Gothic Charm School

I was browsing Powell's Books this morning and discovered I missed a book event last night that would have been quite entertaining--author Jillian Venters, otherwise known as "Lady of the Manners," read from her book Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide for Goths and Those Who Love Them. According to the book's cover, "the Lady of the Manners has spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time trying to gently persuade others in her chosen subculture that being a goth and being polite is much, much more subversive than just wearing black t-shirts with 'edgy' sayings on them."

Venters runs the website gothic-charm-school.com, where you can learn more about the book, the author, and related products, such as Gothic Charm School Body Butter. Most importantly, you can receive Gothic Charm School advice in a variety of topics, from "Talking to parents about their disapproval of your gothy ways" and "Too old to be a Goth?".

For more info on Venters and an elegant and educational look at Goth culture (vampires included), see her video below.

Who is the most horrific movie vampire?

I had a difficult time narrowing down who should appear on my most horrific vampire poll, and I decided to limit the list to movies to avoid confusion between the film and literary versions of characters. Sometimes, a vampire comes across as appalling in a book, but they're toned down for their film adaptation, and vice versa (see Håkan from Let the Right One In).

Because there's so much interest in the attractive side of vampires, there aren't a whole lot of scariest vampire lists out there. At the top, you'll pretty much find Count Orlak from Nosferatu and Marlow of 30 Days of Night, so I thought it would be fun to have those two duke it out. To throw in an underdog, I'm also including Mr. Marlow from Salem's Lot, a movie that creeped me out when I saw it at a slumber party as a teenager.

Feel free to add your own personal choice of the Most Horrific Movie Vampire in the comments section. Here are some glamor shots of the nominees:

True Blood Season 2 voted better than Season 1

These latest poll results are about a week late in coming, but, as I've mentioned in previous posts, Suburban Vampire has had to slip to the back burner out of necessity lately.

I asked, How would you rate Season 2 of True Blood? Here's how 327 of you voted:

Better than Season 1 (43%)
As good as Season 1 (39%)
Not as good as Season 1 (9%)
I don't have HBO (7%)
I don't have any desire to see Season 2 (2%)

Clearly, True Blood isn't suffering a sophomore slump, and, according to most voters, the creators are doing something right. Hope they continue pleasing viewers in following seasons.

I plan to assemble my Most Horrific Vampire poll today. Be sure to check back so we can give the atrocious, unsexy vamps their chance to shine.

Upcoming Vampire Movies article also up at VampChix

VampChix also generously published my Upcoming Vampire Movies article. Be sure to check out this fabulous new blog, run by authors Michele Hauf and Roxanne Rhoades and Patricia of Patricia's Vampire Notes.

Music Monday (on Tuesday): Wolf Song

I'm so behind on blogging and was going to skip a Music Monday this week, but I've decided to play a little something that ties in with both my newest article, "Upcoming Vampire and Werewolf Movies," and my True Blood poll that just ended. Here's a little tribute to the furry side of creatures of the night, UK musician Patrick Wolf's "Wolf Song."





I'll blog about the recently ended poll and post a new poll later this week. I'm currently putting together a literary panel for the Vampire Film Series and Festival, working on a manuscript that I hope to send my agent this fall, and taking care of my two kids, who are home for the summer. The poor blog has had to travel to the back burner.

Upcoming Vampire and Werewolf Movies

Save up your movie money. Cinematic bloodsuckers--and shapeshifters--are lurching into theaters in droves...

Read my full rundown of UPCOMING VAMPIRE & WEREWOLF MOVIES over at VampireFilmFestival.com, and learn about trends such as the literary adaptations, the sequels, and the popular idea of dressing Willem Dafoe up as a vampire.

VampireFilmFestival.com is also running episode reviews of True Blood, Season 2, thanks to Zahir of Undead Whispers.

An excellent weekend for vampires

I was tempted to call the post "Vampire Weekend," but I didn't want people to think I actually had news about the band. Instead, I've got info about a busy weekend for vampire fans.

First of all, Comic-Con has already opened its doors in San Diego and will continue to run through the weekend. They've already shown New Moon previews, sneak peek pilot previews of The Vampire Diaries, and director Park Chan-wook has discussed his award-winning Korean vampire film Thirst. But yet to come are True Blood panels, Being Human panels, more Vampire Diaries previews, SLG Publishing's trailers for Van Jensen's upcoming graphic novel, Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer, and a Buffy musical tribute as the weekend's grand finale. You can find the full schedule at comic-con.org.

I used to work within walking distance of Comic-Con for five years in the 90s, and back then I always thought of the event as the geeky place my co-workers went to every summer. I'm astounded at how huge and influential the thing has now become (Tim Burton is going to be there, for crying out loud!), and I have to say that I'm a little bummed that I'm no longer near the San Diego Convention Center these days.

In other news, the aforementioned Being Human is coming to BBC America starting this Saturday, July 25, at 9/8c. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it's about "three twenty-something housemates and their secret double identities – as a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost trying to live normal lives despite their strange and dark secrets." Here's a preview of Being Human's first seven minutes:

My new book blog

I've just launched a new blog specifically to discuss my fiction, including my published historical novels and my Gothic work-in-progress. I need to cut back on website fees for the time being, so a blog seemed the best way to go. If you have CatherineKarp.com bookmarked anywhere, please change it to http://catherinekarp.blogspot.com.

Music Monday: A Cute Vampire, THIRST soundtrack

This year's prestigious foreign vampire film--following in the award-winning footsteps of Sweden's Let the Right One In--is Korea's Thirst, from director Park Chan-wook. The movie, which took the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival--tells the tale of a priest who becomes a vampire and winds up in an affair with the wife of his childhood friend. The film will start its limited release in the U.S. on July 30. Here is a sample of Thirst's haunting and unique soundtrack, a song called "A Cute Vampire," composed by Cho Young-wuk.

