New Dracula in LA

October contains Halloween, and as a result theatre-goers with a taste for the gothic can look forward to productions of Dracula.  These vary from the Balderson-Deane classic (which made Bela Lugosi famous) to such fresh takes as last year’s “feminist” version or an adaptation on roller skates or for that matter more than a few…

9 Best Vampire Movies on Netflix

Some of us are old enough to remember Blockbuster and VHS tapes, but those days (and nights) are no more. In the spirit of such, we gladly present one list of the 9 Best Vampire Movies on Netflix! 1. What We Do In Shadows (2014) a New Zealand mockumentary/reality show about a bunch of vampires…

The Dark Arts of Blood (review)

Freda Warrington’s vampire novels make for lush, intense dramas involving angst-haunted, fierce undead–lovers, enemies, family members, friends, despots, sometimes religious fanatics or raving lunatics. Her latest The Dark Arts of Blood certainly is no exception. More, her tales explore that strange dangerous moments and relationships inherent when the world of humanity blends with that of…

Carmilla Web Series

This is turning into something of a Golden Age for fans of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu‘s vampire masterpiece Carmilla. Really! The last film adaptation was in 1990, but now not one but two new film versions are on the film festival circuit right now. Live theatre versions have popped up in Chicago and Los Angeles and…

The Strain (review)

On Sunday, July 13 FX premieres “Night Zero” the first episode of the new series The Strain based on the novel trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. By the time you read this, it may have already aired. Either way, let us assume you haven’t yet seen it nor read any of the…

Review: A Taste of Blood Wine

Freda Warrington’s A Taste of Blood Wine is the first in a series, and of a subgenre you’d think would feel tired, worn out, even (dare I say it?) bloodless. The sweeping gothic period romance. Even describing it summons images of Jane Eyre meets Twilight. Which proves unfair in the end. To be sure, a…

Vampire Books Coming February 2014

Here are the vampire books coming out this month! Enjoy :)  Blood from a Silver Cross by E. S. Moore (Feb 1, 2014) Trust is a dangerous business. Some people still call Kat Redding by her hunter name: Lady Death. But she’s not eager to see more violence brought to her doorstep. The neverending tide of hungry supes…

Virtual Vampires on Kickstarter

Daniel Cavallin and Andrés Cavallin, aka the “Cavallin Brothers,” are game designers.  They created their first video games back in the 1980s  and won a programming contest at the ages of 11 and 12 respectively — before the IBM PC was even invented! They founded TrueApps LLP, with the mission of creating entertainment software to…

Let The Right One In Redux!

Most fans of the blood-drinking undead agree John Ajvide Lindqvist created a modern classic with his novel Let The Right One In. His eerie, troubling and somehow sweet story of a lonely bullied child who finds friendship, maybe even love, with a vampire who moves next door became a best-seller. Lindqvist himself wrote the screenplay…

Vampires Should Be Evil

I encountered the Vampire tale first through the movies, staying up late Friday and Saturday nights watching Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and then Christopher Lee portray Dracula. The Count was the epitome of evil, his whole existence on this Earth one purpose, to feed and create more of his kind. Vampirism was like a plague,…