Coming Events






			Miscellaneous Events For a record of Society meetings and trips before 2011 use the dedicated links on the left. This page is a record of some notable Society events before 2011 which do not fall into the meetings or trips categories, such as our Annual Dinners, Library Readings evenings and other social and special events. For a record of all of our more recent 2011 and 2012 past events use the dedicated Last Year and This Year sections under the Events link on the left. The Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner 2010 Saturday 6th November 2010 This year we revisited something of the opulent surroundings of the early Society Dinners, by dining at the Hotel Russell, in Russell Square in the heart of London, in their "Virginia Woolf Suite". The company was excellent as usual, but many of us keenly felt the absence of our late co-founder, Bernard Davies, who was not with us at our Annual Dinner for the very first time. Our Hamilton Deane Award had been won by actor Aidan Turner for his performance as "Mitchell" in the BBC TV series Being Human. Aidan was unable to attend, but his award was accepted on his behalf by the creator and writer of the series, Toby Whithouse. The Children of the Night Award was presented to writer Chris Priestley, for Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth. We were also privileged to have with us our Honorary Life Member, writer and broadcaster Professor Sir Christopher Frayling. A great evening as always, and hopefully we will be able to use the same excellent venue again. "The Phantom" at the Library Wednesday 27th October 2010 An evening of readings by members to mark the centenary year of The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux, the French newspaper serialisation of which reached its climax in January 1910. Held as usual in the atmospheric "Library" room at the Victoria pub in Paddington. The Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner 2009 Saturday 7th November 2009 The Dinner was held in the "Judges' Court" at Brown's restaurant in central London, a preserved former courtroom! Actor and writer Mark Gatiss received the Hamilton Deane Award for Crooked House Writer Brian J. Showers received the Children of the Night Award for The Bleeding Horse, and Other Short Stories A Special Event An Evening with Elizabeth Miller Saturday 2nd May 2009 A Special Event An Evening with Leslie S. Klinger Friday 16th January 2009 Members and guests were given the chance to meet one of the Society's more high profile members from across the Atlantic, Leslie Klinger, at a special Society event. Les was over in the UK for a brief tour, promoting his new book, as well as attending the Sherlock Holmes Society of London’s annual Dinner. Les is considered to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on those twin icons of the Victorian era, Sherlock Holmes and Dracula. He is the editor of the three-volume collection of the short stories and novels, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, and has just recently published a similar, meticulously detailed, in-depth examination of Stoker’s Dracula. What could be a more fitting backdrop for Leslie than the ornate Victorian "Theatre Bar" of The Victoria pub in Paddington? Les talked about his passion for "playing the game" – approaching Dracula as if the events of the novel were actually true, rather than a supernatural Gothic fiction imagined entirely by Bram Stoker. However you feel about this approach, Les’s research, combined with his extensive knowledge of the period, makes him an exciting and stimulating speaker. Copies of his book, The New Annotated Dracula, were on sale on the night, and members were eager to get their copies signed by the man himself. We hope it won’t be too long before Leslie returns to the UK again – and visits his fellow Dracula Society members. The Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner 2008 Saturday 8th November 2008 Our annual Society Dinner was held at The George in the Strand to celebrate Bram Stoker's 161st birthday. After the meal, we came to our annual awards. Robert Lloyd Parry, the winner of the Hamilton Deane Award for his first one-man show as M. R. James, Oh Whistle..., was unavailable due to his commitments performing his second, also critically acclaimed, one-man show of M. R. James's spine-chilling stories, A Pleasing Terror. (The award was presented in person to Robert a few weeks later, after we attended one of his performances.) The winner of the Children of the Night Award was F. G. Cottam, for his debut novel The House of Lost Souls. He revealed that he had never won anything before except swimming trophies, and was therefore especially pleased to at last receive an award for his writing work! The traditional after-Dinner quiz was centred around the many film and stage productions featuring Count Dracula. Perhaps due to the company having had a little too much wine and food by then, the eventual winner won with only three correct answers! The 2007 Christmas Social Wednesday 12th December 2007 In November we put our hair up for the Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner, but in December it all comes tumbling down for the ever popular Christmas Social. Many members and guests gathered for an evening of festive fun at The Victoria in Paddington. Santa's Sack and the raffle provided opportunities for the redistribution of Gothic memorabilia, and the caption competition once again produced a very mixed bag of wit, erudition and smut - a good time was had by all. The Christmas raffle prizes this time included items of our Society merchandise, such as Society T-shirts and DVDs. The event helped to raise funds for the Society, which will go towards improving facilities at our events, and help with the promotion of future trips and our merchandise. The Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner 2007 Saturday 10th November 2007 Our annual night of celebration, a formal evening of dinner, drinks and fine company, was this year enhanced by two special guests. Carol Marsh, who played Lucy in the 1958 film version of Dracula was in attendance, reunited with the little girl in the film who nearly fell victim to her blood lust, Tania, as played by Janina Faye. The weekend marked 50 years since the classic Hammer Horror first began production, and we were fortunate to have both these actors in attendance. Also in attendance was our Children of the Night Award winner, John L. Probert, who after receiving his award for The Faculty of Terror, gave a hugely entertaining and enthusiastic acceptance speech. The Hamilton Deane Award winner, Guillermo del Toro, was unable to be with us in person to accept his award for Pan's Labyrinth, but the award was accepted on his behalf by our good Society friend, writer Alan Jones, who later delivered the award to Guillermo, pictured with the award. The evening was held at "The Lounge Bar" in Holborn, London, a short walk from the tube station. This is our second year at this venue, which proved to be a great success once again. Our