PHILADELPHIA – This October, the Rosenbach Museum & Library – home of Bram Stoker’s original research notes and outlines for Dracula – brings visitors another chilling Dracula Festival with a month-long series of events inspired by Stoker’s classic novel and the iconic figure.Programs include a Halloween party for kids of all ages, craft and writing workshops for adults, Dracula-themed Hands-On Tours, Dracula: The Exhibition, and more. The Rosenbach will also welcome several visiting authors to the museum including scholar and vampire enthusiast Dr. Nina Auerbach, science fiction and fantasy writer Gregory Frost, and poet and horror writer Nathalie Anderson.
The Rosenbach will introduce several new interactive programs and workshops to Dracula Festival this year. Local artists and crafters invite visitors to create Halloween costumes and other wearable art in Dracula DIY, a craft workshop specifically for adults held at the museum on Saturday, Oct. 23, 5 – 8 p.m. Philadelphia-based artists leading the workshop include Margaret McGuire, author of the new book Witch Craft - Wicked Accessories, Creepy-Cute Toys, Magical Treats, and More! (Quirk Books, September 1, 2010), and Candy Depew, founder of the candycoated center.
The ever popular Halloween Party for Families will once again be held at Fitler Square Park on Saturday, Oct. 23 from 3 – 5 p.m. The quintessential Halloween event will feature ghoulish fun for kids of all ages, with free activities running throughout the day. Events include spooky live music, a pumpkin hunt, face painting and Halloween crafts. Fitler Square Park is located on Pine Street between 23rd and 24th Streets. This free event is co-hosted by the Fitler Square Improvement Association.
Visitors are invited to re-discover Bram Stoker’s infamous novel in Dracula: The Exhibition (open now through Oct. 31). This eerie exhibition reveals Stoker’s surprising ties to Philadelphia, features the author’s hand-written research notes and examples of later works inspired by the widely-read classic tale of terror.
Dracula Festival will also feature a range of in-depth tours, informal discussions with Rosenbach staff members, and presentations by visiting artists. On Saturday, Oct. 16, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., the museum will offer Whistling Through The Graveyard, a day-long series of writing workshops featuring fantasy fiction writer Gregory Frost, bestselling author of Shadowbridge and Fitcher’s Brides, and Rosenbach Poet-in-Residence Nathalie Anderson, whose work has twice been included in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror collection. The workshops will encourage attendees to create their own fantastical tales inspired by the works of Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Helen Adam and the Brothers Grimm.
The Rosenbach will also welcome Dr. Nina Auerbach who will visit the museum on Thursday, Oct.14 at 6 p.m. to read from and discuss her new book, Our Vampires, Ourselves. Dr. Auerbach delves into our cultural response to vampires from desire to fear, and everything in between. Dr. Auerbach will also lead the reading group, The Victorian Dracula and His Modern Descendants, held over the course of five weeks at the Rosenbach.
Those Ghastly Grimms (Oct. 7), part of the museum’s new Conversations with the Curator series, will include an informal talk and discussion with the Rosenbach’s Patrick Rodgers, curator of the exhibition Dreadful Things Happen: Maurice Sendak and the Brothers Grimm(also on view at the museum through Nov. 7).
A fact sheet with event descriptions and admission information for Dracula Festival programs follows below.
8th ANNUAL DRACULA FESTIVAL SCHEDULE OF PROGRAMS:
Where: The Rosenbach Museum & Library
2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Hours: Tuesday: 12-5pm; Wednesday & Thursday: 12-8pm
Friday: 12-5pm; Saturday & Sunday: 12-6pm
Closed Mondays and National Holidays
Admission: Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students and free for children under 5.
Information: (215) 732-1600or visit www.rosenbach.org.
Many Dracula Festival programs and events are free with museum admission, unless otherwise noted. Dracula DIY and the Halloween Party for Families are entirely free.
Dracula: The Exhibition
September 8 - October 31, 2010
Even dead (or un-dead), Dracula has had a long and eventful life. Dracula was originally published in 1897 and has never gone out of print. The Rosenbach preserves Stoker’s extensive notes for the novel; this year’s Dracula installation will highlight a selection of these notes along with examples of later works that have drawn inspiration from the notes and from Stoker’s classic tale of terror. Free with museum admission.
