Dracula is a Romance Novel!?!

Imagine my shock when sitting in my college Literature class and the instructor informed the class that DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN were Romance novels. “Horsehockey!” I spat, inflamed at the mere suggestion. Two of my most beloved classics of Fiction, likened to some sappy, namby-pamby Romance novel? What a crock! Romance novels are to women what porn is to men, generally speaking, and have about as much literary value. (Which is to say, not an ounce. Not a micro-ounce.) Nicholas Sparks serves the Devil! Harlequin Romance novels lower property value on the entire planet!

(I don’t think any of the ladies who frequent this site fall into that unfortunate demographic of Romance readers, mind you. You ladies have much better taste.)

The problem, as I learned, was one of nomenclature. The definition of the word “Romance” has changed with time. Today it means sappy, soulless “love stories.” But it USED to mean something else entirely. It has as its root the word “Rome,” remember. The general definition of the genre reads something like this: a story wherein the story may take place in the past (a “historical” Romance); a fictitious narrative which depends on marvelous or fantastical elements; typically (in the past, at least) such stories dealt with nobility, i.e. kings, queens, and the like. (Think of the Arthurian Romances.) An alternate definition would be, and I quote, “a narrative of the extraordinary exploits of heroes, often in exotic or mysterious settings; stories of mysterious adventures, not necessarily of heroes.” Notice that nothing is said of love or sex? While a TRUE Romance may contain elements of both, the plot is not dependent on them. Or, as a buddy of mine once said, the object of the story is not to get the primary character laid or married off.

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

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