The following are brief descriptions of the papers given at the Academic Sessions at DRACULA 97,
based on material submitted by the speakers themselves.

Auerbach, Nina (University of Pennsylvania)

"Dracula Keeps Rising from the Grave"

This paper tracks the bizarre persistence of this rigid, uncommunicative, past-mired creature through twentieth century America. We have made this inert creature more adaptable than he was originally. Stoker's Dracula shunned up-to-date technologies of communication, while clever Americans have taught him to perpetuate himself electronically, even giving him his own web sites. Perhaps our need to keep him alive is a symptom of our own diseased and bloody century, and he will die when it does.

Balaceanu-Stolnici, Constantin (Fellow of the Romanian Academy)

"Vlad Tepes versus the ækitsch'"

The cultural-historic history of the human race has taken three directions: artistic-literary, folkoric, and the "kitsch". While the first two have been evident in the case of Vlad Tepes, our epoch is characterized by a dramatic flourishing of the latter. It corresponds with a certain mentality marked by mediocrity and consumerism. The presence of Vlad under the form of "Dracula" is not a genuine historic context but a pseudo-reality.

Baxter, Kent (University of Southern California)

"Teen Scream: Dracula as Bildungsroman Gone Awry"

The recurring association between vampirism and teen angst serves as a launching point for an analysis of Stoker's Dracula as "bildungsroman", a form of novel which documents the trials and tribulations of a protagonist's journey from youth to adulthood. Dracula both emulates and subverts this form by presenting a monster who interrogates all of the traditional markers that characterize the movement while at the same time threatening his victims with the most enticing and terrifying of realities - perpetual youthfulness.

Betancourt, Michael (University of Miami)

"Too long a sacrifice: Ellen's death (?) In Nosferatu"

The typical interpretation of the end of Nosferatu (1922) is that Ellen is killed by the vampire. However, the film is slightly ambiguous on this point. A second interpretation is possible: rather than being the self-sacrificing woman of typical melodrama, Ellen presents an active, proto-feminist character who solves the problem of the vampire without the aid of any of the male characters. Evidence of this interpretation will be provided from the film itself.

Burns, Stu (University of Nebraska - Lincoln)

"The Press and the Fang: Case Studies on Printing and Vampire Folklore"

Print technology is a unifying force in modern Western European and American vampire folklore. Since the advent of print, the image of the western folkloric vampire has stabilized, especially since the late seventeenth century, due to the print studies of authors such as Leo Allatius, Francois Richard, Philip Rohr, and Dom Augustin Calmet. Vampire fiction of the last two hundred years (a form of "fakelore") has focused vampire belief more towards an elegant image.

Cain, Jimmie E. Jr. (Middle Tennessee State University)

"Dracula and Russophobia"

Dracula presents a race war between imperial British forces and a detestable Slavic, specifically Russian, foe. Stoker is responding to political and social stereotypes equating Russians and their Slavic neighbors with savagery and oriental autocracy. Such racial stereotypes came to Stoker first through his brother's travelogue With the Unspeakables; or Two Years' Campaigning in European and Asiatic Turkey.

Cambra, Walter C. (Member, Bram Stoker Society)

"The Shadow of the Yew Tree"

The puzzling behavior of Quincey Morris (in Dracula) right after the Count's attack on Mina Harker can be explained by the reference to the great yew tree behind which he hid himself. An examination of the magical associations of the yew tree suggests that Morris was the only one with an occult link to Mina. Also significant is the name "Quincey", identified by one scholar as a euphemism for "yew". This adds significance to the fact that Mina's son is named Quincey.

Carter, Margaret L. (Independent scholar)

"Share Alike: Dracula and Approaches to the Sympathetic Vampire in Mid-Twentieth Century Pulp Fiction"

Vampire stories in the mid-century "pulps" such as Weird Tales labor under an "anxiety of influence" with regard to Dracula, either imitating or self-consciously subverting it. Some authors of this period use the conventions of vampirism, established in Dracula, to create vampire characters who appeal to the reader's sympathy and who undercut the traditional image of the vampire as diabolically evil.

Cherry, Brigid (University of Stirling, Scotland)

"Millennial Culture and the Popularity of Vampires"

How can we account for the current popularity of the vampire film? The diversity of such films as Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Cronos and Nadja not only points to the changing image of the vampire, but also reflects deep-rooted fears and anxieties in contemporary culture as we approach the end of a millennium.

