Three Of The Earliest Monsters In Movies And The Books They Came From

Believe it or not, most of the monsters that made the modern horror movies what we have all come to love actually did not get there start in the movies... Yeah, it is true! As a matter of fact, I would say that some of the earliest monsters from the movies, actually got their starts in the imaginations of Victorian era authors like, 'Bram Stoker', or , 'Mary Shelley'!

And so I thought that you guys might enjoy this list of: Three Of The Earliest Monsters In Movies And The Books They Came From!

At number 3: Mr. Hyde.

In 1988, Anthony Perkins did a great job portraying Jack The Ripper as being Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!

Now for most of you out there, you probably know Mr. Hyde from the role that some actor had... And if you are a big enough fan, you might have even seen Anthony Perkins (Psycho) play the role later in life! But before Anthony Perkins and the multitudes of actors that came before and after had the chance to play the role, the character was one of the central figures in the Robert Louis Stevenson novel: The Strange Case Of Doctor Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1886)!

A truly horrific classic that has helped shape the world of the horror movie!

At number 2: Frankenstein's Monster.

Boris Karloff as, 'Frankenstein's Monster' in probably the most famous big screen adaption of Mary Shelley's novel!

A slightly more used figure in the world of the horror movie, the first time though Frankenstein's monster came to life was not in James Whale's classic movie but in the pages of the novel that had originally been written by Mary Shelley!

The book that the universal classic was made from!

At number 1: Orlok/Dracula.

Believe it or not, before any of these Dracula's came about, Dracula was first seen in the pages of Bram Stoker's original novel!

Most people tend to forget this, but, 'Dracula' was not the first, 'Dracula' movie to come out... No, no, you see, Bram Stoker's estate would not give them the rights to make the movie, so some inventive German Filmmaker decided to try to change just enough of the story so that they could make it... Thus, before Dracula there was Orlok... But before there was Orlok, there was Dracula in literary form!

Five Of The Earliest Book Covers For Dracula

Dracula... What can I say? I mean if it wan't for this book, I doubt modern horror would be what it has become... With that said, being a fan of Dracula, and being a fan of this history of just about all things, I thought that you guys might find it interesting to see what the 5 earliest book covers for Bram Stoker's original classic look like!

At number 5: Dracula First Edition Published. 1897:

Published: 1897

At number 4: The First American Edition Published, 1899:

Published: 1899

 At number 3: 1901 Edition:

Published: 1901

At number 2: 1902 Edition:

Published: 1902

 At number 1: 1904 Edition:

Published 1904

5 Original Masters Of Written Horror And the Books That Made Them Famous

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="301"] Frankenstein... A literary masterpiece of horror![/caption]

Most people these days, when it comes to written horror generally tend to think of people like, 'Stephen King', or, 'Dean Koontz', 'Anne Rice' or I supposed the women who wrote the, 'Twilight' Series would count in that capacity as well!

Well it got me to thinking about the great horror writers that helped not just shape the world of, 'horror' in novels, but also would in there own way help shape the world of literature in the whole!

So here is my list of, '5 Original Masters Of Written Horror And the Books That Made Them Famous':

To start things off At Number 5, we have, 'Dante Aligheri' (1265 - 1361):

[caption id="attachment_2535" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Dante's Divine Comedy... Being that it takes place on the journey through, 'Hell' could be said to be one of the original books of, 'Horror'![/caption]

Now I know that some of the lists that I have done in the past have been popularity contests, but this one isn't, the truth is, is that Dante's 'Divine Comedy' is probably one of the most definitive works of fiction about the, 'Devil' and, 'Hell' that has ever been produced!

At number 4: 'John Milton' (1608 - 1674):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Milton's, 'Paradise Lost' could be said to be another extremely historically relevant horror novel![/caption]

John Milton's, 'Paradise Lost' is another one of the classics about the fight between (Heaven) and, (Hell)... The truth is, is that till the end of time, this book will always be considered to be one of the greatest poems about Heaven and Hell to exist... (Beware though, this poem does not translate well in to the mainstream...)

At number 3: Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="561"] The Raven... A fictitious representation of, 'Poe' during his heyday....[/caption]

In my opinion, the reason that I think Edgar Allan Poe should be in here, is not necessarily for anyone book, but really because his stories like, 'The Tell Tale Heart', 'The Raven', etc... Are some of the best scary stories to have come out of the 19th century, and in my opinion still resonate real well in the modern day!

At number 2: Mary Shelley (1797 - 1851):

[caption id="attachment_2538" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Mary Shelley's, 'Frankenstein' is still one of the most prolific works of fiction in Hollywood today![/caption]

For her, really I would say would be the work that she did writing, 'Frankenstein'... Most people very easily recognized the monster from the movies, but before it became a century long box office sensation, the story that started it all came from the work that Mary Shelley wrote in, 'Frankenstein' in 1818!

At number 1: Bram Stoker (1847 - 1912):

[caption id="attachment_2539" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Bram Stoker's, 'Dracula' to this day is still considered to be one of the definitive works of Vampire fiction![/caption]

In the case of Bram Stoker... I put him at number 1, because where as these other authors and the books that they produced may have defined certain elements of what make horror great, but in my opinion, in a lot of respect Bram Stokers, 'Dracula' (1897), could be said to be one of the most definitive horror masterpieces of all time!

