Description: "In Dracula, we find a monster who takes away our agency, our choice--even as he consumes us. The fantasy of becoming a vampire is a myth of exceptionalism-- nobody fantasizes about being the random peasant whom the titular Count devours. Instead, people are thrilled by the thought of turning into vampires themselves--becoming the most powerful consumer, the apex predator. And until we recognize that we have far more in common with prey than predator, we will always feel the vampire's pull. I hope Norton's vital new addition to the conversation about Stoker's work will cause readers to look at this old story with new eyes: to question our preconceptions and refocus our own narrative lenses. Dracula remains evergreen, I'm afraid--because within our monsters... we may find ourselves." --Kate Hamill (playwright/actor)
Brief description: David J. Skal was one of the world's preeminent authorities on Bram Stoker, Dracula, and monsters in popular culture. His book Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen (Norton, 1990) was hailed as "the ultimate book on Dracula" by Newsweek; The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror (Norton, 1993) has had multiple translations and is widely considered the standard historical and critical survey. As a filmmaker, he wrote, produced, and directed a dozen DVD and Blu-ray documentaries on Universal's classic horror and science fiction films, as well as a behind-the-scenes chronicle of the Academy Award-winning film Gods and Monsters. Skal guest-lectured extensively at major colleges, universities, and cultural organizations in North America and Europe, with speaking engagements at sites such as the Huntington Library, the British Library, and the Musée du Louvre. He additionally taught courses based on his books at the University of Victoria and Trinity College Dublin, where he was also appointed a Long Room Hub Visiting Research Fellow for Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker (Liveright, 2016), chosen by the Mystery Writers of America as a 2017 Edgar Award finalist for biography and criticism. His official website was monstershow.net.