Chitimia, Silvia (Institute of Ethnography and Folklore, Romania)

"New Things about Old Vampires"

In Romanian folklore, the mythical-fantastic creatures that can be generically labeled "vampires" are much more than just negative characters. The vampire sits on the threshold between visible and invisible worlds. This paper will focus on old Romanian rites of protection against ghosts and examines the morphology and physiology of the vampire through terms such as astral double, subtle centres, physical body, ethereal body and energetic whirlpool.

Clemens, Valdine (University of Manitoba)

"The Reptilian Brain at the 'Fin de Siecle'"

Dracula examines the human power of evolutionary adaptation. Its London setting is essentially a modern one, dominated by rapidly changing technologies. Dracula is in conflict with this world because he is driven to do what people do when their behavior is directed by the "reptilian brain". Such behavior may threaten the civilized world, but it can also be very funny. Even in the midst of horror, "King Laugh" is a uniquely human adaptive device.

Clemons, Greg (Mars Hill College)

"The Visible Vampire in Contemporary Latin American Narrative Fiction"

In contrast with their Anglo-American counterparts, vampire figures in Latin American literature display a highly evident sexuality, something that some Anglo-American writers (following Bram Stoker) deal with only through suggestion, innuendo and shame. This paper will look at Latin American vampirism as an outwardly clear manifestation of surprisingly human sexuality, neither monstrous nor alien.

Councilman, Sandra (University of North Texas)

"Human Laws versus Vampiric Codes"

As part of a panel on "The Long Tooth of the Law", this paper looks at the television show Forever Knight, where vampire cop Nick Knight often steps outside of human law and human possibility in order to keep the law. An examination of this series, along with movies such as Innocent Blood, shows that vampires in such situations are not able to live up to the demands of human society as exemplified in their legal system and simply turn their destructive power inward.

Crossen, John F. (Indiana University)

"The Stake that Spoke: Vlad Dracula and a Medieval 'Gospel' of Violence"

A central image in most of the accounts of Vlad Tepes is the stake, an image which paradoxically commands both terror and respect. An examination of a selection of these stories suggests that they constitute a parody of the Judaeo-Christian Bible, especially the Gospels, where another instrument of torture - the cross - is transmuted into an instrument of salvation. The Impaler, like Christ, is inextricably linked to a device of torture; in both cases, the instrument explains and justifies the mission.

Davies, Bernard (Chair, The Dracula Society, London)

"Inspirations, Imitations and In-Jokes in Dracula"

This paper will be a survey of less well-known contributions to the finished novel: early influences upon Stoker; those ideas which he cheerfully borrowed while writing the novel; contemporary sources such as magazines, which were reworked for detail in both character and plot; and those personal and private allusions for the benefit of individual family members and friends.

Davison, Carol Margaret (Concordia University)

"Satanic Affinities: Marie Corelli's The Sorrows of Satan and Stoker's Dracula"

A comparison of Stoker's novel to Marie Corelli's The Sorrows of Satan (1895) yields interesting results. Both incorporate the Faustian theme, and both are critical of the godless, decadent 1890s. Three issues in particular merit attention: spirituality, gender roles (especially attitudes towards women and the phenomenon of the New Woman), and attitudes towards money. It is also quite likely that the two writers knew each other.

Dello Stritto, Frank J. (Independent scholar)

"The Lugosi Curse: Evolution of the Vampire Myth, 1927 to 1956"

The image of Count Dracula through the Great Depression, World War II and the first decade of the Cold War, was molded almost single-handedly by Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's portrayals of the Count, both on stage and screen, will be investigated, as will his own opinions of the part. Lugosi's work will be cast as an element in the overall evolution of the vampire myth in modern culture. Finally, the image of Lugosi's Dracula as an enduring cultural icon amidst such diversity will be assessed.

Dickens, David B. (Washington & Lee University)

"The German Matrix of Stoker's Dracula"

Dracula reveals a matrix historically and culturally German. Vlad Tepes and his father were from German Transylvania; contemporary accounts of the former's atrocities were mostly in German. Literary influences, both before and after Polidori, were significantly German. Stoker absorbed Irving's enjoyment playing Mephistopheles. The novel also exploits contemporary German culture. Finally, linguistic analysis establishes that Van Helsing is German, not Dutch; as a character he combines German literature and real life.

Dresser, Norine (California State University - Los Angeles)

"Chupacabras: A Contemporary Vampire Invasion"

In 1996, the chupacabras (goat sucker), a red-eyed, hairy-armed vampire-like creature, began a year-long reign of terror mutilating livestock and panicking humans in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Spanish-speaking U.S. communities. Eyewitness accounts of close encounters and reported assaults and blood draining fed the frenzy of fear. This paper considers the chupacabras' relation to the vampire, its transformation from object of trepidation to t-shirt icon, and the reasons for its manifestation.

