WITH the Halloween season in full flow, a spine-tingling festival has been launched that you can really get your teeth into.
Dublin City Council’s inaugural Bram Stoker Festival –
‘My Name Is Dracula’ – will take place from Friday to Sunday, October 26-28.
Members of the public are invited to venture into the unknown for a gothic
‘scarefest’ like no other and discover the hidden secrets that lie beneath the capital’s streets this Halloween. Most of the events are free, but advance booking is essential.
The weekend will begin with a special event featuring bestselling US crime author Patricia Cornwell on Friday (October 26) at 7.30pm in Trinity College, Stoker’s alma mater.
Aptly named
‘The Anatomy of Fear’, the acclaimed author will talk about ways in which the serial killer has become, in some sense, a modern-day equivalent of the vampire. Tickets cost e12 (e10 concession).
Described as
“the single most important collection of material related to Bram that has ever been put on public display
? by Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great-grand-nephew, the world of Bram Stoker will be documented in a unique exhibition of memorabilia of his life and work between 1847-1912.
Showing throughout the festival at the Little Museum of Dublin, St Stephen’s Green, it is produced in conjunction with the Bram Stoker Estate and the John Moore Collection. It features many rarities including: the earliest inscribed copy of
‘Dracula’, Bram’s first published short story –
‘The Crystal Cup’, Stoker family artefacts that have never been seen in public and the first Irish translation (1933) of
‘Dracula’. Entry tickets are e5.
Film lovers will be treated to a unique experience with an outdoors screening of the cult classic Nosferatu: A Not-So-Silent Symphony and Cinema Event in Meeting House Square on Saturday (October 27) at 8pm. This event is free but pre-booking is advised to avoid disappointment.
Families will also have plenty to choose from with a host of interactive children’s and teens’ workshops and events on offer over the weekend.
On Saturday (October 27) at 10am, Trinity College will welcome double award winning children’s author Celine Kiernan for Blood Red Ink, an intensive writing workshop with a difference exploring the essentials of brilliant fiction writing that they don’t teach in school.
If bats are more your thing, then make your way along to Batty Habits and Scary Stories in Smock Alley Boys’ School at 11am and find out about native Irish bats and the truth about vampires with RTÃ?’s Dale Treadwell, and author illustrator Oisin McGann reveals just how batty you need to be to create a vampire-inspired story in pictures.
Later in the afternoon actor Owen Roe is joined by actress Donna Dent from 3pm in Christchurch Cathedral for a Gothic Tales from the Crypt, an exciting hour and a half of chilling vampire and horror stories amid mummified cats, tabernacles, candlesticks and instruments of punishment.
Families can also look forward to a very special evening spectacle performance from award-winning street theatre company, Spraoi, conjuring up the dramatic characters and vivid imaginings of Bram Stoker within the majestic courtyard of Dublin Castle on Sunday evening October 28.
Ouroborus Theatre Company will present
‘Stoker’ a newly written play based on the life of Bram Stoker for the festival, examining the man, the myth and the legend at Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College. Tickets are available directly from the theatre.
These are just some of the treats to suit all who dare take to the streets on the weekend leading up to Halloween.
Speaking at the festival’s launch, Lord Mayor of Dublin Naoise Ã? Muirà said that for the first time ever, Dubliners and tourists alike can enjoy a weekend of spine-chilling adventure by taking a tour of Dublin’s gothic past.
“This three-day festival includes film, exhibitions, plays, literature and performances and I invite Dubliners to celebrate Bram Stoker and his legacy of Dracula,
? stated Mayor Ã? MuirÃ.
“What better way to celebrate Halloween than to get first-hand exposure to Dracula’s blood-thirsty exploits?
?
For further information regarding the festival, visit www.bramstokerfestival.com or email info@bramstokerfestival.com