Blog Post 3: Monster Rules

Dear Swayam,

My name is Autumn, and I’m writing to discuss potential research topics regarding Dracula.

So far there has been a lot going on in the story. There are many unanswered questions about Dracula that I am curious about currently, and the new element of Mina’s side of the story has been very interesting. I’m excited to see how the different story beats connect, since it seems they will be converging (as hinted by the recent chapters). I am also very much enjoying the dark themes and horror elements, and am brainstorming ways to incorporate them into a research topic.

One element that I have noted is that vampires are famous for their strict rules (like avoiding garlic, sunlight, and having to be invited into a building). I’m interested to see if this was all established in Dracula, or if the rules have changed over time. It would also be interesting to research how this rule-based system for horror monsters helps strengthen horror/storytelling in general. You could almost say that the monsters function off of an algorithm. There’s a potential connection there between these rules and AI used in horror games.

Thank you for hearing my ideas, and I look forward to hearing yours as well!

Sincerely,

Autumn Moulios