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Good viewing

Favorite thing: In addition to the many, many books on the subject of vampires, there are plenty of movies and TV shows on the subject.

Bela Lugosi's portrayal in the 1931 Dracula is the one that most people think about when they think about Dracula, the black cape, pointy teeth, bug eyed glare and his slow thick Hungarian accent. I just recently watched the film in it's entirety and although I see why in it's day it was scary, now it just seems kind of campy.

Speaking of campy, there's the cult hit Rocky Horror Picture Show which still has US audiences for midnight showings to see Tim Curry prancing in his lingerie.

More recent adaptations include 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula with Gary Oldman as the Count, Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise (in his pre Free Katie days) and Brad Pitt as the undead and Van Helsing with Hugh Jackman in the title role as the vampire hunter.

Good reading

Favorite thing: There is quite a fascination with vampires, I was surprised to see just how many books and films had been made on the subject.

If you want to get a historical perspective on vampires and Dracula, I'd highly recommend In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires by Raymond McNally and Radu Florescu. There is an extensive listing of Dracula/vampire related books in the appendix.

If you are looking for some good vampire fiction, you really should start with the Bram Stoker classic Dracula which started the vampire craze even though his was not technically the first.

More contemporary works include Stephen King's Salem's Lot which scared the pants off me when I was younger and Anne Rice's series of books that started with Interview with the Vampire