The Mysterious Stranger

The Mysterious Stranger was first published in 1860 by an unknown German author. Today it's found within a collection of other Vampire stories.You can take a look at a review on Dead Letter Press's blog.

  The story takes place in the Carpathian mountains but specifically Castle Kaltka. The Vampire within this novel takes on the form of a knight by the name of Azzo Von Kaltka. Instead of pale skin like Dracula, Von Katlka's “complexion was neither pale nor yellow, sort of grey or dirty white, with an intense black beard and short cropped hair” (pg 94).

Although he does still have the power to control the wolves, Azzo can't change shapes. He must also be invited in by the owners of the house. But once he's in...he's a hard one to shake. Even his bite marks are different. Instead of the traditional pin pricks, the wound on the victim's neck looks like they nicked themselves with a razor or sharp object.

And how do you to kill such a thing? Traditionally, one method would be to drive a stake into the vampire's heart, cut off its head and stuff garlic into its mouth. But with Von Kaltka, he's different. In order to kill him, one must drive three long iron nails into the coffin. Did I mention there was a catch? Only the person who has been bitten can accomplish this, because in order to save themselves, they must also smear the blood leaking from the coffin onto the 'wound'. Pretty nasty task, isn't it? Even though he's a part of the Undead, Von Kaltka is pretty darn cool.

Let me know your thoughts and I'll see you next week!

The Death Bird

    Ah, Nosferatu...a true Vampire classic. Based on Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, this German silent film depicts the first visual persona of the 'bloodsucking ghoul'. It also happens to be one of the most influential and masterful pieces to come out from the silent film era.

Nosferatu takes place mainly in Orava Castle and Wisbory, both located in the Carpathian mountains.

    Now, I know this is starting to sound like a film review, but bear with me here. I'm just trying to give some background before we sink into an analysis of the terrifying Nosferatu.

Nosferatu's name is difficult to determine but the etymology is generally synonymous to the Romanian term 'nefârtatu', meaning 'insufferable one' and 'devil'. The vampire himself, looks creepy in the tall and unsettlingly dark kind of way, which isn't at all surprising. His pale visage and wide staring eyes and those two pointy fangs of his make me feel a little uneasy whenever he makes an appearance. The strangely pointed ears do nothing to improve his image.

   Vampires have always been known to have some sort of magic power, whether it's mind control or some sort of elemental magic. Nosferatu, himself is no different, but what does make him interesting is where he gets his powers from. The film makes mention that the origin of Nosferatu's evil magic comes from “cursed soil from the field of 'The Black Death'”. This makes it pretty obvious that Nosferatu is the physical persona of death. But if you ever get curious check the film out for yourself. It's quite the movie for its time.