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: John Edgar Browning is Professor of Liberal Arts at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Browning has written, co-written, and co-edited over a dozen books and 75 shorter works focusing on Stoker/Dracula, vampires, zombies, horror, monstrosity, and the Gothic. His works as an editor include The Forgotten Writings of Bram Stoker (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), and Dracula--An Anthology: Critical Reviews and Reactions, 1897-1920 (Edinburgh University Press) as well as acclaimed critical editions of Montague Summers's The Vampire: His Kith and Kin and The Vampire in Europe (Apocryphile Press, 2011, 2014). With Caroline Joan S. Picart, he co-edited Speaking of Monsters: A Teratological Anthology (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and co-wrote Dracula in Visual Media (McFarland, 2010); with David R. Castillo, David Schmid, and David A. Reilly he co-wrote Zombie Talk: Culture, History, Politics (Palgrave Pivot, 2016); and, with Darren Elliott-Smith, co-edited New Queer Horror Film and Television (Horror Studies) (University of Wales Press).