January began and ended with Sherlock Holmes. On New Year’s Day, I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes film. Then, in the mood for more Sherlock Holmes, I read Loren D. Estleman’s Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula for perhaps the tenth time. This was followed by reading some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories;Continue reading “On Holmesiana”
Tag Archives: Dracula
On the 2006 BBC Dracula
The Sophia Myles film festival continues! In 2006 Myles appeared as Lucy Westenra in a new BBC adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with a cast that included Marc Warren as the sanguinary count, Rafe Spall as Jonathan Harker, and David Suchet as Van Helsing. Oh my god, what a piece of shite! What the hellContinue reading “On the 2006 BBC Dracula”
On Halloweens Past
Years ago I lived in Amish country, a little east of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There were some Amish farms on my road, and there were kids in the neighborhood. As Halloween approached, I felt a bit giddy inside — there were kids in the neighborhood! Halloween! Amish kids! Halloween! I’d never really lived anywhere that trick-or-treatingContinue reading “On Halloweens Past”
On Dracula vs. King Arthur
Last week, at the Baltimore Comic-Con, as I was walking past a table, I heard, out of the corner of my ear, the words, “King Arthur.” And my interest piqued, I had to see why I’d heard those words. I stopped, turned, and then the guy behind the table said, “Dracula versus King Arthur!” HeContinue reading “On Dracula vs. King Arthur”
On Fixing the Barn Door
Before Shore Leave I purchased through eBay a DVD of Billy the Kid vs. Dracula, a 1966 film that was exactly what the title suggests–Dracula, the great vampire lord and prince of darkness, travels to the Old West and comes into conflict with the notorious outlaw, Billy the Kid. I suspected the DVD would beContinue reading “On Fixing the Barn Door”
Sherlock Holmes against the Irrational
Yesterday I received in the mail the latest Faction Paradox novel, Philip Purser-Hallard’s Of the City of the Saved….. The novel takes place in the City of the Saved, essentially a secular heaven after the Big Crunch where humanity in all of its forms, from Homo habilis to post-human intelligences that bear no physical relationContinue reading “Sherlock Holmes against the Irrational”
Van Helsing
Friday afternoon I asked people, several times over, what they thought of Van Helsing as they left the theatre. “Better than Hellboy!” some said. “Better than LXG!” others said. I loved Hellboy, enjoyed LXG for the most part. It seemed, then, that my fears that Van Helsing would reveal itself as a disaster were unfounded.Continue reading “Van Helsing”