Maggie Hall tells all about Dracula

Posted: November 8th, 2020

MAGGIE HALL’S new book is All Things Dracula: An A-Z Of The Count Who Refuses To Die. She writes: “As the blurb says, the mere mention of the ‘D’ word strikes fear into many of us. Whether nervously turning the pages of the book or peering at the screen from behind a cushion, those pearly white fangs, glistening ruby-red blood, and the menacing black cape are all iconic images central to the terror!”

However, our most famous vampire has links to much more than the world of Gothic horror. This trivia-stuffed A–Z reveals just how deeply Bram Stoker’s fictional creation has become embedded in global culture. From food to fashion, art to ants, war to wool, flowers to furniture, Dracula is entwined with a multitude of diverse, unexpected and surprising aspects of life. All of which underline that the original concept holds true: Dracula will be forever ‘Un-Dead’!

Maggie said: “The idea for the book (the cover was designed by my niece Rachel) came from all the time, from childhood until now, I have spent in Whitby, where, in the novel Dracula (published 123 years ago) Bram Stoker ‘landed’ his famous character in Britain.

“It was an idea I played around with for quite a while – but never really did anything with. Then Covid-19 raged into our lives. I should have dedicated All Things Dracula to the virus. Without the dreaded lurgy, the long lockdown, then two weeks quarantine in Whitby – where I escaped to from Washington, DC, for the summer – I doubt I would have ever got it done!

“But then, on publication, the virus worked against me. The book launches – on both sides of the pond – were scuppered, along with book signings. But in the light of all the other damage it has done and is doing, that doesn’t matter.

“I’d like to think that anyone happy to fork out £8 for a copy of the book would order it from their local book shop, or direct from the publishers York Publishing Services https://www.ypdbooks.com/non-fiction/2184-all-things-dracula-YPD02456.html     Otherwise it’s available from all the usual on-line outlets: Book Depository (free shipping world-wide) and Amazon.”

Maggie joined the Daily Mirror as a reporter in 1963. She was posted to New York in 1980 and then stayed in the States to freelance until “sorta” retiring in 2000. She said: “I now divide my time between my homes (lucky me!) in Washington, DC and Whitby.”