79/52 New RPGs: The Thrill of Dracula

I’m on a study project to improve my understanding of roleplaying games. To this end, I already have two reading projects, A Game Per Year and An Adventure Per Year. This is the third, with the goal of reading or playing 52 games made in the last few years. Originally I considered making this “A New RPG Per Week” and that’s where the number 52 comes from, even though a weekly schedule is probably not within my abilities.

The cover of The Thrill of Dracula

I’ve always loved it when roleplaying game books include bibliographies of influences and sources of inspiration. I’ve gone through them many times, discovering new games, books, music and movies. Because the Dracula Dossier is a maximalist campaign, its family of releases includes a whole separate book listing 40 core Dracula movies and analyzing them from the perspective of running roleplaying games.

The Thrill of Dracula also touches upon the novel and it’s different versions as well as an early version adapted for the theatre. In the book, author Kenneth Hite heaps scorn upon the play and for good reason. I’ve seen it staged once in New York and my most vivid memory is of the boy kicking the back of my seat.

It was embarrassing to read through the book because I realized that I’d only seen a few of these movies. I’d just assumed that I’d watched the major Draculas but it turns out that there are so many out there, just a few don’t cut it if you’re interested in the subject.

Of all the Dracula films mentioned which I have seen, my personal favorite is obviously Guy Maddin’s Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary. Once you have silent movie ballet Dracula, what more do you need?

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