About the Author

David J. Skal (1952 - 2024) was the author several critically acclaimed books on fantastic literature and genre cinema, including The Monster Show; Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen; Screams of Reason; Mad Science and Modern Culture; V Is for Vampire: The A to Z Guide to Everything Undead; and, with Elias Savada, Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning. With Nina Auerbach, he co-edited the Norton Critical Edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula. His writing appeared in a variety of publications, ranging from The New York Times to Cinefantastique, and for television, on the A&E series Biography. He wrote, produced, and directed a dozen original DVD documentaries, including features on the Universal Studios' classic monster movies, and a behind-the-scenes chronicle of the Academy Award-winning film Gods and Monsters. He lived in Los Angeles

Reviews

"Tracks Transylvania's most popular vampire with dry wit and the skills of a fine detective." --The New York Times Book Review "Witty, comprehensive . . . For those who take Halloween seriously, this is something to gnaw on long after those trick-or-treaters are gone." --The Los Angeles Times Book Review "Meticulously researched, engagingly written and packed with rare, archival images . . . The history of Dracula reads like a novel itself." --The San Francisco Bay Guardian

Horror novelist Skal presents various 19th- and 20th-century interpretations of everyone's favorite black-cloaked bloodsucker. Featured here are Bram Stoker's Victorian thriller, Max Shreck in the German expressionist film Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi on stage and screen as Count Dracula. Illustrated. (Oct.)no PW review

"Tracks Transylvania's most popular vampire with dry wit and the skills of a fine detective." --The New York Times Book Review "Witty, comprehensive . . . For those who take Halloween seriously, this is something to gnaw on long after those trick-or-treaters are gone." --The Los Angeles Times Book Review "Meticulously researched, engagingly written and packed with rare, archival images . . . The history of Dracula reads like a novel itself." --The San Francisco Bay Guardian