Eighteen-Bisang, Robert (Transylvania Press)

"Dracula Meets Hegel"

A Hegelian reading of Dracula examines how various characters and events in the novel come into conflict and move towards a resolution. Jonathan's trip to Transylvania can be contrasted to Dracula's voyage to England. These events are resolved when the vampire hunters pursue Dracula back to his homeland. Concomitantly, Dracula's wives represent the demonic and the sexual; their counterparts, Lucy and Mina, are exemplars of Victorian maidenhood. Lucy represents a failed attempt at incorporating these opposing sets of values, while Mina is able to synthesize and transcend them.

Fernbach, Amanda (University of New South Wales, Australia)

"Dracula's Decadent Fetish"

Using Stoker's Dracula as evidence, this paper will argue that classical psychoanalysis fails to account for the multiple meanings and fantasies suggested by the fetishist imagery in the decadent imagination. Stoker's novel illustrates some of these limits, and foregrounds the status of Freud's textual body as partial, incomplete, and lacking. Dracula's fetishist imagery generates a plurality of erotic meanings which destabilize the orthodox view of one trope of desire and one phallic meaning.

Florescu, Radu (Boston College)

"What's in a name: Dracula or Vlad the Impaler?"

As we know, there was a "historical" Dracula. But there has been much debate as to whether he should be called "Dracula" or by the name more commonly used in Romania - "Vlad Tepes". The association of the name "Dracula" with the vampire of Stoker's novel has clouded the fact that the name was used in the 15th century to refer to Vlad; in fact, Vlad even used it himself.

Garro, Tony (Department of Psychiatry, George Washington University Hospital)

"Sexual Perversion in Dracula"

Dracula can be seen, psychologically, as a novel of sexual perversion. Here, vampires are sexually potent figures. Liberated from societal taboos, they destroy normative gender roles and revel in sexual abuses from incest to necrophilia. These themes find their roots in our unconscious psyche. The enduring popularity of Dracula may lie in its ability to provide a repository through which our most primitive fantasies are gratified, safely and guilt-free.

Goudreau, Christopher L. (Ninth Circle Productions)

"The Wedding of Death and Man: Hidden Sources of the Vampire Legend"

Death and Man have always been bound to each other. In 1897, within his Lotus-land world, Bram Stoker put pen to paper and dredged up the fears and specters of a dying world power. Dracula gave form to the rumors and whispers of the dark, lurking figures behind the mist of a growing Europe.

Harse, Katie (Independent scholar)

"'Stalwart manhood': Failed Masculinity in Dracula"

Dracula struggles as hard to define and control manhood as it does to restrict women to the masculinist roles of angel and demon, and with the same limited success. Analyzing the extent to which Dracula's men achieve the standard of ideal manhood which the text itself establishes reveals much about that standard, and about the regulatory function of gender construction.

Herrell, LuAnn Venden (University of North Texas)

"Night Shifts: The law of Survival and the Survival of Laws for Vampire

Detectives"

As part of a full panel on "The Long Tooth of the Law", this paper takes a sociological approach to the vampire detectives in several novels, most notably P.N. Elrod's Jack Fleming and Steven Spruill's "hemophage" Merrick Chapman. What does the conflict between their vampire natures and the demands of their jobs say about what we want from the law?

Hillen, Sean (correspondent in Romania for London Times)

"Digging for Dracula"

As a reporter working in Romania, Hillen has a somewhat different slant on the Dracula phenomenon. This paper surveys his fascination with the topic from a uniquely Romanian perspective and introduces the audience to his new book, Digging for Dracula.

Hillyer, Vincent (Vice-President, Count Dracula Fan Club)

"Psychic Vampires"

Among the paranormal parasitic phenomena that have lent themselves to tales of terror through the centuries, none is more insidious than the psychic vampire. This astral predator has preyed upon the human race for centuries. What is this strange anomaly of nature? Does it still plague us? The answers will surprise the serious researcher.

Hoenes, Eric (Boston University)

"The Vampire as a Reflection of Anglo-American Culture over the Past 100 Years"

What is it about the vampire that makes him so particularly alluring and frightening to a post-industrial audience? Why has he been so successful in infiltrating our imaginations, when we no longer believe in him? This paper asks these questions and attempts to examine the phenomenology of the vampire in Anglo-American culture over the past 100 years. Special attention is paid to the socio-historical and cultural conditions that produce the vampire.

Holt, Ian (Screenwriter)

"Growing Up in Dracula's Shadow: or, How Dracula Helped Discover America"

Dracula is responsible for Christopher Columbus discovering America! Sound ridiculous? Sound incredible? Sound scandalous? Well, brace yourself. It may be true. And Ian Holt - actor, screenwriter, Dracula scholar and a card-carrying member of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula - intends to prove it.

