Hello, Invisible (Probably Imaginary) Audience. Remember when I used to keep a blog? Well, I still do. Or rather I do again. To say I have been remiss does not begin to cover it, but I am back now with high hopes for the future. Hopefully I can win you back, romcom style. And what better night to start the wooing than Walpurgisnacht? April 30. Halloween in the springtime. The night when all the evil in the world roams free in search of innocent victims. If you want a taste of some undead hijinks, here's A Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia, back when Disney could get away with showing a Black Mass in one of their movies. Not to mention naked harpies. You'll notice I'm not linking Ave Maria. You have to seek out your own spiritual salvation. Literature in action, pickles.
If you're not feeling the Mouse House (or if this scene still scares the bejeezies out of you...you can admit it), there's Todd Browning's Dracula which ALSO takes place on Walpurgisnacht, unfortunately for our antihero, Mr. Renfield. Dedicated real estate agent-turned-insane vampire slave Renfield ignores the advice of the locals and every scrap of common sense to keep a MIDNIGHT appointment with a certain nocturnal count. Dracula even tries to give him a hint with his not-at-all subtle "spider and fly" metaphor...to no avail. If horror movie victims knew they were horror movie victims there would be no horror movies. By the way, in Browning's film, Renfield seems to have traveled all the way to Transylvania from England to DELIVER A LEASE. Which just had to be done in person, I guess. What a shame he couldn't convince Jonathan Harker to go in his place.
Another day,another slice of self-indulgence. Welcome back. Here's hoping I can go about this with some semblance of regularity. Happy Walpurgisnacht. Don't give away your soul unless you get a really good price for it.
