Music Monday: Jill Tracy's Nosferatu score...and a poll request

I've featured the music of Jill Tracy on past Music Mondays, but I haven't yet included her most vampire-related work: her score to F.W. Murnau's 1922 vampire classic, Nosferatu. She performs the spellbinding music with The Malcontent Orchestra, and you can hear more on the album Into the Land of Phantoms.



Speaking of Nosferatu, I'll be running a Most Horrific Vampire poll soon and need some nominations. I'm compiling a list of my own (including Nosferatu's Count Orlok), but I want to make sure I don't leave off any of the big ones. We're always compiling lists of the sexiest vampires, so I thought I'd head to the opposite end of the spectrum and give the hideous guys and gals a chance.

Tanya Huff interview

I interviewed Tanya Huff, author of the Blood books that inspired the vampire TV series Blood Ties, over at Vampire Fest. I had a great time chatting with her about her evolution as a writer, her involvement with Blood Ties (as well as her cameo), and the powerful allure of vampires, including her own highly appealing creation, Henry Fitzroy.

Tanya Huff Interview

Also at Vampire Fest right now is a fascinating article called "Striking the Balance: Terror, Desire & Robert Pattinson" by D. MacDowell Blue. You can learn how the casting of Pattinson fits into the casting of other vampires throughout film history.

Daybreakers trailer

The Daybreakers trailer is now available. This Ethan Hawke thriller takes place in 2019, when a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. The release date is currently listed as January 8, 2010. If you enjoy the sci fi side of vampires, this one is for you.

Best 1990s and new millennium vampires

I'm still on my mini-poll vacation for another week, which means no Music Mondays and virtually no posts. But I wanted to quickly wrap up my last poll and start a new one.

I asked, "What is the best 1990s vampire movie?", and 330 of you responded. Not surprisingly, Interview with the Vampire took the lead. My only question was how far ahead it would be from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Here are the full results:

1. Interview with the Vampire, 44%
2. Bram Stoker's Dracula, 23%
3. Blade, 12%
4. From Dusk Till Dawn, 10%
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie), 4%
6. John Carpenter's Vampires, 3%
7. Other, 2%
8. Vampire in Brooklyn, 2%
9. Dracula: Dead and Loving It, 0%

Moving on from the 90s, my next poll is going to ask "What is the best new millennium vampire film?"--BUT I'm going to make the selections pre-Twilight ones. It's a given Twilight will win due to its blockbuster status and extreme popularity, so I'm going to give other new-millennium films a chance to shine. Let the Right One In premiered before Twilight, so I'm allowing it on the poll. My apologies to the Cullens, but they know they're loved.

Back to my temporary blog hibernation...

Vampire-Con, vampire steampunk, upcoming interviews, & other updates

I need to take a mini-blog vacation, so I'll gather a few updates in one message. I just finished the first draft of my young adult Gothic historical fiction novel, which has been consuming most of my computer time lately. I also have company coming for a week, my husband and I will be heading out on a short anniversary trip, and my kids will both be on summer break starting today, so something needs to temporarily travel to the back burner. I'll announce the Best 1990s Vampire Poll winner on Friday, and possibly start a new poll, but that'll be about it until around the 29th.

Here are my quick announcements:

1. Make sure you check the Blood Ties contest winner post. I still have one unclaimed prize waiting for its winner.

2. Speaking of Blood Ties, I've interviewed Tanya Huff about her novel series that inspired the TV show. You'll be able to check out her enjoyable answers at the Vampire Film Festival's website in the next week or so.

3. I'll work more on updating my Vampire Events page this summer. One item I just added is a Los Angeles festival called Vampire-Con, coming August 14-16, 2009. The event will include a film festival, panel discussions, and Vampirella's Ball.

4. If you're a fan of both vampires and steampunk--or even if you have no idea what steampunk is--be sure to place Gail Carriger's upcoming novel, Soulless,
on your must-read list. The book won't be released until October, but Carriger's Victorian-inspired website, gailcarriger.com, is a blast, and you can already pre-order her tale of "vampires, werewolves, and parasols" at Amazon. Because of my love for all things Victorian, I've already nabbed her for an interview, coming this fall.

Gotta run and work more on my own historical world.

BLOOD TIES CONTEST WINNERS!

My four-year-old assistant pulled three winners for my Blood Ties contest this morning.

Blood Ties:Season One DVD:
Liyana

Tanya Huff's novel Blood Price:
Amy S.
Lexie

Winners, please send your snail mail address to catkarp at gmail dot com.

Thanks so much to Eagle Rock Entertainment for providing the prizes, and thanks to everyone who entered. If you missed the contest, people who entered had to come up with a profession for TV vampires. We had everything from vampire funeral home directors to bloodsucking skydivers. Yipes.

Still time to enter Blood Ties contest

My Blood Ties contest ends tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM Pacific Time. There's still time to enter.

Entry Rules Page

Queen of the Damned Shirt - SATURDAY ONLY!

Here's some info you'll need to jump on right away. RIPT Apparel is selling a Queen of the Damned T-shirt for $10.00, available today only. The graphic is fantastic, so hurry over if you're interested.

http://riptapparel.com

Blood reminders

I'm still running my Blood Ties contest until Monday morning, June 15, 8:00 AM Pacific Time. For details, check out my original contest post. Author Tanya Huff, whose novels inspired the Blood Ties TV series, just agreed to let me interview her over at VampireFilmFestival.com, so I'll certainly let you know when that's available.

