The one thing about Broadway I could never stomache. All the damn vampires.

I’ve made a stink about the tank weasels in Dracula (1931) before; but climate change might actually lead to armadillos migrating into the Carpathians!

Sigh. I dealt with this exact thing 5 years ago and resolved it; now they are back. If there’s a clearer cut case of Fair Use than Bela Lugosi’s descendants talking about “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, don’t tell me.

A fellowship for all you vampire short story authors: draculamap.com/news-and-eve...

Great discussion on William Crain, Blacula, Sinners, and the strange case of the “vampire” sailor James Brown, with Bruce and Tracey! The Ghostly Gallery Podcast | William Crain’s Untold Legacy | Vampires & Horror History with “Toothpickings”! www.podbean.com/ei/pb-xhb6z-...

I need to post here more, but Twitter hurt me so much that I’m having difficulty trusting social media again.

I prefer the American version

Nice to see it on a big screen again!

Looking forward to talking Blacula on Vamp Chat with Dan & Eva tonight at 7pm central! www.podbean.com/pi/pbblog-wg...

We’re used to the notion that vampire folklore led to vampire fiction. But what if the flow if influence reversed? Nina Trzaska had been studying vampire folklore in Greece for years and has uncovered some surprising sources of inspiration for more recent folk tales! youtu.be/H1SN6QJgrSI?...

When did silver bullets become a thing? And other vampire/werewolf motifs with Prof Bob Carlisle

There’s a phrase employed by both Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frederick Douglass that’s found decades earlier in “The Black Vampyre” “…disenthralled by the irresistible genius of universal emancipation!”

That entire viral moment led to this meme. Worth it.

I may not be a vampire hunter or a zombie sniper, but if the ghouls would only stand perfectly still at 20 yards or less, I’ve got a 1-in-6 chance at a killshot.

CONvergence 2025 was a blast! More updates to come, but wanted to share a photo from this complex and faithful game “Dracula 1897” made by local creator David Allison.

When I wrote about the origins of Renfield for www.dbspress.com/shop-1/p/dra..., I never thought I’d get a chance to actually walk on the street I’d pointed out as being a possible point of inspiration for Stoker. But luck revealed two fangs when it smiled:

In 1954, hordes of schoolchildren were reported to have swarmed the Southern Necropolis in the Glasgow borough of Gorbals. They were on the hunt.

Snapped in a Glasgow cemetery today. Yes, there is a vampire connection. Tenuous, but it’s there.

Found it!

My presentation on the “Vampire” James Brown for @convergencecon.bsky.social currently has 81 slides. I’m posting this publicly so attendees can wisely choose another panel to attend

My hat is off to anyone who makes a tie-in toy for a movie no one living has seen.

Release the bats, it's a vamp-filled week! "The Vampire: An Edinburgh Companion" is now out from @edinburghup.bsky.social w/chapters on film, literature & cultural traces of the fanged menace. Eds Nick Groom @billbloodyhughes.bsky.social ‬w/many contribs edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-vam...

Blacula by Paul Garner #horrorcinema

You won’t find vampire content at a punk show, they said…

For World Dracula Day, The Vampire’s Castle hosted some incredibly knowledgeable vampire experts, and also me for some reason: youtu.be/Xih1Ah5rVT4?...

For your Sinners breakdown: the characters of the film could have seen “Dracula” at the Paramount Theater in Clarksdale the year before the events of the film. The theater had segregated seating, thus any character in the movie could have potentially been familiar with on-screen vampires.

Get redeemed by Sinners!

Adventures in vampire research: There was only one image of the “vampire” James Brown ever created, which I came across in the book “Inside the Ohio Penitentiary”. It’s undated and uncredited, so I reached out to the authors, but they could only recall it coming from an old newspaper.

Smiling a fangy grin over being honored with the Nosferatu Award at the 2025 Popular Culture/American Culture Association’s Conference for my talk on the “vampire” pardoned by a president @pcaaca.bsky.social

A few from the @pcaaca.bsky.social Conference. Was a thrill to present some findings on the strange case of James Brown, the “vampire” pardoned by a U.S. president.

If anyone is in Ohio, tell Megan at the Columbus Metro Library that she’s amazing for getting me a scan of a local periodical from 2004 that only existed in print. @columbuslibrary.bsky.social

Still trying to fill in some holes in my presentation ahead of the @pcaaca.bsky.social conference in April. No certain answers here, but at least a narrowing of possible answers.

Vampires and werewolves are often portrayed as being in an ongoing conflict. Where did that start? Sean Rourke of The Vampire’s Castle has an answer! youtu.be/o_Qa9V396E0?...

There are two different books with the title Midnight Mass; both featuring fallen priests. I grabbed the other one 😅😏

Dispatches from a vampire echo chamber: I’m updating an old blog post of mine, fleshing it out into something bigger. While looking around for newer sources, I came across a thorough article by Christopher Saunders but was surprised to find myself cited at the end. Surreal 😵‍💫

I heard you wanted more economics content youtu.be/pG9s3eRbhZA?...

In the wild, we would be natural enemies. But if you raise us together from infants we are friends

I’ve been saying that “Let The Right One In” is my favorite vampire book for years, but rereading now, I’m shocked at how much I’d forgotten If someone asked me about the scene centering on a squirrel I would have thought they were talking about a different book!

The earliest instance I can find of silver being used to kill a vampire in fiction is 1939. Who’s got something earlier?

a little necronomicon in my life a little eldritch horror by my side a little bit of ichor's all I need a little bit of foul Cthulhu's seed a little bit of chanting in the dark a little bit of spilled blood for the spark a little invocation: be here now a little bit of you keeping your vow

Don’t pretend you’ve never had such days

If you enjoyed your Vampire Weekend, thank a Vampire Union

Went to my favorite library to get some help with an ILL and the ref librarian said there only appeared to be five copies IN THE WORLD so I guess I’m S outta L

I get why epistolary novels were such a big deal. The amount of time I spend on some of these emails is as close to authorship as I ever get in daily life 😅