Archive 2021 and later
COTN Virtual Conference Book of Abstracts
In April 2021, global COVID travel restrictions still being in place, the 'Children of the Night' International Dracula Conference, of which I was a co-organizer, was held as a virtual event. More than a hundred participants signed up to speak or to attend, and we had a very lively, intense three-day congress with dozens of high-quality presentations, short movies, a costume contest, and informal online parties. The best presentations and appearances were rewarded with Golden and Silver Bat Awards. My 72 minute video documentary on Philippine vampires won the Golden Bat Award in the category "Best Educational Video Documentary." After the event, we decided to bundle all abstracts in an illustrated E-book, that also features an introduction, a history of the congress series, a profile pictures of all speakers, selected slides from their presentations, and a report on the costume contest. With 154 pages, 39 abstracts, and over 200 illustrations. The E-book can be downloaded for free from the website of the publisher, Cluj University Press (51Mb). For a compressed version (100 dpi, 9.6 Mb, faster download), see below.
Bulletin of Transilvania University of Brașov '21
Pre-print: Mörkrets Makter's Mini Mysteries
This is my article written for the abovementioned Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brașov, Series IV 14(63) no. 1 (2021). To secure my intellectual property rights in this paper, a pre-print release was uploaded to Academia.edu on September 18, 2021, before the Bulletin was officially published. Link: here. As of December 31, 2021, the article can also be downloaded here, for review and discussion.
First release of September 18, 2021, via Academia.edu
Abstract: The discussion about Bram Stoker's possible contribution to Mörkrets makter, the Swedish version of Dracula, and about the identity of the anonymous Swedish editor/translator, has reached no definitive conclusions yet. This paper addresses a series of minor mysteries linked to the Swedish variants: the possible connections between the Budapest, the Chicago and the Stockholm serialisations; the use of certain names (Draculitz, Mary Wood, Valentini's, Zolyva, Koromeszo); references to the Whitechapel Murders and the Thames Torso Mysteries, among others. Although these observations provide no definitive proof regarding the authorship of Mörkrets makter, taken together, they seem to show subtle support for the idea that these Dracula modifications were created entirely in Sweden.
First released on September 18, 2021 via Academia.edu
Here: Revised version of January 26, 2022.
Rainbow Village/Moonlake
In the year 2021, I revived my old Moonlake Editions imprint, in combination with the Rainbow Village brand. My book with Swedish Dracula drawings (1899-1900) was the first publication to appear under that name., followed by two e-books: Trends and Topics in Mörkrets Makter, and Bram Stoker's Hidden World. In 2023, I published an essay on Ossenfelder's poem "The Vampire" under the same imprint.
Trends and Topics in MöMa
This richly illustrated e-book (PDF) with c. 29,000 words is filled with observations about the Swedish Dracula versions, along with translated fragments from the original Dagen text, background information, relevant newspaper articles from the 19th century, and other images. It is the most complete analysis of style and content of the Dagen version that has been published until now.
This e-book is dedicated to my dear friend Magdalena Grabias from Lublin, Poland, who had her birthday at the release date.*
*December 24, 2021
Rainbow Village/Moonlake.
ISBN Nr. 978 3 943559 02 6.
Release date: December 24, 2021.
For the moment: free download.
Bram Stoker's Hidden World
This e-book (PDF) counts c. 24,300 words and is illustrated as well. It deals with the world of hypnosis, thought-reading, telekinesis, automatic writing, ghost appearances, etc. and how the debate about such phenomena influenced the writing of Dracula.
With an extensive footnote apparatus and detailed bibliography with live links, to give you an easy access to the relevant books and articles about the discussed topics.
This e-book is dedicated to my dear friend Florin Nechita from Brașov, Romania.
Rainbow Village/Moonlake.
ISBN number: 978 3 943559 03 3.
Release date: December 31, 2021.
For the moment: free download.
Interview Strigoi Rede Vampyrica, spring '21
By request of Andreas Axikerzus Sahjaza from Brazil, I answered a series of written questions for Strigoi Rede Vampyrica Magazine (spring 2021 issue, but published in October 2021). The text is available both in English and in the Brazilian-Portuguese translation.
Swedish Dracula version finally translated!
February 10, 2021:
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/powers-of-darkness-8
Barnes and noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../powers-of.../1140977718
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/.../60378371-powers-of-darkness
Apple Store: (next week)
Google Play: (next week)
ISBN: 978-1-7923-8545-2
Interview Reykjavik Grapevine, May 9, 2022
By request of Valur Grettisson, editor-in-chief of the Icelandic cultural magazine Reykjavik Grapevine, I answered a series of other questions, mainly about the Nordic versions of Dracula. It was published here on May 9, 2022. For my archive, I created a copy as a PDF file.
The True Location of “Lake Hermanstadt” and How to Get There: A Travel Report
Presentation for the COTN International Dracula Conference in November 2022. To prepare for my talk, I wrote a 40-page illustrated paper about the myth of the Scholomance and the location of Stoker's "Lake Hermanstadt," reconstructed from Gerard's travel report in The Land beyond the Forest and other contemporary travel accounts. The paper has not been published yet (Status: September 11, 2022)
Ossenfelder's "The Vampire" 275 years old!
"Translation, Inspiration, Condemnation, Illustration : 'The Vampire' by H. A. Ossenfelder, 1748 -2023." A contribution to the 275th anniversary of Ossenfelder's poem "The Vampire," with a new, metrical translation, the work's first-ever illustrations, and an analysis of Ossenfelder's sources and style. Published on June 14, 2023. With an Errata/Addendum section added on June 21, 2023. E-book, ISBN 978 3 943559 04 0. See the extra menu tab.
Intro for The Transcriptions of Mina Harker
"Reading Dracula like a Pro: Peeling the Onion of Stoker’s Intentions." Introduction for Enrique Palafox's special edition, Dracula: The Transcriptions of Mina Harker, in English and Spanish, in the style of Mina's typewriting. Released on August 6, 2023 via Amazon.