Perhaps I should save this post for Hallowe'en but I'm in the middle of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' - a classic which somehow I'd never read before but should have - and it's so beautifully written that I look forward every night to immersing myself in its gothic pages. I'll be finished long before 31st October!
Once again I've rather fallen for an evil Count (last time it was Count Fosco from The Woman In White) but of course, as it is for most people I'm sure, Dracula had already been lurking temptingly in my psyche for many decades through the medium of film. In my mind he's a mixture of Christopher Lee and Louis Jourdan (sorry, but Bela Lugosi doesn't get a look-in) - both wonderful in the role; the former of course for his many Hammer Horror performances but the latter perhaps less widely known as his portrayal was in a BBC 2 adaptation of the book. It was repeated a little while back and even watching it for the first time in nearly fifty years still validated my fond recollection of it as a stylish, evocative production for its era - it originally aired in 1977.
That year I had turned 14, the perfect age to feel strangely stirred at thoughts of dark and forbidden seduction by a mysterious, mesmerising protagonist. Here was an immaculate mix of romance, eroticism and horror, where the anti-hero is charismatic and complex, eliciting an odd ambivalence which only serves to keep one wanting more.
Indeed, my adolescent self found Louis Jourdan's portrayal compelling and it stayed vividly in my memory. In an interview at the time he stated that he really tried to make his character's villainy "attractive, very attractive" so that the audience might find ourselves questioning our values. "I think Dracula should be played as an extremely kind person, who truly believes he is doing good. He gives eternal life," Jourdan said. "He takes blood and he gives blood. Therefore, he gives an exchange which is symbolic of love and the sexual act..." Hot stuff! Those teenage love bites were never going to match up.
Much as I adore a vintage book (and we really need to save them from abominable AI shredders - don't get me started), prices for early editions of Dracula were somewhat steep so I opted instead for this new paperback from Wordsworth Editions, home of classic literature made affordable, with its neat cover graphics and an interesting, up-to-date introduction.
And I'm so enjoying feasting slowly on this famous novel no matter what the packaging. It's a great pleasure to take the long road through its pages, to savour its meticulous descriptions and language, and allow myself a little frisson at the shadows cast by the nightlight and the curtains wavering softly in the breeze from the open window as I take it to bed. Hmm, I'm sure I didn't have these two little marks on my neck when I fell asleep...
If you want to catch the aforementioned BBC film of 'Count Dracula' it's being shown again in two parts on Talking Pictures TV, starting 18th September.
