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you're not quite an emergency, is the thing. you're just having a bad spell. so what if you can't ever really catch your breath. can't ever really feel at ease. a buzzing, terrible feeling.

but emergencies are loud, and passionate, and hit the floor. you are not a lion or a hurricane, you just live in a pretty okay apartment and your back hurts. you wake up and drag yourself out of bed and banish what if i was dead thoughts like cobwebs. you pick out your clothes and try to stay active. you apply for jobs on the internet.

the anxiety is a wave, and the depression is a spiral. the other stuff keeps things "colorful." you mitigate your symptoms and take your meds when you have them and you try to hang out with friends. you go home and your head is full of riverwater. no matter how much you sleep, you still stay tired. you journal and practice gratitude and build from the bottom upwards. and still, the haunting.

you're not a 911 call or a shriek. you're just staring up at the ceiling and feeling the house settle into your bones. you feel you are playacting as a wolf when you're only a sheep. not quite dry and not quite drowning.

over and over, you slog through the creek.

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thinking about how in today’s entry, Jonathan says he doesn’t have the heart to describe beauty. And how different that is from the man who raved over the tiny towns and trickling streams and rolling hills outside his train window. How it coincides with the realization he’s a prisoner now. Locker doors rather than train cars and carriages. A journey versus a cell. No more recipes and train schedules and breathtaking scenery. The darkness is creeping over him

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-----------------------------SPOILERS-------------------------------------------------yes for an antique novel we have first timers----------------

Taking as given that Count Dracula attacks Jonathan Harker, when does it begin and how can we tell?

Certainly by the end of his stay at the castle, Jonathan has been attacked. Perhaps during the time when he makes no entries (at least none that are in Mina's manuscript) this happened also.

But consider his night at the Golden Kroner Hotel Royale in Klausenberg in light of what happens to Lucy and to Mina.

He has strange dreams. He hears howling. He is consumed by thirst. He is nearly unrousable.

Change the pronoun and it's Lucy.

Mina Harker decided to include this entry because it was horribly familiar, is what I think.

And when Jonathan tells us later that he cannot delay his trip, I think it's genuine. He can't. He doesn't know why but he truly cannot disobey. Dracula said get on the coach and so he must.

It doesn't start at the castle, or in the Borgo Pass. It starts on page one.

It's like thinking the coaster is climbing when I'm already at the first hill's crest.

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There's something warming about all the efforts complete strangers go through to try to protect Jonathan. From starting early to blessings to pushing faster than is likely wise. To have arrived early in an attempt to just maybe have him continue on their journey.

How they all know, and likely know the possible repercussions. How they dare not completely stop him. Can not tell him the exact dangers, but still try to give him every chance to slip the noose they see.

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these first few passages always really strike me because of how they define jonathan’s character. He is young — so young. Mesmerized with what he is seeing outside his window always. He is dutiful. So eager to prove himself in his work. A bit naive. Maybe a touch ignorant, but not with any malice. He’s sentimental. He wants to gets recipes for his soon to be wife and share the beauty of this part of the world with her. That’s what this journal was meant to be. A testament of the love and wonder of who Jonathan Harker is. But that’s not what it becomes… and that’s a bit heartbreaking

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Tumblr is great because we've successfully turned Dracula into Hadestown

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Everyone shouting at Jonathan to just leave Castle Dracula has got to remember you're talking about this guy:

"I have had a long journey with many train delays and this is my first job and I have no money and my fiancée is waiting for me to come home after a job well done and I am very smol so you can imagine the kind of stress I am under"

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I've only just realised just how quickly Jonathan starts predicting his doom. Maybe I took it for granted last year and gloss over it when I read the actual book (because I fly through the first four chapters in one go like a bat out of hell normally) but it's literally day two of Jonny's little Transylvania trip and he's already saying good bye to Mina

It just seems so tragic that in the space of a day he's gone from sheer excitement and curiosity, to caution and fear

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when you're reading the very first email from Dracula Daily and Jonathan says he's on his way to Castle Dracula to meet Count Dracula

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He's here.

He's back.

My good friend Jonathan Harker.

