When I was a kid, I had a book about vampires that explored a host of different undead lore. Also, how to stop vampires in their tracks. This book also mentioned some real-life examples of vampire slayings. As with many types of folkloric creatures, the monster in the following tale may inform us about more than the horror of the undead. Here is an interesting tale of one such re-killing that involves a vampire on Mykonos.
Continue reading Folklore: The Botched Destruction of a Vampire on MykonosMonthly Archives: January 2025
Exploring the Origins of the Bogeyman in Folklore
What child has not had a million nightmares about creatures bursting out of their closet door or crawling out from underneath their bed? While the threat of a horrible creature is a fairly simplistic fear for a child, understanding the exact reason for the bogeyman’s existence is more complex. In this post, we will look at the origins of the bogeyman and how it has been used to keep children in line for centuries.
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Mark Twain’s Sorrowful Last Words
Mark Twain allegedly was born during a visit from Halley’s Comet and died upon its return some 76.8 years later. Twain certainly has a lot of mystic about his legacy. His death and final words are up for debate as well. While this may be morbid, it’s therapeutic to spend time deciphering the last words of the dead if only to understand our own mortality and what they have to say before crossing over. In this post, we are going to look at Mark Twain’s last words, and see how they are in fact a little sadder than one would think.
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The Rough and Rustic Writings of Jack London
Tales of exploration, violence, and humanity’s struggle against nature permeate the writings of Jack London. In a past post, we discussed a fantastic story by the author, but, today, we are going to look at London’s life and times to glean some of the significance of his upbringing, which, hopefully, will help us better understand how his experiences impacted his work as a vivid storyteller and weaver of adventures.
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What is ‘Analysis’ and What is ‘Literary Analysis’?
The academic world throes the word analysis around often. If you are unfamiliar with the term then that’s a little confusing, as it appears to imply numerous ways to understand one particular thing and in no particular discipline. This is okay because academia is all about how you define a term as long as you define it. This includes analysis and literary analysis.
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Formative Reading Experiences with the Vampire Almanac
In a previous post, we looked at a book entitled Strange Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Alex Hamer. I expressed my love for that book because it did a lot to steer me in the direction of short-form storytelling, which I love dearly. In this post, I would like to discuss another book that had a profound impact on me in my youth: The Vampire Almanac.
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Coppola’s Dracula: The Execution of Atmosphere and Ambience
The Dracula legend exists in many forms, from television shows, to films, to short stories, to poems. But I don’t think it exists anywhere as deftly stated as in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula (1992). As far as tension and atmosphere, this movie does wonders. In this post, we are going to take analyze the film inspired by Bram Stoker’s masterfully written Gothic horror novel. It’s a pretty faithful adaptation as well. So, follow along as we sink into this excellent film with both fangs out!
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The Most Disturbing Poem, “Little Orphant Annie”
The poem “Little Orphant Annie,” is a dastardly one, but I have a personal connection to it from my childhood.
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The Significance of Literary Quests in Literature
In this post, we look at the definition of a literary quest. Certainly, there are many examples of quests throughout literature. Dorothy and her friends from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz venture on one as they track down the Wicked Witch of the West. Frodo and Sam take the One Ring on a quest to Mount Doom in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. And Ishmael and Ahab are on a quest to kill a legendary beast in Herman Melville’s novel about madness and whaling, Moby Dick. Quests are everywhere in literature, and so we will embark on our own quest by defining them and looking at more examples.
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A look at “They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson
“They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson is an excellent work of fiction for many reasons. It also often appears in school curriculum due to its subject matter and creativeness. In this post, we are going to analyze the story’s background, structure, and unique POV.
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