08-Jan-2006
Dear Friends,
Happy new year and my apologies for such a long hiatus between newsletters. I have just returned from the enchanted land of David Cronenberg (sometimes known as Canada), where I taught a twelve-week course based on THE MONSTER SHOW at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.
I've always been attracted to Canada, never more so than as a Vietnam-era college student. Before I pulled an extremely high draft number, I was fully prepared to relocate north of the border. It was rather ironic that I finally made the move in the midst of an equally hideous military quagmire.
Obviously, my MONSTER SHOW course emphasized the trauma of war as a catalyst for horror in popular culture. UVic is one of Canada's top schools, and my upper-undergraduate class of 45 students didn't disappoint. My weekly screenings began with CALIGARI and ended with GODS AND MONSTERS. As a profesional writer, I naturally emphasized essays and papers, and my students turned in some impressive and original work. How was it, for example, that I had never made the obvious iconic connection between Nosferatu's elongated fingers and Freddy Krueger's razor gloves? Or the Mephistophelian affinity between Miss Havisham in GREAT EXPECTATIONS and Lord Henry in THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY? I worked hard at teaching, but I also learned a great deal myself from gifted and thoughtful students.
Victoria is an extraordinarily beautiful place, and the University made me very comfortable in one of the city's most charming neighborhoods. Riding London-style double-decker buses to work every day was a real pleasure and the overall civility of the town (as opposed to typical daily L.A. road rage and misanthropy) was more than remarkable. EVERYBODY said thank-you to the bus driver upon leaving. America could learn a few things from our northern neighbors, and not just about health care.
I could go on and on about Victoria's world-class restaurants (more per capita than almost any other North American city) but should probably save that for a travel article someplace, lest this seem like a paid advertisement. (Hint, hint: if you've never been to Victoria, go!)
While in Victoria, I also did a rather intense schedule of Halloween college lectures in the states, including Washington, Tennessee, Maine, New York, and Arizona.
On the monster front, this year will see the paperback publication of my anthology VAMPIRES: ENCOUNTERS WITH THE UNDEAD (Black Dog and Leventhal, October), a couple of DVD and cable appearances, and (hopefully)some final announcement about the Tod Browning biopic based on DARK CARNIVAL, which is in good creative hands. My books CITIZEN CLONE and CLAUDE RAINS: AN ACTOR'S VOICE are nearing completion and will be published in 2007.
More anon from your monstrous pal,
David
