• Rating:
Zothique 5 is out: this issue is dedicated this time to Bram Stoker and the mythical and mythological figure of Dracula. The first article is by Matteo Mancini, who, as usual, writes a very comprehensive dossier investigating the vampire figure from all points of view. The amount of material poured into this dossier is such that I believe it might be of some interest even to someone who, perhaps, is a seasoned connoisseur of the subject, although, in my opinion, there are some prolixities. In any case, it is a powerful and well-done piece of work. By now, the latest issues of Zothique are real books. Enjoyable is the anecdote about how parts of the film El Conde Dracula by Jesus Franco (specifically those starring Klaus Kinski) were filmed at the Cosmopolitan studios in Tirrenia, now decommissioned. I found Fabio Giovannini's contribution, investigating the origins of the name Nosferatu, to be of notable interest. It is very difficult to find the origins of this term as, upon first examination, it does not seem to exist in Romanian language or its dialects. Yet in the end, after careful analysis, a trace seems to emerge among the tales of Romanian popular beliefs where the term “nosferat” is mentioned. It is strange, ultimately, that such an outdated word has gained such fame in our days thanks especially to the films of Murnau and Herzog.
Christian Lamberti, on the other hand, talks to us in Dracula: between esoteric hints and occult matters about the various esoteric aspects of this famous work. Curious is the initial quote from a letter by Lovecraft to Robert Barlow in which the Recluse of Providence expresses some perplexities about the work: “I know an old lady who almost got the task of revising Dracula in the early nineties – she saw the original manuscript and says it was a tremendous mess. In the end, someone else turned it into the form the text now has.” The lady in question is Edith Miniter (1867-1934). However, we are talking about drafts, and surely Stoker, though advised, then revised the text until it took its final form. We then find some tidbits for all Stoker enthusiasts, namely 3 unpublished short tales dubbed Midnight Tales dating back to 1906. For the first time, the tales The Walking Swamp, In the Valley of Shadows, and The Dualists, are also translated.
Of absolute interest are the translations of some reviews of the time on Dracula. The reception is generally positive, although, personally, I agree with the one from The Stage dated June 17, 1897, which argues that the first part of the book “is rendered more artistically than its somewhat disjointed conclusion” and also (though the judgment on the book is sincerely too negative) with the one from Athenaeum dated June 26, 1897, where it is written that “the first part is the best, because it promises to unveil the roots of mystery and fear lying deep within human nature”. This was also the opinion of Lovecraft and T.E.D. Klein, who, in the tale The Events at Poroth Farm, praises the initial development and criticizes the rest of the novel considered too sentimental and “Victorian.” This special Stoker closes with a comic by the talented Gino Carosini (also the author of the sophisticated cover) and with an essay by Francesco Brandoli on the various editions of Dracula (including the Turkish adaptation and the Icelandic version recently published by Carbonio).
Zothique 5 is available on Amazon at the following link: https://www.amazon.it/ZOTHIQUE-Rivista-narrativa-cultura-fantastica/dp/B08RBMBCK3.
Loading comments slowly
