Did you know that the precursor to Dracula originated out of the same storytelling competition as Frankenstein? And that neither story would have been written were it not for the worst climate disaster of the last millennium? And that the modern English vampire story began as a comment on the toxic masculinity of Lord Byron and his acquaintances?
Sources:
Robert Morrison and Chris Baldick (editors), The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre (Oxford World’s Classics): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-vampyre-and-other-tales-of-the-macabre-9780199552412
Maddie Stone, “Rare Manuscript Exhibit Explores How Climate Change Disasters Create Monsters”: https://earther.com/rare-manuscript-exhibit-explores-how-climate-disasters-1820782944
The University of Iowa Libraries’ blog: https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/speccoll/tag/frankenstein/
This episode features voice work from Paula Matzke, Mary Shelly, and Steven Nelson. Steven’s podcast, DIY Democracy, in which he tries to learn more about citizenship and improve civic engagement, can be found at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1286579387