Review: Down in the valley you can almost hear the wolves howling
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2011
In "Young Frankenstein" horses whinny whenever someone mentions the name Frau Blucher. In Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and in vampire literature and lore, the wolves always seem to be howling down in the valley.Published in 1897, "Dracula" has never been out of print. It remains one of the most popular novels of all time. Blood, sex and sexual longing, immortality and fear of death and the grave make for a compelling, provocative stew that has fascinated people as long as they have been recording their myths and legends.Delaney reminds us of the tale of Lilith, Adam's first wife, who drank the blood of her murdered son Abel. Vampire lore is steeped in blood. Old stories refer to it as the "red water of life," Delaney says. "Africa, Asia, Latin America - blood seeps like a red tide across the universe of folk belief."Delaney deconstructs the vampire myth and gives us a tour of the Irish landscape that influenced Stoker. In Scotland Delaney sets out to visit the haunts of Robert Louis Stevenson and while being battered by a whipping rain stumbles upon the ruins of Slains Castle near Aberdeen, which legend says inspired Dracula's Transylvanian lair."Undead" is biography and literary criticism, exploring Stoker's life and the inspiration for his most famous novel. When first published in the United States in 1899, the "San Francisco Chronicle" called "Dracula" among "most powerful novels of the day." It sold well in Europe and America and has been selling consistently since. Its first 50 pages, Delaney says, give us the template for most all vampire stuff of modern times.What he does best is nail down the reality that vampire lore has always been potent part of human consciousness. "Dracula's roots aren't at all shallow; they come from deep down, and they're visceral." And Delaney helps us understand why. From "Dracula" to "True Blood," the notion that the undead are among us is made real enough to almost be true. And that's something that gives us shivers in the night.