One Vs. The Other: Anne Rice Vs. Bram Stoker

So welcome back to an all new installment of the series that got started in the earliest days of Hellinspace, the who is better segment... Or at this point, just One Vs. The Other to find out which one you think is better...

[caption id="attachment_2127" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, both genre defining prolific artists that helped craft the modern vampire novel![/caption]

And in this latest round it is, Bram Stoker Vs. Anne Rice, both writers, both writers of prolific, genre defining Vampire novels, and both have had their Vampire novels made in to movies... So the question is, Anne Rice Vs. Bram Stoker...

As for Bram Stoker, I will say this, his work on, 'Dracula' truly blazed a trail that has lead to not just the modern vampire novel, but also set the stage for what the Vampire fiction world in just about all it's forms still follow today, and the novel it's self was an amazing read that for me personally took the novel in a different direction... One that I truly believe may have inspired, 'Stephen King' when he was writing, 'Carrie' (1976)!

Now as for really the primary bad points, and one of them really doesn't involve him, but more his work... And these are 2 fold... 1. Even though he wrote other works of fiction in his day, they were all eclipsed by, 'Dracula' and have lost their importance in literary history... And 2: When the first adaptation of Dracula was in the beginning stages of being made, Stoker's widow fought so vehemently against the movie being made, that F.W. Murnau tried to get around it, and the world almost lost a true classic in the movie, Nosferatu (1922)... Fortunately it turns out a print was found decades later and the movie now enjoys international celebrity!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="325"] Bram Stoker, a man who live on through, 'Dracula' forever![/caption]

And now for, Anne Rice... Well the truth is, is her work on, 'The Vampire Chronicles' went on for many decades, and all in all, mostly great novels, the truth is, is her works beyond, 'The Vampire Chronicles' will live on pretty nicely in the other novels that she has written, including: Exit To Eden (a novel that was also made in to a movie,), the, 'Lives Of The Mayfair Witches' series, etc... And the fact that there has been rumors that one of the characters from, 'The Vampire Chronicles' may make a modern day appearance... (That series ended about a decade ago, with the release of the novel, 'Blood Canticle'.) Also her novels are so popular that at least one point, fans from all over the world would flock to her place in New Orleans decked out to look like Vampires from her novels!

Really the main problem that I have with her and her work, is that some how the studios just butchered 2 of her novels when they tried to make an amalgamation of the 2 novels for the movie, Queen Of The Damned (2002)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Anne Rice, a truly brilliant writer![/caption]

In the end, I am going to have to give the title to Anne Rice... In the end Bram Stoker started the trend, but in the end I think Anne Rice modernized it.... What do you think?

Dracula (1897) Bram Stoker - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Dracula... What can I say, this book maybe the most prolific book about Vampires and Vampirism ever written, I mean if you consider it, almost all Vampire movies that have ever come out have in some ways found their origins with this book that was written by, Bram Stoker, but besides that I would go on to say that in a lot of respects that most forms of what could be best described as, 'dark' forms of life style, including: Being a goth, loosely being a grundge rocker, heavy metal in all of it's incarnations, and even a lot of artists that work in the horror genre have gotten in some capacity their inspiration for some of their works from this novel by Bram Stoker!

Now I am not saying that all forms of darker artistic expression are based largerly on this novel, but I am saying that this novel is so profound because since it's release over 100 years ago, there has been so many amazing works of art that can be said to be either directly or indirectly inspired from the works of Bram Stokers, Dracula (1897)!

Now before I go in to the actual story for this novel, let me say that this novel's main character is loosely based on a 15th century Prince who was the leader of a small but violent country near Austria and Hungary... And this leader's name of Vlad Tepes Dracula (1431 - 1476) who was known for impaling his enemies on pikes as well as for dipping his meat in the blood of his enemies!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="401"] A portrait done of, 'Vlad Tepes'![/caption]

But, and this is where the real, 'Dracula's' story get's interesting... What I mean by this is the fact that centuries later when Dracula's tomb was excavated, it turns out that there was no evidence (with the exception of rabbit skeleton) that anything dead had ever resided in that coffin!

And there you have it folks... Dracula!

In Bram Stoker's novel though, Dracula has been living in Castle Dracula for the last several centuries and ends up looking to make a change and enlists Jonathan Harker to find him a new place in England... When young Harker makes his way to Transylvania though, Dracula's women try to make him a quick meal... So Dracula leaves him in their care and takes off for his new home at Carfax Abbey in England...

When he gets there  though he ends up enlisting his new eternal slave, 'Renfield' to work as his assistant.

During this time he ends up falling in love with Harker's fiancee and uses every means at his disposal to try and win her over to his life... The only problem for him, is that as Harker's fiancee ends up making his way over to Dracula's world, the men and surviving women (Her best friend, 'Lucy' ends up being turned in to a Vampire,) rally around her to do everything that they can to stop Dracula, before Dracula can turn their beloved, 'Mina' (Harker's fiancee) in to one of his kind, including enlisting the help of noted Vampire Hunter Dr. Abraham Van Helsing!

In the end this book really was not what I expected from seeing the movie, most of it almost seemed like it was written as if it was like a diary... which does have it's plus points, but for me I was not the largest fan of this novel being written that way, (But I suspect that at least to some capacity that this is because I was anticipating more of a standard novel just because the movies that I had seen were more closely like that!)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Dracula (1897)![/caption]

Regardless though, this book is a timeless classic, and despite what I said above, it is a fun one, and if you are a horror fan, then I would say, check it out, I think you might find that you like it!