Reading Group: The Victorian Dracula and His Modern Descendants
Wednesdays, September 15 and 29; October 13 and 27; November 10, 6 – 7:45 p.m.
Join us as we dive into Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the novel that started it all. You’ll discover that Stoker’s Draculais a heartless invader, very different from the sweet and sexy figure he became in later adaptations. This reading group will be led by Nina Auerbach, the John Welsh Centennial Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Our Vampires, Ourselves. One session will be dedicated to using the Rosenbach’s notes and outlines for Dracula to uncover more about Bram Stoker’s process and his creation of one of literature’s most malicious monsters.
$150 for members, $195 for non-members.
Registration required, please call 215-732-1660, ext 123 or email rsvp [at] rosenbach [dot] org.
Conversation with the Curator: Those Ghastly Grimms
Thursday, October 7, 6 p.m.
Get into the spirit of the season with exhibition curator Patrick-or-treat Rodgers, who will guide you through a look at the witches, goblins, devils, and tricksters in the exhibition Dreadful Things Happen: Maurice Sendak and the Brothers Grimm. Free with museum admission.
Gallery Talk: Our Vampires, Ourselves
Thursday, October 14, 6 p.m.
Scholar and vampire enthusiast Dr. Nina Auerbach contends that vampires are not just enticingly evil aliens: they’re personifications of everything we want to be, and all we fear becoming. Dr. Auerbach will be elaborating upon the main premise of her book Our Vampires, Ourselves at this illuminating presentation. Free with museum admission.
A Writing Workshops: Whistling Through The Graveyard
Saturday, October 16, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Led by Rosenbach Poet-in-Residence Nathalie Anderson and fantasy fiction writer Gregory Frost, this workshop will inspire you to create your own fantastical tales inspired by the works of Bram Stoker and the Brothers Grimm.
The Blackest Things: Writing the Fantastic
10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Gregory Frost, bestselling author of Shadowbridge and Fitcher’s Brides, will examine Bram Stoker’s masterful use of diverse narrative voices in Dracula and will assist you in employing Stoker’s distinctive techniques in your own work.
Ghastly Pale: Poets Shivering the Page
10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Nathalie Anderson, the Rosenbach’s Poet-in-Residence whose work has twice been included in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, will guide your own spine-chilling verse using strategies perfected by practitioners of the eerie such as Edgar Allan Poe and Helen Adam.
Cost per workshop: $40 and $30 for members and students (with valid student ID).
Registration required, please call 215-732-1660, ext 123 or email rsvp [at] rosenbach [dot] org.
Dracula Hands-On Tours
Friday, October 22 and 29 at 3 p.m.
Sunday, October 24 and 31, 3 p.m.
Get up close and personal with Bram Stoker’s hand-written notes for the novel as Rosenbach staff discuss what it takes to create an enduring monster.No RSVP required, free with museum admission.
Dracula DIY
Saturday, October 23, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Join Margaret McGuire, author of Witch Craft, and Candy DePew, owner of the StudioSchool for Decorative Art, along with staff from local crafting stores Loop and Spool, for an evening of crafting fun. They will guide you step-by-step through Dracula-inspired crafts that will be sure to mesmerize your friends. No RSVP or crafting experience required, Free Event.
Margaret McGuire edits and moonlights as a crafter in Philadelphia. Her most recent book, Witch Craft - Wicked Accessories, Creepy-Cute Toys, Magical Treats, and More! (Quirk Books, September 1, 2010), features a spellbinding collection of dark arts and crafts, compiled in collaboration with Alicia Kachmar.
Candy Depew, former Master Printer at the Fabric Workshop, is a Philadelphia-based artist focusing on silk screen printing and decorative arts. She is the founder of the candycoated center, a silk screen studio, decorative arts school and gallery showroom in Philadelphia.
Halloween Party for Families
Saturday, October 23, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Held at Fitler Square Park, Pine Street between 23rd and 24th Streets
Do you know a child who can’t wait to wriggle into their Halloween costume and take it for a test drive? Join us in Fitler Square where we’ll be celebrating Halloween a full week early with pumpkin hunting, music, face painting, crafting and storytelling. This free event is co-hosted by the Fitler Square Improvement Association. No RSVP required, Free Event.
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