Sept. 19th, Gothic Fiction

Well, this morning I got my hair cut. Except I chickened out and didn't go very short. I still got a really good trim and maybe an inch and a half off the top. I'm not going to post pictures, it's not that interesting.

To prep for the book club discussion I have to lead next month, I've started Dracula, but I'm listening to the audio-book so I can multitask. So far, the book is quite interesting: the level of horror and stuff in the first couple chapters is pretty heavy, especially for a book written when it was, and I like how it's presented as journal entries and letters. I read that it was likely Stoker's intention to write a straight-forward horror story with Gothic elements, rather than a Gothic story alone. This was likely since the heyday of Gothic literature was some decades before Dracula was published. Nevertheless, it's quite effective in creating a rich and gloomy atmosphere.
I wonder why I don't read more classic Gothic literature. I have really quite liked the stuff I've read. I like that it's eerie and spooky without being vile or too disgusting, and that the writing is really rich and beautiful. It would be fun to read enough old books to really get comfortable using language their way, and then to raise kids and always talk like that in the home. Then when the kids go to school, their teachers will all think they're spooky little kids from beyond the grave. Especially if I dress them like this:

They'll also speak in whispers and seldom laugh but often smile.

I read another vampire book a while ago called "Carmilla" by Joseph le Sheridan Fanu, and it is older than Dracula by a while, but it was still pretty spooky. It's free to download, so anyone with an e-reader can get it no hassle! Another Gothic book I read was called "Edgar Huntly, Or, Memoirs of a Sleepwalker" by Charles Brockden Brown. It was different than other books I've read, and I might not have liked it, except we studied it in one of my English classes in college, and I thought it was pretty cool.

I have the day off tomorrow, and I was planning on going to my cabin, but I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon so I have to stay home. Anyway, I get to sleep in, which will be so good. This morning I woke up a littler earlier than normal so I could get to my hair appointment, and it was so cold in my room! I sleep with the window open in the summer, but last night it got to 41 degrees (Fahrenheit)! I don't think it was that cold in my room, but getting out of my warm bed was especially challenging. I should start waking up/going to bed earlier than I have been, to prepare myself for the time when regular work hours and stuff aren't at 10 am. Ha, wish me luck with that.
Come back tomorrow if you want to read more!