When Did Dracula Become a "Love Tale"?

A new year brings us a new season of Vampire Campfire along with a new Dracula adaption! This take on the tale is explicitly romantic, which begs the question: when did Bram Stoker’s 19th century classic turn into a love story? Rebecca and Hannah dig into the family tree of Dracula adaptions to unpack the layers on layers of intertext, question if they themselves are the crazy ones, discuss why writers made these changes, and rant about CGI gargoyles.Come vamps, join us around the campfire.CW: sexual assault, pedophilia, suicideMajor Spoilers:* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897* Blacula, directed by William Crain, 1972* Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1992* Dracula Untold, directed by Gary Shore, 2014* Dracula: A Love Tale, directed by Luc Besson, 2025Other media mentioned in this episode:Fiction* I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 1954* Blood Orange by Karina Halle, 2022Film* Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931* Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher, 1958* Dracula, directed by Dan Curtis, 1974* Nosferatu the Vampyre, directed by Werner Herzog, 1979* Dracula, directed by John Badham, 1979TV* Dark Shadows, 1966-1971* Dracula, 2013Theater* Dracula by Hamilton Dean, 1924* Dracula by John Balderston, 1927* Dracula by Hamilton Dean and John Balderston, 1977Non-fiction* In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires by Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally, 1972Additional Reading* Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage and Screen by David J. Skal, 1990Want more vampire content in all your feeds?Check out our Pinterest to capture the aesthetic of this episode.Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah SpiegelmanNote: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe