What follows is rife with many a SPOILER. You have been warned! Now that the finale of the first season of Penny Dreadful has aired, with more than a few surprises (as well as few plot twists many of us saw coming from miles away), let us consider the vampires in this series. Not least…
Tag: Grand Guignol
Elizabeth Bathory the Blood Countess
Of all the candidates for “real life vampire” surely the front-runner must be Elizabeth Bathory. Among the highest nobility in 17th century Hungary, her name comes down to us amid horrified whispers–torture, mass murder, bathing in human blood, Satanism. How much if anything actually happened remains a matter for historians. Fans of vampires know her…
Carmilla in Chicago
Wildclaw Theatre in Chicago (the name is in memory of Ray Wild aka “The Claw,” a writer/director/actor) specializes in what they proudly call Horror Theatre. Their avowed mission is to “…bring the world of horror to the stage. We intend to attract a new kind of audience which does not usually go to the theatre,…
The Grand Guignol
Imagine yourself in a bleak, timeworn theater. Picture yourself walking down the dull dismal aisle, shadows overtaking the light, thick aged draperies hanging on the peeling cracked walls… keep walking, row after row until you get to your creaking seat. The theater is quiet enough to hear the dead, the lights dim and a chill…