private upstairs bar showed clips from our special Society 30th anniversary DVD, and also from the 1958 Hammer Dracula. The downstairs atmospheric restaurant had candlelit tables, moody music, our portrait of Bram Stoker on the wall, and our famous cloak, as worn by Christopher Lee in those classic Hammer films, on display. *Library Evening Dracula* Readings Friday 26th October 2007 Following up on our 'Back to the Book' question and answer panel evening, a group of Society members met at our usual Library Evening venue, the "Library" room at the Victoria pub in Paddington. This time it was to enjoy members' readings from "The Book". An enjoyable evening as always. Events such as this serve to remind us of our literary roots. Sunday Lunch at "Le Gothique" Restaurant Sunday July 8th 2007 This Gothic pile, formerly an asylum for the physically, rather than mentally ill, was the location in South London for an addition to our calendar of events. Lunch was taken in the courtyard by a large number of members who had gathered to imbibe the Victorian atmosphere and splendour of this marvellous building. An excellent lunch was served on this rare hot summers day. Library Evening A Winter's Tale** Thursday 25th January 2007 Thirteen DS members and guests gathered around the fireplace in The Victoria’s wonderful "Library" on Burns’ Night to read or simply listen to seasonal ghostly tales. We had a most pleasing evening with a variety of spine-chilling stories that turned the blood to ice. These were: A Long Way From Elsinore by Sue Gedge The Snow Came Softly Down by Brian J. Showers The Pond by Nigel Kneale The Judge’s House by Bram Stoker The Drifting Snow by August Derleth Christmas Gathering 13th December 2006 The lovely lounge bar of The Victoria near Lancaster Gate once again provided the private venue for the ever-popular Christmas party, which has become one of the Society's most loved events over the years. A very good turnout enabled friends to swap cards and presents, take their chances with the Society's raffle, and pit their wits in the fiendish and always competitive caption competition. The Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner 2006 Saturday November 11th 2006 The Lounge Bar in Holborn provided the setting for the Dracula Society's Annual Dinner and very good it was too - excellent food, suitable lighting, a welcome drink at the door, friendly and attentive staff, and a lovely bar upstairs with a DVD screening showing footage of the Society's trip to Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland in 2001. Our guests included Children of the Night Award winner Sarah Singleton who received her award for Century and Hamilton Deane Award winner Lesley Sharp who received her award for Afterlife. Library Evening 18th July 2006 On Tuesday July 18th, members of The Dracula Society met at the Victoria Pub, Lancaster Gate, where, to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the great nineteenth-century engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, we read ghost stories with a railway connection. These included a real-life haunting, an extract from The Ghost Downstairs by Leon Garfield, two stories by Walter de la Mare, and, of course, The Signalman by Charles Dickens. Our President, Bernard Davies, reminisced on when Arnold Ridley, author of the play The Ghost Train, was a guest of the Society. As a very small child, Ridley had attended an event where Henry Irving was present, and could remember seeing both the great actor and Bram Stoker. Christmas Party 15th December 2005 Our annual Christmas party was held at The Victoria on Thursday 15th Dec and featured all the usual fun of 'Santa's sack' and the caption competition. Once again, a highly enjoyable occasion for everyone. As one of our members commented, the Dracula Society's Christmas fest is her favourite party of the season! Library Evening *Wilkie Collins* Saturday 9th January 2005 On a dark January evening, over a dozen Society members met again in the cosy and atmospheric surroundings of the upstairs "Library" room at the Victoria public house in Paddington. We were treated to readings from the Gothic works of Wilkie Collins, read by several of those present, on the anniversary of his birth. The Dracula Society Convention 2003 This was one of our most ambitious events ever, mounted to celebrate the Society's 30th birthday! The event, held at Halloween 2003, was a huge success. See all the details here. Library Evening *A "Bring & Buy" Gothic Story Evening* 24th August 2003 Despite its title, this was not to be taken too literally! Basically, we decided to have an evening where members brought along their favourite book and "sold" it to the gathered membership, persuade folks to go out and search out the title for themselves. The "Library" is a small venue, so the fourteen who turned up amply filled the room. Many people brought along books and read from their favourite tale. Library Evening *Vampires at the "Victoria"* 4th August 2002 A welcome return to the "Library", a wonderful fake library/room above the Victoria pub in Paddington, to gather and read vampiric tales to each other. Some just came to listen. But we had a record number of people. The room is very small, the temptation would be to look for bigger premises, but the atmosphere of the room is so unique it would be a shame to leave, so we just cram in as best we can. It was amazing how many people brought their own stories, which was so impressive, and the quality was very good. So good in fact that we hope to have the stories in the programme for our Convention in 2003. This was just a drop in evening with a small door entrance fee to pay for the rental of the room. (Webmaster's note: this idea became the Society anthology Conventional Vampires.) Elizabeth Miller at the "Bram Stoker Tavern" Saturday 18th May 2002 This was another of our "extra" evenings, organised to present Dr. Elizabeth Miller with her award, which she was unable to receive the previous year at our Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner. Elizabeth had just returned from Romania (presenting at the Annual Dracula Congress) and on her way back to Canada was stopping by between flights. All a bit busy for her, but members had a great chance to meet Elizabeth. She also conducted some interviews with members herself to establish what attracted us to the Dracula Society. She signed copies of her book Dracula - Sense and Nonsense, for which she won our Children of the Night award, and the evening was completed by dinner at a good local Polish restaurant. Elizabeth is one of the foremost authorities on the subject of vampire folklore and Gothic history. Library Evening *Ghost Stories at the "Victoria"* 9th March 2002
	Fly back to the top!		The first of our evenings in the "Library" room above the Victoria pub in Paddington for 2002. Having done this event last year, which was a great success, we felt we would try the idea again, and once again, members came to tell their tales of dread! For the first time this included new contributions from members themselves.