Look at that, the first twelfth of the year has already been and gone.
I will be honest: the first month of the new/improved Vampire Nonsense has not gone as well as I would have helped. Between the after-effects of Christmas covid and a month-long chronic pain flare-up, I was not really in a mood to do anything most days – especially after work. I did not read, and I did not watch any television or movies – vampires or not.
That said, the following did happen on this very blog:
Posts Were Posted
Some were new, some were completely rewritten, and others edited. They ranged from personal vampire things to vampire tourism to some other stuff.
- I revealed my most shameful of vampire-related secrets.
- Did you know that Alnwick Castle – film stand-in for Hogwarts and home to a poison garden – has a thousand year old vampire story?
- I made some vampire resolutions for 2024.
- And I made a list of three vampire films from Australia and New Zealand.
Reviews Went Up
Three reviews went up, ranging from illustrated classics, to a well-known paranormal romance/urban fantasy, to an erotic graphic novel.
- Dracula, by Bram Stoker and illustrated by Becky Cloonan
- Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
- Letters for Lucardo by Otava Heikkilä
I Invested In Physical Media
While I am supposed to be actively saving for a trip to Europe (to see Tanz der Vampire live), I did do a little post-Christmas splurging. “[I]nvest in physical media whenever you can” regularly encourages my friend Kayleigh, so I got a few vampire blu-rays to help grow my tiny collection.
- The Moth Diaries, directed by Mary Harron and based on the book by Rachel Klein.
- Byzantium, directed by Neil Jordan, who directed the 1994 Interview with the Vampire adaptation.
- Perfect Creature, directed by Glenn Standring – the alternate history/steampunk New Zealand where vampires live in symbiosis with humans.
Another Vampire Autograph Was Acquired!
I’ve started sending out Autogrammkarten requests to the cast of Tanz der Vampire (many thanks to the German postal service making printable stamps for the self-addressed envelopes) and I’ve had a handful arrive since. To my great surprise and delight, the card from Robert Meyer (cover Graf von Krolock/Nightmare Soloist 2) I’d sent away early 2023 was in the mailbox!
That brings my total of cards to five. I hear the Hamburg cast are due to get new cards, so watch this space!
So What’s Next?
So the good news is, this month-long chronic pain flare-up has improved dramatically this last week. I’m still in a lot of pain, but I have moments without pain, and I am sleeping okay most nights. Not perfect, but it’s something.
I’ve started to read again, sort of. I’m about one hour in to the audiobook of Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. It’s certainly a nice audiobook, and Simon Vance is doing an excellent job, but it makes me wish for a radio drama style adaptation – a recording presented to the listener as if it were the tapes of the titular interview being played. Two actors, the sounds of movement instead of narration etc. Just a thought.
Let’s keep the February goals simple while I recover.
- Finish and review Interview with the Vampire.
- Watch and review a movie.
- Finish that comics post I started last month.
- Keep working on the novel.
What do you think?
