to be honest, I don't think Stoker really knew how to do epistolary and it shows...so badly I had to write a fair amount of work in Dracula in my degree and the more you analyse it, the more its stretched

[@Escolisio]

Yay! Great vid! 😊

[@Claire18Hi]

great book! please do more

[@normanby100]

The Powers Of Darkness intrigues me - especially since I have read the lengthy Swedish version. Certain passages - such as Dracula reminiscing about what good friends his books have been - seem too close to Stoker. But I would have thought some of Stoker's passages would have survived various versions unchanged if he liked how he had written them and felt no reason to change them. Then there is the character of old Mr Swales. Stoker makes a decent stab at capturing a broad North Yorkshire accent and I can imagine he probably transcribed some of Swales's sayings wholesale from locals he overheard or spoke to in Whitby. Swales in the Swedish version speaks in plain English - could it be that the author had no experience of a Yorkshire accent and wrote it this way for ease? In which case, could Bram have written it?

[@lunareclipse5320]

Happy World Dracula Day by the way! Cheers and thank you for the reading.

[@AnthroFiend]

Happy World Dracula Day everyone! Today marks the anniversary of the publication!

[@dat1ytcomment262]

Will you review What We Do in The Shadows, the TV show?

[@reagandavenport7663]

Carmilla? Yes! Six-parts? Worth it!

[@StrixVanAllen]

So. I'm reading this book called Dracula's Brood, which is basically a collection of public domain short stories, and I read this very good and very creepy and inventive one... but the end is hilarious. It's ACTUALLY a moralizing tale and I can't say WHAT it moralizes about without laughing. It's called "A Dead Finger", by Sabine Baring-Gould. It's short enough to be done at once and I think it would be a great read in various aspects.

[@vickerypentz7938]

If this really was a first chapter, Harker's later skepticism in Budapest would be beyond belief...

[@glennmcadam6276]

If you want something new to review, I remember a show called Vampire High, it was a Canadian TV series which aired in 2001. It's got one season, 26 episodes, you may want to have a look not sure if you've seen it before. I did enjoy it even if it was a little silly at times.

[@viciouslady1340]

You must get a copy of Shadow of the Vampuss by Karen Mahoney and Alex Ukolov its a retelling of the story of Count Scratchula done by using real cats,models and sets sumptuous fabrics dim lighting and clever story telling .I just my copy you should look into it

[@Storm-hawke]

Great video

[@CanIswearinmyhandle]

I would like to hear more about those swedish werewolfs

[@sbrown1218]

What is the little figure on the shelf to her left? Looks like a cartoon vampire with bat ears?

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

You could always do a read-through of Bunnicula with the Fledgling Spawn . Then again, not in the public domain and not everyone wants their spawn to actually be seen by a bunch of weirdos on youtube, so best just consider this my offering to the Unholy Algorithm. All hail the Algorithm!!!

[@Applepopess]

YES, CARMILLA PLEASE!! 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