Holte, James Craig (East Carolina University)

"Dracula in the Dark: A Century of Dracula on Film"

For 100 years, Dracula has haunted both large and small screens, appearing as Max Schreck's gaunt Count Orlok, Bela Lugosi's aristocratic Count, and Gary Oldman's handsome Prince Vlad. For a century Dracula has fascinated viewers and reflected the fears of the culture. He has become, thanks to the movies, the most recognizable horror figure in the world.

Hughes, William (Bath College of Higher Education)

"'It must be something mental': Victorian Medicine and Clinical Hysteria in Stoker's Dracula"

Dracula can be approached through the discourses of late-Victorian medicine, with reference to a variety of clinical and popular medical writings of the period. In particular one can consider the representation of hysterical symptoms in the novel, and their diagnosis and treatment at the hands of Seward and Van Helsing.

Hutira, Allison A. (Youngstown State University)

"The Evolution of the Vampire in Western Culture"

The concept of the vampire in Western civilization tends to focus on the suave gentleman of European descent, resplendent in tie and tails, black cape, and cultured accent. That this image persists is due to the work of three men: Bram Stoker, Hamilton Deane, and Bela Lugosi. The contribution of each of the three to this enduring image will be explored.

Introvigne, Massimo (Centre for Studies on New Religions, Italy)

"The Birth of the Vampire in 17th and 18th Century Europe"

The modern image of the vampire can be seen as a direct product of discussions in France and Germany during the 17th and 18th centuries. These debates were occasioned by three concurrent factors: reports of incidents of vampirism in Slavic regions, accounts of "vrylolakas" in travel books about Greece, and theological discussions within the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches about the existence of vampires.

Ispas, Sabina (Institute of Ethnography and Folklore, Romania)

"Count Dracula, the Oral Culture and Transcultural Information"

Today, folklore is being subjected to a planetary "informational bombardment". Innovation inevitably leads to a partial or even entire transformation of traditional models. This has happened in Romania with the infusion of the technology of industrial culture into traditional models. This can be seen in the appearance of an industry of Dracula exploitation. .

Keesey, Pam (Author)

"Daughters of Darkness: Lesbian Vampire Stories"

Twenty-five years before Dracula, Le Fanu's "Carmilla" was published. In the 1970s, Carmilla and other lesbian vampires appeared in several movies such as "The Vampire Lovers" and "Daughters of Darkness". Though such movies catered to male heterosexual fantasy, the lesbian was a powerful commercial representation. Lesbians are reclaiming the image of the lesbian vampire, writing vampire stories for lesbian audiences and creating new meanings and contexts.

Kramer, Jennifer (National Coalition of Independent Scholars)

"Coppola's Dracula"

Though criticized by many for its overly self-conscious cinematic interpretation of Stoker's novel, the 1992 movie Bram Stoker's Dracula can be seen as presenting an intricate pattern of deliberate overstatement. Its stylized production and its use of characters to stand in for generic conventions of Hollywood storytelling are just two examples. Just as Stoker summarized late 19th century fear of female sexuality, so Coppola's film summarizes late 20thcentury fear of male sexuality and its conventional representations in the mass media.

Lake, Paul (Author)

"Immortal Spirits: Byron, Shelley, and the Secret of 'The Vampyre'"

Did Lord Byron and Percy Shelley have more than a literary interest in vampires? Why did both of Shelley's wives suggest that he was a vampire? What dark secret led Byron's wife to finally leave him? And why did he give so many conflicting accounts of his encounter with a Greek girl? This paper will discuss these and other related topics as they appear in the author's own novel Among the Immortals.

Landess, Maggie (Indiana State University)

"Evolution and Catholicism in Dracula"

This paper will explore the conflict between Evolution and Creation as presented in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Catholicism is the weapon used by one of the protagonists, Professor Van Helsing, to combat Dracula, who represents all that evolution espouses. Stoker constructs the novel so that, in the end, creation is victorious over evolution.

Lapin, Daniel (Psychologist - private practice)

"Dracula, An Unconscious Derivative from Vampiric Sexual Abuse"

A new interpretation of the vampire myth and Dracula based on trauma theory and supported by experiences described by incest survivors in psychotherapy. Accordingly, Jonathan, Lucy and Mina are recognized as typical adults re-enacting childhood abuse. In this light, Dracula can be understood as an unconscious derivative from vampiric sexual abuse in Stoker's childhood.

