Events Last Year






			A record of our events from 2011. Click here for information about future events planned for 2012 and beyond. Christmas Party Friday 9th December 2011 The Bram Stoker Birthday Dinner Saturday 12th November 2011 This year we once again gathered at the elegant Hotel Russell, where we had dined last year. Our Hamilton Deane Award for 2010 was jointly won by the co-creators of the play Ghost Stories, Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson. We were delighted that Jeremy was able to attend our Dinner in person to collect the award on behalf of both of them. Our Children of the Night Award was presented to writer Michelle Paver for her novel Dark Matter. Our guest of honour for the evening was actress Caroline Munro, seen here with Jeremy Dyson. Autumn Meeting Saturday 15th October 2011 An Evening with John L. Probert John was the winner of our Children of the Night award in 2006 for his short story collection The Faculty of Terror. He is now working on his first full length novel, and he started by reading an extensive extract exclusively for the Society! Then followed an interview and question and answer session with our Society Chair, Julia Kruk. Among many fascinating insights, John told us about his childhood introduction to horror films, which he now has an encyclopaedic knowledge of, and explained how his "day job" as a hospital urologist helps him with his literary characterisations thanks to the patients from widely different backgrounds that he comes into daily contact with. An amazing tour de force came next, as John and his partner Kate performed for our delight "potted versions" of two British horror films, Blood on Satan's Claw, and Corruption. Presented in pantomime style, with audience participation encouraged, and the use of props which included glove puppets, it brought the house down, oh yes it did! A great evening of insight and entertainment. Library Evening Wednesday 5th October 2011 An evening of readings delivered by members on the subject of werewolves! Summer Meeting Saturday 11th June 2011 A day out to visit the newly re-opened Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole's "little Gothic castle". This followed on from our visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition of its former contents at this time last year. Following the day at Strawberry Hill, a group of members had an excellent authentic Romanian meal at the Amurg restaurant in Leytonstone, East London. This included glasses of the Society's favourite Romanian plum brandy, "tuica"! Slovakia Trip Monday 23rd May - Sunday 29th May 2011 Sixteen Society members enjoyed a six night return to Slovakia, to visit more of the many castles in the west, especially those once owned by the alleged so-called "Blood Countess" Elizabeth Bathory, who was honoured (indirectly) with the dubious title of Countess Dracula by Hammer Films! This was our third visit to the area, the last being ten years previously in 2001, and it included another visit to the fantastic castle at Orava, which none of us who visited it in 2001 had ever forgotten. It was used by director F. W. Murnau to film some of the exterior scenes in the 1922 version of *Nosferatu, and is little changed. A video (in Slovakian) here will give you some idea of what we saw there. The trip also included a day in the beautiful Austrian capital, Vienna. For interest, to show what sort of trips we do, the itinerary is available here. There are pictures from this trip in the Photo Zone. Spring Meeting and AGM* Saturday 7th May 2011 "Wyrms" with Jacqueline Simpson The Society's Annual General Meeting, to receive the Membership Secretary's and Treasurer's reports, followed by a talk on fantastic beasts by Society member folklorist Jacqueline Simpson to mark the centenary of Bram Stoker's The Lair of the White Worm. March Literary Meeting Saturday 19th March 2011 John Polidori: The First Vampyre A talk by Dr. Ruth Richardson and Professor Brian Hurwitz. According to Ruth, this was actually a repeat performance for the Society, but as the previous occasion was nearly twenty years ago, the memories of the long-standing members present of it were a little hazy! The illustrated talk, originally titled Ghosts, Vampyres and Lord Byron's Doctor was fascinating. It centred on John Polidori's short life, and especially his association with the famous get-together at the Villa Diodati in 1816, which resulted in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein and Polidori writing The Vampyre, which undoubtedly had an influence on Bram Stoker later in the century. New Year Meeting Saturday 29th January 2011 Film Evening Our first meeting of the New Year was a tribute evening to our founders, Bernard Davies and Bruce Wightman, both of whom we have now sadly lost, Bernard most recently in September 2010. After an excellent buffet at a new venue to us, the Freemasons' Arms in Holborn, we started with a screening of our Society Anniversary Film, which was made in 2003 to mark thirty years of the Society, but has never been shown at a Society event since our Convention in that year. It charts the history of the Dracula Society from its foundation in 1973, and is built around interviews conducted with the founders Bruce and Bernard.
	Fly back to the top!		We followed that with a film starring Tod Slaughter, of whom Bernard was a great aficionado. Crimes at the Dark House was made in 1940, and is loosely based on Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. It is a great example of Slaughter's over-the-top performances, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all!