Creepy Classics | #Victober

A lot of the most iconic Halloween monsters have their roots in the Victorian period!

Books I mentioned:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Dracula by Bram Stoker

Social media:

[angelaluz]

Jekyll and Hyde was brilliant! I want to do a deep dive into RLS...mostly on the strength of that book. That one and Frankenstein are two of my all time favorites. I still need ot read Dorian Grey.
Dracula was one I both liked and was disappointed in. I had been affected by the film adaptations I had seen beforehand. I expected Dracula to have more of a presence in the book. this is the one where I kept thinking "just get to it already"!
Another great video! I love your content! Also...my favorite of the Universal Monsters flip flops every year. Last year it was The Invisible Man. (what great special effects for the time period!) This year it is The Wolf Man.

[DebMcDonald]

Loving these videos. We need a longer October. I read Frankenstein twice recently and could read it again right now. Dorian is very good and includes a manipulative monster. I still find Dracula scary. The power he had over poor Renfield, the fate of the Demeter, and his behaviour in the castle is frightening. Mina is the heroine. They never would have succeeded without her. And a handsome Texan with a Bowie knife! ❤️

[bobbiesuedavis]

I read Frankenstein at the beginning of October and LOVED it. It's an incredible story and definitely a new favorite.

[LittlePrairieLibrary]

I adore Frankenstein, it's one of my favourite classics as well. I did not know that we got modern Frankenstein perceptions from stage plays! I thought it was from early films! The first time I read it the book, I was stunned how different it was from what I was familiar with, and it's so much better than I hoped for. I like Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, I would recommend the audiobook narrated by Richard Armitage :) I read Dracula a decade ago, and I was properly horrified by it. I would love to read it again and see how I feel about it now. I read Dorian Gray for Victober this year and to be honest, didn't love it, but I do see how it found its place in pop culture. Well worth reading, at any rate.

[carosbuecher]

I really liked that you made us put ourselves into the shoes of the readers at the time of publication of all these classics you discussed 💕 I loved Dracula because of the relatively slow pace and the letters and of course Frankenstein! When I read it a few years ago, I was also extremely surprised by where the story went as I had been sure I know all about it 😁 And just like you I was disappointed by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the only thing I took from it was my surprise about the correct pronunciation of Dr. Jekyll due to it being a Scottish name 😁 It apparently is more like j-ee-kal (I always pronounced it just like you did which I think is what American English would do to the name 😁) So, at least the book enabled me to annoy everyone by pointing this out 😁

[goodstrongwords]

The only one of these I have yet to read is Dracula, partly because I forget about it and partly because of the mixed opinions. I read Frankenstein pretty recently and I absolutely loved it.

[novellenovels]

I need to try me Jekyll and dr Hyde next year but found Dracula better than I expected

[kdonaldson]

I absolutely agree with your comments about Frankenstein and Dr Jackell and Mr Hyde, I felt the exact same way. I found upon my second reading of Dr Jackell and Mr Hyde it went up 1 star from a 2 to a 3 star rating. What really helped was listening to it as an audiobook, the performative nature of the narrative really shines in audio. (especially as the version I listened too was Richard Armatage haha). I have tried to read Dorien Grey 3 times, most recently for Victober and did not get passed page 50. I just don't know why? I enjoyed Dracula, even though I do agree with you about female characters.

[questioneverything]

The Ice cave scene is the best, as the author was arguing for a "absentee landlord" concept of God

[marjorietalcott]

Loving this Halloween videos! Thank you! Agreed 100% with you on Jekyll & Hyde - slow and predictable. I read it again a few weeks ago but still nostalgic. Frankenstein is the best! Amazing themes and every read brings something more. Creature from the Black Lagoon! No one thinks of that one. I bought the whole collection and adore all of them - from the usual suspects of Frankenstein and Dracula to Wolf Man, Phantom, The Invisible Man have a soft spot for the Mummy. I bought Stoker’s mummy novel (The Jewel of the Seven Stars) and it’s on my TBR. I’m hoping the writing style isn’t bad because I adore all things mummies. Happy Halloween, y’all!

[laracroft]

I recently read Dr Jackyll and Mr Hyde and I really like it. I understand what you mean about it being so short. I do wish we had had more from the point of view of his butler or servants. However, I thought the writing was beautiful, especially the last part which was the letter of Dr Jackyll. It made me want to explore more writings from this author.
I saw there is a novel written by Valerie Martin and in this version we get the story told by one of the servants. I’m planning to get it and see if it is as good as some people claim.
Love your look on this video. Happy Halloween 👻

[Lu.G.]

I adore Frankenstein and I need to pull the 1818 version off my shelf and give it a read, soon. I'm a _vampire girl_ all the way, but I must say Dracula wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I finally read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde last year and really liked it! I've been meaning to re-read The Picture of Dorian Gray because I know so many people love it, but for whatever reason, it kinda fell flat for me. 🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃

[janetcampbell]

I really enjoyed this, Jennifer. I liked Dracula, although it's many years since I read it. I was disappointed in Jekyll and Hyde, loved Frankenstein, but I'm Team Vampire all the way. xx

[advika]

Can we get a bookshelf tour please. I love penguin black spine classics and also love too see people's collection. Please do a tour🥰

[questioneverything]

Have you read Clarissa, since you like epistolary novels?

[elizatolwinska]

Which version of Frankenstein would you recommend to read first?
I read Dracula and didn't like it, mainly because I found the character of Van Helsing extremely annoying.

[Starscreamlive]

I wasn't a huge fan of Dr Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. I love Stephenson, but something felt missing in this story. Both Dorian Gray and Dracula are easy 5 star ratings from me.
I'm a huge fan of the old Universal horror films. Bride of Frankenstein is my favorite film of all time.

[PerpetuumLibre]

It is really funny, I adore Dracula and really love Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but really did not like Frankenstein.. We are all different, and it is beautiful. But I adore Dorian Gray, so there is one thing we agree on :)

[mrdarren]

When I read Dorian gray I have to say that i was underwhelmed. The story concept is very clever and I can understand why it has found its way to becoming a classic. But I can't say I was bowled over by it. Maybe I was expecting too much, maybe it was Wilde's reputation as an amazing genius... so maybe my hopes were too high. At any rate I found it only mildly entertaining and definitely one of my more disappointing reads.

[CrankyKat]

I’m feeling so validated right now. lol I absolutely love vampire literature/movies/TV shows, but I read Dracula for the first time this month and I didn’t care for it at all. I disliked almost all of the characters, and I was actively rooting for Dracula to win. I’ll probably re-read it in the future, but I was kind of bummed that I didn’t love the novel as much as I thought I would.