The Bride of Dracula

I find the sinister yet beautiful image of a bride to Count Dracula rather alluring.

Something so innocent as a bride turned evil captures my imagination.

What could make her turn to such wickedness? Grief for someone corrupt?

A naturally cruel and stern disposition?

Straightforward bloodlust?

Malevolent company?

Or just an amazing photoshoot!

Who will be the black-hearted one in The Wedding Ghost?

Miss Havisham

This blog is all about spooky brides - so I couldn't miss out the wonderfully theatrical Miss Havisham. She's the bitter and twisted spinster in Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectations'.

Here she looks a very Grande Dame.

She was jilted by the swindler Compeyson at twenty to nine on the morning of her wedding. Ever afterwards she wore her wedding dress and just one shoe. 

All the clocks in her house were stopped at twenty to nine.

The Wedding Breakfast - including the cake - was left to moulder away.

She teaches her adopted daughter, Estella, to despise men. Estella then breaks the heart of Pip -which Miss Havisham regrets later. She begs forgiveness shortly before her dress catches fire and she dies of her injuries.

Was she an old lady?

Or rather younger?

Certainly an inspiration for photographers:

How do you imagine her?

Review: The Way of the Leaves by David Tallerman

I recently received a chapbook from the rather wonderfully spooky Spectral Press.

The story inside was reminiscent of a ballad or a folk story retold. The writer has used a traditional structure to good effect where present day reflection takes the reader back to a previous, unnerving event. Told consistently from the unnamed protagonist's point of view, there is a pervading sense of menace throughout.
Despite winning the 2012 Spectral Press/This is Horror competition, I'd have to say it seemed to me more eerie and tragic than viscerally horrific. This is not a criticism. Rather the well-conveyed atmosphere and steadily unfolding plot made it unsettling and memorable. 

I thought it was particularly effective that the events were not explained, only their effects seen.

In short, well worth adding to your collection of chilling tales.