With the 2018 “season” behind us and cold, dark Chicago winter ahead, it’s time to hunker down with what remains of our current reading list and wait for the start of a new set of Goth Chick News adventures in 2019.

On that note, I told you about three new horror releases a few weeks back, which were currently on my nightstand. I can now report that having finished Dracul, written at least partially by a great, great nephew of Mr. Stoker himself, it’s definitely worth your time. I wasn’t a fan of author Dacre Stoker’s first foray into Uncle Bram’s iconic character via a Dracula sequel entitled Dracula, the Undead. However, this time around Stoker teamed up with a co-author (or was teamed up with one by his editor). J.D. Barker has impressive horror creds and the results for the overall storytelling are definitely better.

Dracul is a pre-quel of sorts with Uncle Bram as the main character. The story concerns the events that inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula, and though it is so slow in places you’ll think perhaps that was when Barker turned his back on the writing process to grab a sandwich, the overall story is clever and connects entertainingly enough to the source material to be a good read for fans of the original Dracula, as well as those who just like a good gothic vampire tale.

Having finished the book, I gave the audio version a go which I often do. Sometime the audio book makes me love the written book even more, as listening to the story can free up my imagination to flesh out the characters and descriptions. However, Dracul was read by a “cast” and not all the narrators were created equal, so in this case, give it a miss and read the text instead.

I then moved on to my annual Halloween hangover cure, which is to contact the press offices at all the shows Black Gate photog Chris Z and I plan on bringing to you in the coming year, and the 2019 lineup is copious. Though most of these events take place in Chicago, many of them represent the Chicago stop in a multi-city line up, with the HAA being the only show which is not open to the public. So, check out the links and mark your calendars to attend one of these events that may be happening near you.

• The Halloween & Attractions Show – St. Louis, MO, March 21-24, 2019
  • This show is not open to the public
• The Midwest Haunter’s Convention – Chicago, IL, June 8-9, 2019
• Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo – Chicago, IL, March 22 – 24, 2019
• Hollywood Show – Chicago, IL & Multiple Cities, March 22 – 24
• Chicago ComicCon – Chicago, IL & Multiple Cities, August 22-26, 2019
• Great America’s Fright Fest – Gurnee, IL & Multiple Cities, September 21 – October 27, 2019
• Cedar Point Halloweekends – Cedar Point, IA, All Weekends in October, 2019
• Days of the Dead Convention – Chicago, IL & Multiple Cities, November 16 – 18, 2018 (2019 show dates TBD)

This Friday we’ll be attending the 2018 Days of the Dead convention so stay tuned to find out which celebrity will miss their press call this year.

Have a question or comment? Post it here or drop a line to sue@blackgate.com.