Cirque du Freak news

Here's the latest news about the film adaptation of Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak: According to Universal Picture's postings on Twitter, the title will now be The Vampire's Assistant and the release date has been bumped up from January 2010 to October 23, 2009. The new title is also the name of the second novel in the twelve-volume Cirque du Freak series--and I'm guessing the change was made to alert moviegoers that this is indeed another vampire offering. I've read in the past that the trailer will be made available in August, but perhaps it will now be ready sooner.

Music Monday: Smashing Pumpkins

Today's Music Monday feature is Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," aka the song that calls the world a vampire. If you want to see the actual video instead of the concert clip I'm posting below, you'll need to head over to YouTube--embedding isn't allowed on that one. And if you want so see one of my favorite music videos ever made--Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight," a tribute to 1902 French science fiction film A Trip to the Moon--you'll also need to head in YouTube's direction. It's worth the trip...and lead singer Billy Corgan has a little Bram Stoker's Dracula vibe going on.

New poll: How would you rate Season 2 of True Blood?

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I added a new poll: How would you rate Season 2 of True Blood?

My Most Horrific Vampire poll is still on its way. I'm waiting until I have a week where I'm not doing a hundred other things so I can devote more time to preparing it.

Vampire Viral Video Contest and VampirePhile Discussion

I've been alerted to two vampire opportunities you can jump upon if you so choose.

1. VampirePhile wants your feedback on her latest post: "I like Vampires...but I wouldn’t want to be one!" You can offer your two cents at http://vampirephile.blogspot.com.

2. Vampire® Viral Video Contest: If you're adept at making videos, check out this news release that Vampire.com recently sent me:

Today, I am announcing the first Vampire® Viral Video Contest with more than $1200.00 in prizes!!

Join me in creating a short video between 30-90 seconds. Express yourself and your immortality as you wish, making your video as wildly wicked as Dracula himself. The more entertaining the better your chance of winning! The video can be in any form: animation, collage, black & white, animated text, video etc. The only rule is that the video has to display a Vampire® product, logo or the url VAMPIRE.COM.

Simply upload your video on YouTube.com, send me the link to v@vampire.com and keep your fangs crossed to win one of our many prizes.

Contest starts today, July 10, 2009, and ends on August 15, 2009. Winners will be announced on the launch date of the new VAMPIRE.COM website, August 31st, 2009.

For full contest details, prizes, and rules please visit www.vampiredotcom.blogspot.com.

Upcoming vampire literary adaptations

Zahir from Undead Whispers alerted me to a new Dracula movie adaptation in the works, so I immediately put it in my list of upcoming vampire films. That got me thinking about the multitude of other vampire literary works (including graphic novels, comics, and children's books) slated to hit the big and small screens. I'm listing several of them here, and if you click on the titles, you'll head either to the IMDB pages or to a site that lists the current information. Keep in mind that all release dates are estimates and some of these projects are still in the infancy stage.

Carmilla (2009)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
The Vampire Diaries (2009)

Cirque du Freak (2010)
The Historian (2010)
Last Blood (2010)
Let the Right One In (U.S. Remake) (2010)
Priest (2010)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)


Dracula (2011)
The Night Projectionist (2011)

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter (date TBA)
Dear Dracula (date TBA)

Underworld tops the latest poll

In my most recent poll, I asked, "What is the best pre-Twilight new-millennium vampire movie?" There were 432 responses, and Underworld took the lead with 33% of the votes. In my best of the 80s and 90s vampire movie polls, the top-grossing films received the top spots. Not so with this poll: Blade II did better at the box office than any of the movies ranking higher in the poll, and third-place winner Let the Right One In had the least amount of box office success. Here are the full results:

1. Underworld (33%)
2. Queen of the Damned (18%)
3. Let the Right One In (14%)
4. 30 Days of Night (9%)
5. Dracula 2000 (6%)
6. A tie:
--Blade II (5%)
--I Am Legend (5%)
--Van Helsing (5%)
7. Other (4%)
8. Shadow of the Vampire (1%)

My top choice was Let the Right One In, but I'm also a fan of Shadow of the Vampire--a smaller film, but a multiple-award-winning one. It doesn't have the action and hipness of other vampire films of the new millennium, but it's a highly creepy portrayal of a vampire.

Music Monday: Neil Young's Vampire Blues

My Music Monday selection of the week is more about environmental vampires than bloodsucking ones, but it's still a must-have for any vampire music list: Neil Young's "Vampire Blues." Reacting to the 1973-74 oil crisis, Young used vampires and bats as metaphors for draining the earth of its resources...and he certainly hasn't been the last person to correlate vampirism with other ills of the world.

Vampire Survival Guide

I'm resigning to the fact that my blogging time will be greatly reduced over the entire summer as I work on my current manuscript. Between having two kids home and tackling a historical novel, time has become a precious commodity.

But...I'll still mention vampire tidbits now and then. For example, Skyhorse Publishing has alerted me to some of their vampire and zombie titles that sound intriguing. The one that catches my eye the most is The Vampire Survival Guide: How to Fight, and Win, Against the Undead by Scott Bowen. According to the publisher, "Topics include the habits and routines of vampires, how to tell if somebody you know has become a vampire, how to protect yourself from attack, how to set traps, what to do if you must fight off multiple vampires, how to cleanse an entire town after devastating vampiric attacks, and much more." Vital information, of course.

You may also be interested in Vampire Seduction Handbook: A Guide to the Ultimate Romantic Adventure by Luc Richard Ballion and, for undead enlightenment, The Zen of Zombie: Better Living Through the Undead by Scott Kenemore. I haven't read any of the books, but they sound like an entertaining take on the vampire and zombie craze.