CHAMBERS DICTIONARY OF THE UNEXPLAINED MOVIE

Boris Karloff also found fame due to his portrayal of the Monster in Frankenstein, as well as originating the character of Imhotep the Mummy in Universal’s 1932 The Mummy, which may be familiar to modern audiences through its 1999 reboot, its subsequent sequels and then a second reboot in 2017. Bela Lugosi became THE Dracula to audiences and continued to regularly play the character on stage and screen until his death in 1956.

CHAMBERS DICTIONARY OF THE UNEXPLAINED MOVIE

However, Universal Pictures had an easier time creating their 1930s adaptions as Stoker never registered a copyright for his work in the United States and Shelley’s copyright of Frankenstein had long since been sold and then expired – leaving the work in the public domain and open to more creative interpretation as time went on.Įnduring stars emerged from Universal’s movie adaptions. The transition of these horror stories from page to screen has clearly not always been a simple one with copyright and licensing laws continuing to be a major issue for anyone dealing with intellectual property.

Murnau released the silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror an expressionist piece that has been widely acclaimed by fans since its release but which was regarded with horror by Bram Stoker’s estate and which resulted in a court case that left all but one lucky copy of the film burned on orders of a judge. The earliest adaptions of these Horror ‘monsters’ in film came in the 1920s when movie studios, and particularly Hollywood’s Universal Pictures, began using Shelley and Stoker’s source material to create blockbuster films. However, there is a growing body of scholarly work examining these connections and the importance of ‘new’ media in interpreting and disseminating these myths and stories in society today. However, it is rare that someone who watches films such as Dracula Untold or The Bride of Frankenstein will then delve deeper into the origins of the history, theology, literature and mythology that inspired the creation of creatures such as vampires and werewolves.

Some may even have read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Bram Stoker’s Dracula and have an appreciation for the source material of these film adaptions. Most people will be familiar with names such as Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, Imhotep the cursed Mummy, and other classic monsters from films and TV.

It is the oft neglected connections between the monster stories we see repeated on film and television today, with the literary, theological, and history books present in our library, that I wish to explore. We also have several reference books on this subject (which can be found in the Annex corridor with the red ‘REF’ stickers) such as Chambers’ Dictionary of the Unexplained (K 40/71 REF) and a significant DVD collection on our main staircase landing which includes classic and modern horror works. We have literary, historical and theological works on various ‘monsters’ including Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Werewolf, the Mummy, and many more. This February I decided to give some of our lesser-known collections a little TLC by presenting a display on 'Tales of the Supernatural: The Library’s Hidden Creature Features!' Additionally, to give you all some extra background on this exciting topic, I’m writing this blog for our website.įor an organisation that is famous for its extensive collection of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone’s books, Gladstone’s Library has a surprising number of works on horror and the supernatural. Tales of the supernatural: the library’s hidden creature features!īy Gladstones Library | Monday, 04th February 2019Īt Gladstone’s Library we rotate our History Room display every month to focus on an aspect of Gladstone the man, or our extensive library catalogue.

Chambers dictionary of the unexplained