Halloween Countdown, Day 15

[eldritchhobbit]

[Poll #1471577]

Spooky Text of the Day: Today's story is "The Sad Story of a Vampire" (1894) by Count Eric Stenbock.

Excerpt:
Vampires generally arrive at night, in carriages drawn by two black horses.

Our Vampire arrived by the commonplace means of the railway train, and in the afternoon.

You must think I am joking, or perhaps that by the word "Vampire" I mean a financial vampire.

No, I am quite serious. The Vampire of whom I am speaking, who laid waste our hearth and home, was a real vampire.

Read the complete story here.

Comments

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I had to add Barbara Steele to the list. "Black Sunday" is one of my favorite horror movies. And though it's quite a bit further down on the list, I loved her in "The Pit and the Pendulum."

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Oh, good call! Thanks for that addition.

[scribblerworks.livejournal.com]

I had to think about this, because I didn't want to choose someone just because they were a good actor (hence, not choosing Boris Karloff or Donald Pleasance or John Carradine). I decided to go for those who carried a sinister aura with them even when NOT playing bad guys.

Hence: Cushing, Lee, Lugosi and (the master) Vincent Price.

Fun. :D

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Yay! I like how you framed your answer - great choices!

[cookiefleck.livejournal.com]

Oops, one obvious (?) typo... along with the others I meant to check off Bela but instead checked Basil. And if I were to rank my choices, I'd put Peter Lorre at the top.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

No worries! You can go back and change your votes, if you like.

I wish there were a way to rank or weigh multiple votes. Peter Lorre is a great choice!

[cookiefleck.livejournal.com]

I changed them; didn't realize we could do that!

[mamomo.livejournal.com]

My top picks were Christopher Lee because he sooooo good at being scary (that voice!) and Vincent Price because he is any practically every classic horror movie and he is really entertaining.

I loved that story. It was really quirky.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Fantastic choices!

I'm so glad you liked the story, too. Quirky, indeed. :)

[grinning-soul.livejournal.com]

*hi! here via ithiliana's journal*
Thank you for uploading the vampire story - hadn't heard of it before, but Stenbock sounds like an interesting character (I just looked him up on Wikipedia). The story seems to be a kind of retelling of Le Fanu's "Carmilla" (also set in Styria, the narrator is called Carmela) with a male/male pairing instead of a f/f one. The picture of Lee & co is quite stunning. I've voted for Lee and Dwight Frye, because his Renfield is the only scary thing in Browning's Dracula.
I'm really enjoying this countdown!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Hi there! *waves* Thanks for checking out my countdown and for voting and commenting. Any friend of ithiliana is a friend of mine! :D You know, you're right: you make a great point about how this seems to reframe the "Carmilla" story (which is a favorite of mine)!

I'm so glad you like the picture. I thought it was stunning, and I'm a fan of all of them: Price, Cushing, Carradine, and Lee. It's so perfect in capturing the character etched in their faces and the quality of their personalities - and it certainly wouldn't be as powerful if it were in color.

Dwight Frye, because his Renfield is the only scary thing in Browning's Dracula.

LOL! :)

I'm so glad you're enjoying the countdown. Thanks so much! I love your icon, by the way. It's gorgeous.

[gloriana.livejournal.com]

I limited myself to Lugosi in a deep well of nostalgia, but Kinski deserves more votes than he's currently garnering :)

Back in the late '70s the BBC did the most amazing series: every Friday night around midnight, two horror films back to back, the first from the b&w period, the second from the Hammer stable. So many of these names take me back to that time :)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Kinski deserves more votes than he's currently garnering :)

Good point!

Back in the late '70s the BBC did the most amazing series: every Friday night around midnight, two horror films back to back, the first from the b&w period, the second from the Hammer stable. So many of these names take me back to that time :)

How fun! Sounds like perfect snuggle-up-in-the-dark with popcorn viewing.

[vyrdolak.livejournal.com]

Back in the early 2000s AMC (TCM?) used to play classic b&W horror films throughout October. Now, they play Halloween and maybe a film festival the day of.

TCM is showing an interesting-looking film noir tonight, The Narrow Margin at 8:00. Also Lured* at 10:30 and The Lodger at 12:30.


* Hey Luuucy, time for you to die! Waaaaahhhh!!!!

[witchcat07.livejournal.com]

Very interesting little story. And who is the fourth gentleman in the pic above? I recognize Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, and Peter Cushing, but not the other guy.

[witchcat07.livejournal.com]

Never mind, I just figured it out. :~p

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

;-P

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I thought it made for a good change of pace. :) I'm glad you thought it was interesting.

The other gentleman is John Carradine. (He normally didn't have that hat!) I love how the black-and-white photography captures the character of their faces.

[vyrdolak.livejournal.com]

How could Creighton Chaney get more votes than his father? You are Philistines!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[mackiedockie.livejournal.com]

Vincent Price had me at "House of Wax." If Charles Bronson had stayed in horror films, he might have made the list after that debut *g*.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I loved House of Wax!

If Charles Bronson had stayed in horror films, he might have made the list after that debut *g*.

Excellent point. And I'd probably have ended up seeing many more of his films! Ha. (Although I'll admit I liked him quite a lot in Once Upon A Time in the West.)

[euclase.livejournal.com]

I gave Barbara Shelley some love. Hammer wouldn't complete without her (pssssst you should have put Suzan Farmer on the list as well).

But! Christopher Lee all the way. :D