Going to be absolutely normal about this until November.

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Where can I find a friend who shares the same hyperfixation as me? FYI it’s a 128 year old novel about a silly little english lawyer who goes to stay with a weird guy™ who doesn’t show up in mirrors, has questionable bedtime habits, and can scale walls like a lizard.

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jonathan harker's arc is about him accepting that he is actually into being dominated by an evil vampire as long as that evil vampire is the woman he loves. mina murray harker's arc is about her accepting that she has a right to take up space and speak her mind instead of bowing to social norms. lucy westenra's arc is about how the polyamory didn't change anything, it didn't save anyone, but it still matters that the polyamory was there. arthur holmwood's arc is about learning to cope with a sudden massive tragedy by opening himself up to others and strengthening his social bonds. quincy p morris's arc is about being hot and owning guns. abraham van helsing's arc is about not getting complacent in the idea that he has an open mind and accepting that he might make wrong calls based on his biases. jack seward's arc is about rebounding from life altering heartbreak by getting back in contact with his old favorite professor from med school who he sucked off one time. count dracula's arc is about fumbling a series of bad bitches so hard that he flees the country and dies.

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I'm so excited for my dear friend Jonathan Harker. he's landed a really sweet gig WITH travel and accommodation included. things are finally looking up for my bud and I can't wait to hear all about his travels (he's promised to write)

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Welcome to Re: Dracula

We're a bite-sized audio adaptation of the horror classic. Think Dracula Daily for your ears!

Re: Dracula takes the famous horror tale, breaks it up chronologically (every entry of this epistolary novel has a date), and sends the story directly to your podcatcher as it happens. Every time something happens to the characters, Re: Dracula will publish an episode, in real time. This audio drama is a faithful adaptation of the story we know and love, featuring a full cast to tug on your heartstrings and sound design to keep you on the edge of your seat.

We've also adapted Carmilla! You can listen to it in full on the Re: Dracula podcast feed.

We're currently in the process of adapting Frankenstein in the same style! Stay tuned for more info :)

Places to Listen:

Re: Dracula Website: redracula.live

Podlink (Links to all the apps!): pod.link/1679833472 

Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6Mu1ME2CmFi7MpU0YrXcpx 

Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@redracula

Megaphone: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/BDA1314847644 

Important Links:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/redracula

Ad Free Feed: bloodyfm.supportingcast.fm/products/re-dracula-1

Merch: store.dftba.com/collections/re-dracula

Website: www.ReDracula.live

Bloody Disgusting Website: www.Bloody-Disgusting.com

People are saying...

"I consider this to be the best adaptation of the work out there."

"Above and beyond in every single level."

"If I could I would eat this podcast."

"Dracula has never been more frightening."

"Nobody touch me I'm in a glass box of emotion."

"11/10. Flawless. Perfection. It did not have to go that hard but by the gods it was worth it."

Re: Dracula debuted at #2 on the fiction podcast charts, has seen over two million downloads, and been an official selection of over a dozen film and web festivals. Re: Dracula was featured on Tumblr's 2023 and 2024 year in review, and Tor.com called it "a spectacular podcast." Other Links:

Patreon Store (Digital Merch): www.patreon.com/redracula/shop 

Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@redracula

Tal's Ko-Fi Shop: ko-fi.com/talminear/shop

Re: Dracula Tea (proceeds to charity): www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=210196

Notion Template (by bluefireferrets): bluefireferrets.gumroad.com/l/Re-Dracula-Notion-template

Zazzle (silly merch): www.zazzle.com/store/re_dracula

Tal's Bandcamp (misc songs): sidequesting.bandcamp.com/ 

Newt's Bandcamp (misc songs): newtonschottelkotte.bandcamp.com 

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Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London 20th April 2025

I saw Dracula in London and it was so good! The cast were very creative and funny and James Daly was a wonderfully attractive and childish Count Dracula complete with hissy fits and tantrums and dramatic entrances. Charlie Stemp played an excellently flustered and straight-laced Jonathan Harker (until Dracula’s seduction drew him in) and it was such a fun show to see play out before a packed audience!