Leatherdale, Clive (Desert Island Books)

"Stoker's Banana Skins: Errors, Illogicalities and Misconceptions in Dracula"

Bram Stoker's research for Dracula was extensive. But he did not think through every facet of his master vampire, nor the novel as a whole. Some aspects are inconsistent, others contradictory. In other instances, it is his critics and the movies whose interpretations are questionable. This paper seeks to shed light on Dracula's textual muddles and flaws.

Leblanc, Benjamin (University of Montreal)

"Spirituality and the Vampire in Contemporary Western Culture"

This paper will examine the increase of alternative religious groups in the present century in terms of modernity and mass society. Included will be a description of various new religious movements which centre on the vampire theme, a comparative analysis of these groups, and a proposed explanation as to why the vampire figure is being exploited in the social sphere of spirituality.

Lewis, Pericles (University of California - Berkeley)

"Dracula and the Epistemology of the Victorian Gothic Novel"

The publication of Dracula came at a time of increasing anxiety among political and social thinkers about the ability of rational discourse to explain the capacity of humans for self- reflexiveness. The development of the theme of self-consciousness in the late Victorian Gothic novel signalled the difficulty of believing that rational science could explain human motivation; this pointed the way to the later development of English modernism, with its concern for the ineffable.

Lorinczi, Marinella (University of Cagliari, Italy)

"The Technique of Capsizal in Stoker's Dracula and The Lady of the Shroud"

The coincidences between Dracula and The Lady of the Shroud (1909) are numerous. Is the latter a watered-down version of the former? Or can the later novel be better understood as both the opposite and the complement of Dracula? Textual evidence suggests that The Lady of the Shroudwas a deliberate project of inversion on the part of Stoker.

Loukiananova, Tatiana (Scholar & Medical Researcher, Moscow, Russia)

"The Dead and the Alive"

This paper deals with the relationship between the world of the living and that of the deceased. It covers clinical cases of "necrotic dependance" in the context of concerns of our Slavonic ancestors about the need for a strong system of protection of the living against the dead.

[N.B.: This paper is a recent addition and will replace on the program the paper by Celia Magalhaes, who has had to withdraw.]

Marigny, Jean (Stendhal University, France)

"Fiction and Reality in the Dracula Novels"

Even though Count Dracula is fictitious, his name was inspired by a real person, Vlad Tepes. Many writers in recent years have published novels in which the two Draculas merge: novels which try to explain how Vlad became Dracula the vampire; novels in which Vlad meets real people; novels about real or fictitious descendants of Vlad.

Marocchino, Kathryn D. (CSU Maritime Academy)

"The Wolf Bersicker: The Conversation of Death in Dracula"

The figure of the wolf in Dracula is significant in its relationship to the "awareness of death" with which Stoker ultimately reconciles his characters. Bersicker is Dracula's mouthpiece, the guide to a nether world, the figure that foreshadows the vampire's "conversation of death", the animal counterpart of the posthumous dialogue Dracula entertains with his victims. Through Bersicker Stoker prefigures the arrival of Thanatos - setting the stage for the tale to come.

McNally, Raymond (Boston College)

"Vlad Dracula among the Turks and Bulgarians"

Vlad Dracula (1431-1476) was abandoned by his father to the Turks as a hostage or insurance that his father (Vlad Dracul) would not go to war against them. The teenaged Dracula was sent to the distant castle of Egregoz in Asia Minor and from 1444-48 he lived among a people whose language he did not speak and who were not Christians. Imagine his reaction when he learned that "dear old dad" had gone to war against the Turks and risked his own son's life! This marked Dracula permanently: he realized that life was cheap and nobody could be trusted.

Melton, J. Gordon (Santa Barbara Institute of Humanistic Studies)

"Playing with Death: Recent Vampire-related Homicides"

Several recent cases of self-designated vampires and vampire "cults" have raised the issue of the potential threat of the popular attention being paid to such dark images as the vampire. Using interviews with accused perpetrators, this paper suggests that purported vampirism is a symptom rather than a cause of their violent actions.

Menegaldo, Gilles (University of Poitiers, France)

"Vampire Films: Humour, Parody and Pastiche"

Soon after its appearance on screen, the vampire figure, a fascinating representation of archaic terrors but also an enduring modern myth, has been dedramatized by means of humour and parody.

This paper aims at highlighting the ways in which subversion operates, transforming the myth without destroying it. Illustrations will be used from various films including "Mark of the Vampire", "Dance of the Vampires" and "Love at First Bite".

