Dracula!

My past week has been full of Dracula-related stuff. I finished the book by Stoker, had book club on Drac, went to a play, and drank blood to see what all the fuss was about.

First of all, I finished the book and thought it was pretty good. It was a little slow at times, but the plot was cool and the final scene was dramatic and exciting. It was also pretty long. If it were written today I bet an editor would have cut it down 75 pages or so. 

Anyway, I read it because I had to lead the discussion for book club at the library. I was totally unsure on how many people would be there, so I made lots of cake pops in case there were lots of people. I'm glad I made a practice batch a month ago because these were much easier this time. 

I went the extra-extra mile and added frosting flames and handles so they looked more like cauldrons. They turned out so great!

In addition to the treats, I made a poster and bookmarks to advertise the event. They also were awesome!

The bookmarks were little coffins! Cutting them out was a pain, but they looked way good. For the poster, I embossed with gold the black paper, and had letters from the story around the edge. I even sealed them with wax. I used a picture by Edward Gorey from his own 'Dracula' that I thought was perfect. 

Then last night I went to a production of Dracula at the Parowan theater with my friend. The play was fun, even if a LOT was changed from the original story. The guy who played Dracula himself was effectively creepy, and his accent was on the mark. The guy who played Renfield is a friend of mine, and he was good too. 

(I made this advert too, hoping it would help out the book club. I don't think it did...)

I'm in the October mood now and watching scary movies and reading ghost stories. Today I worked on my sword for my costume, and it's looking good so far! I still have to sand and paint it, but my Halloween costume is turning out nicely... I'll post a picture when I'm all done!