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Reading Groups

Beyond the Tropes: The Vampire Plot with Marc L. Abbott

$135

Three Sessions

Out of stock

Three Sessions Sundays, 1:00 pm EDT - 2:30 pm EDT October 29 to December 3, 2023

Online via Zoom

Vampires may desire human blood to survive but sometimes their actions have a much more sinister purpose (or noble one depending on the point of view). In these sessions, we will read three vampire novels where the vampires’ motives transcend feeding on humans for survival. From bonding with humans in order to form a relationship of trust and companionship (Let the Right One In), to stopping a coven’s dark agenda (Brookwaters Curse) to achieving world domination through a virus (The Strain), these stories go beyond the typical vampire’s need to feed. We will talk about what makes these stories unique, how they break the common tropes of vampire fiction, how their vampires behave, and how the genre’s evolution has helped these monsters evolve in these stories.

Meeting Details:
Sundays, 1–2:30pm ET
10/29, 11/19, 12/3
Online via Zoom

  • Session I: Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
  • Session II: Brookwaters Curse: Volume 1 by Steven Van Patten
  • Session III: The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Before the first session, participants should read Let the Right One In.

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Led by

  • Photo: John F. Sheehan Photography (www.jfsheehanphoto.com)

    Marc L. Abbott

    Marc L. Abbott

    Marc L. Abbott is a Brooklyn native whose work includes The Hooky Party and Etienne and The Stardust Express. He’s the co-author of Hell at Brooklyn Tea and Hell at the Way Station, the two-time African American Literary Award-winning horror anthology. His horror short stories are featured in Hells Heart, Hells Mall, Even in the Grave, and the Bram Stoker Nominated horror anthologies New York State of Fright and Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign and Blackened Roots. He is a Moth Story Slam and Grand Slam Storyteller winner and an award-winning actor. In addition, he holds an MFA in Creative Writing.