{"id":16255,"date":"2020-10-27T14:00:15","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T18:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armagideon-time.com\/?p=16255"},"modified":"2022-04-25T22:14:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T02:14:14","slug":"halloween-countdown-day-27-tapping-the-vania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armagideon-time.com\/?p=16255","title":{"rendered":"Halloween Countdown: Day 27 – Tapping the ‘vania"},"content":{"rendered":"

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But first, on earth as vampire sent,
\nThy corse shall from its tomb be rent,
\nThen ghastly haunt thy native place,
\nAnd suck the blood of all thy race.<\/p>\n

There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
\nAt midnight drain the stream of life,
\nYet loathe the banquet which perforce
\nMust feed thy livid living corse.<\/p>\n

Thy victims ere they yet expire
\nShall know the demon for their sire,
\nAs cursing thee, thou cursing them,
\nThy flowers are withered on the stem.<\/p>\n

Wet with thine own best blood shall drip
\nThy gnashing tooth and haggard lip;
\nThen stalking to thy sullen grave,
\nGo\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand with Gouls and Afrits rave;
\nTill these in horror shrink away
\nFrom Spectre more accursed than they!<\/em><\/p>\n

– Lord Byron, “The Giaour” (1813)<\/p>\n

I finally got around to watching The Kiss of the Vampire<\/em> the other night. The 1963 film was one of Hammer’s attempts to keep the bloodsucker mojo going until Christopher Lee took up Dracula’s dark mantle again, and it’s a perfectly adequate period horror jobber done in the studio’s signature mildly titillating yet oh-so-mannered style.<\/p>\n

My biggest problem with the film is that Dr. Ravna, the suavely sinister leader of the vampire cult, kept reminding me of Henry Winkler playing Barry Zuckerkorn on Arrested Development<\/em>. That’s entirely on my media reference damaged head, but damn was it distracting.<\/p>\n

Recommended listening:<\/strong> I Monster – Lust for a Vampyr (from A Dense Swarm of Ancient Stars<\/a><\/em>, 2009)<\/p>\n