Meurer, Hans (Independent scholar, Germany)

"The Dark Mythos: Blood, Sex and Death"

The vampire is much more than a trivial monster in books and movies. He/she is an un-person with great mysterious power: a symbol for the fear of sex and death. To follow the vampire requires theological, philosophical, psychological and historical research. This paper deals with the Jewish and Christian background: we can find the vampire in the Bible and other ancient scripts. We find the vampire in the Middle Ages, during the age of Enlightenment - and today.

Milburn, Diane (University of Leeds, Great Britain)

"'For the Dead Travel Fast': Bram Stoker's Dracula in Anglo-German Context"

Gothic horror or modern "scare" novel about the threat of a German invasion in the build-up to the First World War? This is one of the questions about Dracula that this paper will address. It will also explore Stoker's debt to German literature, especially Berger's "Lenore", Goethe's Faust and Wagner's Flying Dutchman. The paper, aimed at non-specialists, will have all of its quotations in English!

Miller, Elizabeth (Memorial University of Newfoundland)

"Filing for Divorce: Vlad Tepes versus Count Dracula"

How much did Bram Stoker really know about Vlad Tepes? Very little! Enough to base the character of Count Dracula on him? No. This paper challenges the widely held view that Stoker was so inspired by accounts he had read or heard of that he decided to use the 15th century Wallachian voivode as the prototype for his bloodthirsty vampire. (Raymond McNally will be given an opportunity to respond.)

Moss, Stephanie (University of South Florida)

"Dracula and Freud"

Bram Stoker worked for 28 years in the theatre, a liminal realm that operated outside of society's constraints. This paper questions Stoker's orthodox Victorianism and offers evidence to support the fact that the Freudian subtext that attracts critics to the novel is not merely an unconscious inscription of Stoker's own anxieties but an expression of his familiarity with the early works of Freud.

Muirhead, Marion (University of Waterloo)

"Entropy in Bram Stoker's Dracula"

In Dracula, the social order of England is threatened by the entropy that characterizes Dracula's homeland. This order is eventually restored by the expulsion of the foreign entropic influences, with the help of the acquisition of information; with the deaths of Dracula and the American, Morris, England regains its exclusive state as a system in isolation.

Noll, Richard (Harvard University)

"Crucible of Madness: Stoker's Dracula as Psychiatric Nexus"

Stoker's Dracula unfolds against a backdrop of madness, mad doctors and a mad house. The novel provides a window into 19th century psychiatric theory and practice, and particularly the era's obsession with notions of degeneracy, genius and lust murders. Through his character Renfield, Stoker illustrates a psychiatric syndrome known today as "Renfield's syndrome" (clinical vampirism). The place of Dracula within the history of psychiatry over the past century will be discussed with reference to these themes.

Paduraru, Nicolae (President, Transylvanian Society of Dracula, Romania)

"A Call for Pan-Dracularianism"

There is no doubt that Stoker put a literary cloak over an archetype; this is why his book cannot die. Though much has been discovered about the literary and historical roots of "Dracula", the vampire continues to yield up challenges for study. A world-wide beginning was made at the 1995 World Dracula Congress in Romania. Now we call on all interested people to join us in a concerted effort to comprehend the fascination of the vampire as we stand on the threshold of the Third Millennium.

Palais, Jennifer (University College, Dublin)

"æThere are kisses for us all': Why We Read the Vampire"

In both Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's vampire novels, the vampire stands out as a creature that by its very nature is relegated to the border of society as the outcast, the Other. What attracts readers to such narratives? How are we encouraged to identify with the vampire? How do these texts present the Other through sexuality and gender?

Peters, Brian M. (University of Montreal)

"Gothic Sexualities: Dracula and Interview with the Vampire"

Drawin on Anne Rice's use of Gothic motifs from Dracula (as well as other important Gothic texts), this presentation will focus on Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire and corresponding psychoanalytic arrangements of desire and rivalry. Both novels will be considered in terms of tropes of both vampirism and homosexuality.

Ramsland, Katherine (Rutgers University)

"Voluptuous Captivity: Evolution of the Vampire Erotic"

While Dracula has strong images of male sexual domination, Anne Rice has made vampire sensuality more complex with her emphasis on dominance and submission. A balance between force and consent, she shows, plays a central role in enhancing sexual tension. As her sensibility pervades vampire scenarios, new variations emerge. We continue to push the envelope, increasing the erotic heat in the vampire image by exploiting the sensual extremes.

Rezachevici, Constantin (University of Bucharest, Romania)

"From the Order of the Dragon - to Dracula"

As a result of recent research, the author of this paper has in his possession a 1707 copy of the statute of the Order of the Dragon, issued on December 13, 1408. The paper will trace the transformation of this knightly emblem of the Impaler's father into the nickname "Dracula" and into the name of a dynasty of Wallachian princes. A connection will also be shown between some of Vlad Tepes' descendants and the Szeklers living near the Borgo Pass.

