We all know that vampires don’t exist and that there are no malevolent beings of Carpathian origin walking the streets of London, Nottingham or Whitby. Don’t we. One of the really powerful aspects of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel ‘Dracula’ is how it creates the impression of authenticity, partially through how it is told (through diaries and news reports), partially through the novel’s setting in authentically real places.
The second year of the British Library’s ‘Off the Map’ competition is now well underway. In conjunction with gaming festival Gamecity and publisher Crytek, the student competition to create virtual gaming environments out of British Library collection items ties in with the major exhibition ‘Terror and Wonder: the Gothic Imagination’ which will open in October 2014.