Themes of the 2015 World Horror Convention

This is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Wold Horror Convention to be held on May 7-10 in Atlantic, Georgia. These are the seven themes of the 2015 event:

• The Weird South:  "Why does the South provide such a rich playground for authors and filmmakers exploring the darker side of humanity?" 
• Pushing the Diaspora Darkly: Atlantic was the city at the centre of the civil rights movement. The convention will look at "diversity and an emerging global view of horror as it moves into the 21st century with a new generation of writers from different cultural backgrounds." 
• Terrifying Tropes and Deadly Definitions: "Classic monsters will still get their due, but we’ll be looking for new angles to challenge and inspire, as well as exploring sub-genre definitions and cross-pollination with other genres."
• YA Rocks: Why is horror so popular for young adults? 
• The State of Horror, 1991: A look back at the founding of the WHC and the hottest horror topics and authors at that time.
• The Art of Fear: An examination of the "latest trends in horror art, comics, artist spotlights, the business of art, and other media-related programming."
• The Business of Horror: How "to maximize the latest developments in marketing and publishing."

For more information, please visit http://www.whc2015.org/ and http://www.worldhorrorconvention.com/.

Master of Horror, Bram Stoker

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula

This is the third in a series of posts featuring masters of horror. In this post, I'll discuss Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula.


 Bram Stoker's Dracula

Although Bram Stoker was not the first Victorian-era writer to deal with the vampire theme, his 1897 novel Dracula is recognized as a classic in terms of its pervasive influence on the horror genre. Stoker was a prolific short story and novel writer, as well as the business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London. He was also a member of the literary staff of London's Daily Telegraph.

Prior to writing Dracula, Stoker spent several years researching European folklore and mythological stories of vampires. Like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Stoker's novel is epistolary in form, using a series of letters and different points of view to recount the story of Count Dracula, who attains immortality by draining the blood of his victims. Dracula also deals with the themes of man's desire for immortality versus the transitory nature of his existence; his lust for forbidden knowledge; and the epic battle of good versus evil. 

The Legacy of Dracula
The legacy of this novel has been immense. The vampire has become synonymous with horror in the popular imagination, and the concept of the “Undead” (which was the original title of the novel), an evil entity that cannot be destroyed but rises up again and again, is central to the horror genre. There have been over two hundred films based on the Dracula character. In literature, the novel has influenced such diverse writers as Stephen King and Anne Rice. The Horror Writers Association bestows the Bram Stoker Awards each year for excellence in horror writing.

Internet Resources

 If you would like to [re]discover Dracula, please see the Bram Stoker website at http://bramstoker.org/ for copies of his works, as well as biographical information. Dracula is in the public domain and is available for free download through various sites on the Internet.