Riccardo, Martin V. (Director, Vampire Studies)

"Crimson Dreamscapes: The Subconscious Power of the Vampire Image in Dreams and Fantasies"

Vampire myths emerged from the murky depths of the subconscious to their prominent position in the popular imagination. By looking at dreams and fantasies, we uncover the tremendous allure of the vampire as a hypnotic and seductive stranger. Common elements often appear in these accounts that reveal the vampire as an outlet for repressed passions and secret desires. Even the old vampire tales of Eastern Europe may have had their origins in dreamlike hallucinations.

Richardson, Beverley (Canadian Chapter, Transylvanian Society of Dracula)

"Portrait of a Madman: Renfield in Dracula and Film"

Dracula, his brides, Mina and Lucy have been studied extensively with respect to sexuality and power. Renfield has been virtually ignored in this regard. He has the power of life and death over his bugs, the power to make the doctors come running whenever he has a tantrum. Was he sexually attracted to Mina? Otherwise, why did he try to save her from Dracula? And why did Mina visit him? The paper will examine Renfield not only in the novel but in other fiction and film.

Roberts, Marie Mule (University of the West of England)

"Vampirism as Menstrual Taboo"

In Dracula the gendering of male blood as good and female blood as bad, signals that it is menstrual blood and its pathologies which provoke the sense of horror. In reading the novel as an anti-menstrual text, menstruation is personified by the eroticized haemofetishism of the vampires. At the same time, Dracula is a reinforcement of the conservative view held by the medical profession that menstruation should be morbidified.

Rowen, Norma (York University)

"The Vampire, the Vampire-Slayer and the Middle Class"

The vampire/vampire slayer is a paradigm of the changing fortunes of the middle classes over the last two centuries. In Dracula, the aristocratic vampire is destroyed by mainly middle class forces. In more recent fiction, however, either the middle class has disappeared leaving the vampires to slay each other, or the vampire has taken over the middle class space and has marginalized the slayer.

Russell, Sharon (Indiana State University)

"Sources of the Female Vampire in Film: Le Fanu and Stoker"

This paper will deal with the presentation of the female vampire in Stoker and Le Fanu and how this has translated to the cinema. It will examine physical descriptions, interactions with other female characters, and the means of destruction of the vampire. Special emphasis will be placed on the traits of the lesbian vampire and the extent to which her image is most influenced by Carmilla or Lucy. Also of interest is the development of the cinematic image of the lesbian vampire and how it relates to other images of the female vampire.

Ruthner, Clemens (St. Ignatius College, University of Antwerp)

"Bloodsuckers with Teutonic Tongues: Possible German Sources for Dracula"

In the 18th century, vampirism kept Austrian civil servants busy. This was followed by German (and French) treatises on the subject, with a direct influence on the British Romantics. While much attention has been paid to subsequent British influences on Stoker's novel, more needs to be done on German sources. I will present for consideration newly found material that might well have influenced Stoker's novel.

Saldanha, Gilza (Centro de Aperfeicoamento Cultural, Brazil)

"Dracula's Heirs"

This work proposes an investigation of the permanence of Stoker's Dracula in terror productions of the 20th century. The essential elements of Dracula, their presence and transformation, will be observed in cinematic productions such as various Dracula movies, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play, indicating the extent of Dracula's heritage and its anthropological significance.

Schmid, David (SUNY Buffalo)

"'This paper is as sunshine': The Contradictory Function of Writing in Dracula"

The function of writing is contradictory in Dracula. It is both effective in normalizing the strangeness of the vampire but ineffective in destroying him. This contradiction will be explained by showing how Dracula is a late-Victorian defense of the pillars on the British Empire: blood, masculinity, and violence.

Schmitt, Elizabeth W.B. (University of North Texas)

"Dracula with his Occupation Gone: Business as Usual (?) in Newman's Alternate Universe"

This part of a full panel entitled "The Long Tooth of the Law" examines the characters involved with the law (both human and vampire) in Kim Newman's Anno Dracula and The Bloody Red Baron. It will investigate the fine line between justice and revenge.

Spivey, Mark T. (Chicago Theological Seminary)

"The Impact of the Rice Vampires on Generation X"

The vampire is alluring because of its ability to embody the human desire for seduction, power and immortality. Generation X strongly identifies with Anne Rice's vampires who are tragic heroes who, in struggling against their own damnation, provide a catharsis for a generation of outcasts. My research ficuses on three crises in the lives of postmodern Generation Xers: identity, intimacy and immortality.