In other Blood series news, True Blood's second season kicks off this Sunday, June 14. I don't have HBO, but I'll be extremely curious to hear whether or not they use last season's theme song, Jace Everett's "Bad Things." I still receive quite a bit of traffic from True Blood viewers looking for Everett's sexy country hit.

Music Monday: After Dark - From Dusk Till Dawn soundtrack

In honor of my best 1990s vampire movie poll, I'm spotlighting a song from the 1996 film From Dusk Till Dawn, starring Salma Hayek, George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, and Quentin Tarantino (who also wrote the screenplay). The entire soundtrack is a good one, but I'm especially fond of "After Dark" by Tito & Tarantula. The band actually appears in the film, and the group's founder, Tito Larriva, has scored several movies, including the cult classic Repo Man. To me, "After Dark" sounds like the James Bond theme of vampire films. One of Larriva's previous bands, the Cruzados, opened for INXS in the 1980s, and I can certainly hear in "After Dark's" bluesy rock sound how that affiliation works, as well. Hope you enjoy.





iTunes:

New poll: Best 1990s vampire movie

I'm back to my regular polls again. When I left off in April, The Lost Boys completely overtook the competition and was voted the favorite vampire film of the 80s. As promised, we're now venturing into the 90s, when vampire sex appeal was cranked up high and everyone from Tom Cruise to Eddie Murphy sported fangs. Unlike in the 80s, more than one vampire film was a blockbuster, so I'm guessing the win in this category won't be so sweeping. If I had to place money on the poll, I'd bet Interview with the Vampire will come out on top, although Bram Stoker's Dracula was also one of the highest grossing vampire films of all time...plus characters such as Buffy and Blade debuted on the big screen during the decade. I'm curious to see how this one turns out.

Best Vampire Crossover Music Video Contest winner

The results are in for the winner of the Best Vampire Crossover Music Video Contest. According to the contest's creator, Zahir of Undead Whispers, everyone entering needed "to create a music video which involves crossing over between two different fictional worlds. Any two--just so long as a vampire is somewhere involved." I helped out by making Suburban Vampire a polling site, so I'll include the winning entry below: a video called "Forsaken," featuring the lovely Stuart Townsend as Lestat and Kate Beckinsale's Selene. The entry won by almost two-to-one.

Here's the story behind the video as told by the piece's creator, FollyxXxFallen:
Selene is out one night, and she can sense another vampire waking from a very long year sleep. She goes out looking for him through the city and the alleyways, and though ignored for the most part, they do partway begin to become aware that each other are there, a few shows of affection then they part, but can't help but find each other at every turn. And... it's a downhill battle from there I guess, at the end Selene is back on the balcony she started from, remembering.



I'll be back with the regularly scheduled Subruban Vampire polls soon. Stay tuned.

BLOOD TIES CONTEST!

Eagle Rock Entertainment has graciously offered to send me one copy of the Blood Ties: Season One DVD and two copies of Tanya Huff's novels that the series was based upon. Therefore, it's time for a contest!

THE RULES: Crime-solving vampires are a hot commodity when it comes to TV series. In the comments section, offer your own suggestion for a profession that TV vampires should tackle. All participants will be entered into a raffle for the prizes.

THE DEADLINE: Monday morning, June 15, 8:00 AM Pacific Time

Be sure to check back June 15 to see if you've won.

Good luck!!

Blood Ties DVD: Contests and release info

Good news for Blood Ties fans: the first season is finally coming to DVD here in the U.S. tomorrow, Tuesday, June 2. More good news: BloodTiesCentral.com is running a contest for a copy of the DVD that will be signed by Kyle Schmid and Dylan Neal. I've also been informed that Eagle Rock Entertainment will be sending me some Blood Ties giveaways, as well, so I'll post info about my own contest later this week.

Here's the official press release about the DVD's release:

This summer will kick off with the release of the acclaimed Lifetime series Blood Ties – Season 1 on June 2 (Retail Sales Price $26.99, Pre-book Order Date May 13).

This impressive 4DVD set features the original 13 episodes of the series. Bonus material includes a behind-the-scenes documentary and trailer. Blood Ties is based on the book series written by Tanya Huff, which is currently in its 17th printing. Touted as “A Crime Series, With Bite,” Blood Ties follows the wild success of other vampire dramas, such as Twilight and True Blood. Blood Ties is not your typical crime drama, and the release of this 4DVD set is the perfect opportunity for the rabid vampire fans to sink their teeth into a captivating and engaging drama.

The story revolves around private investigator Vicki Nelson (played by Christina Cox), who witnesses a violent murder one night in the streets of Toronto. This is no ordinary murder, and as she searches for the truth, more and more evidence suggests demonic involvement. The investigation leads to an encounter with the suave and alluring Henry Fitzroy (played by Kyle Schmid), who just happens to be a 470-year-old vampire with a vested interest in the case. The two collaborate, and their relationship starts to bloom into something much more than the mission at hand, which interferes with Nelson’s current relationship with ex-partner Detective Mike Celluci (played by Dylan Neal). As the season progresses, Nelson and her cohorts are pulled into an unpredictable swirl of romance, action, and supernatural activity.

Official website: www.bloodtiestv.com/the-story

Music Monday: Jonathan Richman's Vampire Girl

Today's Music Monday feature is Jonathan Richman's "Vampire Girl," an enjoyable musical confession about feeling "intrigued when women look sinister." If you've ever found yourself feeling attracted to someone who looks like they could scare you death (and because this is a vampire blog, there's a good chance every visitor has felt that way), this is for you.