Real Women of Gaming

Have you ever read a horror story where the characters do not understand that they are in a horror story until it is far too late? A story without an understanding of the rules to survive. Without the knowledge of how to spot a very real threat. If this sounds interesting I would like to recommend one of my favorite “classic” pieces of literature. Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 

Now it can be daunting to read at first glance. It is a larger book. The writing boasts an extensive vocabulary, some of which is antiquated. Narration jumps as the book is written in chronological order instead of from one point of view. However I think that the fact that the book is broken up into dates can help with some of this fear of reading. By breaking it up into reading by date it makes the book less challenging. It gives the reader a starting and stopping point. That was part of the aim with Dracula Daily.

Dracula Daily was created by Matt Kirkland as a way to experience the events of the novel Dracula in the same timeframe as the characters. This leads to a few new experiences when engaging with the media in this format. One is a more immersive experience for the reader. The second is the slow realization that this is, indeed, a horror novel thus creating more anxiety. Prior to that it almost feels like a travel blog with our good friend Johnathan Harker, until it suddenly isn’t. Or until we aren’t hearing from certain characters at key moments in their stories. The third is, as already expressed, that it breaks the story down into much more manageable chunks. 

This format has made the novel far more accessible to different readers. It has also helped to make communities of readers new and seasoned to Dracula. One of the things I love the most about this experience is actually the community that has built around this new way to interact with the novel. Watching new readers as the story unfolds is just beautiful. There is also such a sense of enjoyment and welcome from seasoned readers. On a whole there is just a lot of memes, discussion, art and fun being had. 

I love Dracula. I love the ripples it has had throughout history. I love watching others fall in with it as well. I love the discussion about the problems in the text. Dracula Daily is a fantastic experience to be able to be a part of. 

If you are interested in following along you can sign up on the main website, link above. Dracula Daily runs from May 3rd till November 7th! Every day that there is an entry you will be emailed the correspondence from one of our dear friends in the book. If you want to start into the book there is an archive of the previous entries. It really is a wild experience to read along as characters slowly realize they are in the horror genre and scramble to learn the rules in real time. 

Even more good news is that Dracula Daily is also releasing a physical book. It will have drawings and notes in it! Obviously I want one more than I can put into words. You also can get a physical copy of Dracula itself and read along with entries that way. Just so long as you get to try reading Dracula this way. I am curious to see how others like it, either as first time readers or those reading chronologically for the first time. 

I highly recommend participating in Dracula Daily. So what are you waiting for? Welcome to our Fandom! Enter freely and of your own will! To paraphrase the Count himself.

ALWAYS KEEP SPARKLING!!!