Stoker, L.K. (Austin Film Society, Access Houston Comm. Television)

"Dracula and Propaganda: Nine Parables"

Nine parables of Vlad Dracula and his politics found in German, Russian and Romanian sources - both printed and folkloric - will be examined. Each story will show how Prince Dracula of Wallachia cunningly exploited the fears of his many enemies.

Tournier, Johanne L. (Barrister & Solicitor in the General Practice of Law)

"Count Dracula and Bela Lugosi: The 'Other' in Reel Life and Real Life"

Count Dracula has often been held to represent the 'Other' in Western society. The classic characterization of Dracula was created by Bela Lugosi. In 'reel life' his Dracula was foreign, romantic, distant, and mysterious. In "real life" Lugosi shared many of those same qualities. This paper will examine the origins and consequences of the striking parallels between actor and role.

Vellutini, John (writer & researcher)

"Bell, Book and Bagua"

It is the intention of this paper to present a broad overview of the Chinese hopping vampire, as depicted in folklore, literature and contemporary cinema. A related belief involving the Walking Dead of Hunan will also be discussed. A list of approximately 60 films in which this creature appears will be available.

Weinstock, Jeffrey A. (George Washington University)

"Circumcising Dracula: the Vampire as Anti-Semitic Trope"

Vampirism and Judaism are intricately connected. Through an examination of the "blood libel", the charge that Jews murder Christian children to obtain their blood, as well as the charges that Jews spread disease and as satanic disciples, steal and torture the communion wafer, one can argue that the evolution of the vampire myth is inseparable from mythologies of anti- Semitism. Also noted is the commonplace derogatory characterization of Jews as "bloodsuckers".

Winden Fey, Julia (University of Southern California)

"Dracula and Sexual Identity in Today's Gothic Community"

This paper explores the role of the vampire archetype in shaping and influencing sexual identity within the Gothic subculture. Despite the more often than not male, misogynistic, heterosexual and even homophobic depictions of the vampire in fiction and film, Gothic men and women find liberating, non-traditional forms of sexual alterity within the vampire figure.

Wixson, Kellie Donovan (Tufts University)

"Dracula: An Irish Gothic Novel"

This paper will examine how Dracula reflects, or fails to reflect, Stoker's social reality as an Anglo-Irish Protestant born in Dublin. The Catholic-like Dracula is the powerful landowner who usurps power and established complete control over the vulnerable representatives of Protestant Englishness - Lucy and Mina. Jonathan Harker, the character who most closely resembles Stoker's urban, upper middle class Anglican background, is the primary agent of Mina's salvation.

Youngson, Jeanne Keyes (President & Founder, Count Dracula Fan Club)

"Irving and his Renfield"

There is no doubt that Henry Irving, the famous Shakespearean actor and Bram Stoker's employer at the Lyceum Theatre had a significant influence on the author of Dracula. My paper will share with you some thoughts on this relationship. One cannot help but wonder what would have become of Stoker had he never met Sir Henry.

Zbar, Flora J. (University of South Florida)

"Stoker's Mutant Heirs: From Psychic Thirst to Thirsty Earth, the Count Remains the Father"

They can be dark or fair, fair-minded or foul; they may walk in light or night, these wide- ranging descendants of Bram Stoker's mighty Count. However, they are invariably "Gothic" and demonstrate certain vampiric absolutes. Dion Fortune's shadow creation in The Secrets of Dr. Taverner, and Robert Marasco's hungry home in Burnt Offerings illustrate two mutant, but strangely compelling vampires. Count Dracula would certainly recognize them as family.

ADDENDUM

The following sessions were also of interest to participants in the academic program:

PLENARY SESSION

Ramsland, Katherine (Rutgers University)

From Biography to Companion: Writing about Anne Rice

In 1989, Katherine Ramsland contacted Anne Rice to ask about writing her biography. Rice gave

her approval and that connection grew into seven books. Ramsland worked intensely with Rice for

several years to draw out the hidden dimensions of her dark universe. She was able to see first-

hand the raw talent at work. In this lecture, Ramsland will share her impressions and

experiences during those productive years.

PANEL DISCUSSION: Fictionalizing Vlad Dracula

The historical Dracula, better known as Vlad the Impaler, has in the past 20 years made numerous

appearances as a fictional character. This will be a unique opportunity to hear both authors

and scholars assess the phenomenon of revisionist history and the creation of new myths.

Panelists include Jeanne Kalogridis, Earl Lee, Jean Marigny, Benjamin Leblanc, and Elizabeth

Miller (Chair).