Introducing: Our Community Charter

"I Had All Sorts of Queer Dreams"

Dear Reader,

I hope you had a pleasant weekend.

We kicked off our Dracula Read-along last Friday, and the initial feedback about last week’s article and video have been amazing. I’m so glad everyone is enjoying themselves. Believe it or not, fun, connection, and Dracula enthusiasm are pretty much my only current goals here.

This Friday’s video will discuss chapter one, and the accompanying article will be on dream states. Altered states of consciousness are a common thread among Gothic novels. We’ll be diving into why and how they are used by writers and look at a few examples in the text of Dracula.

I’ve already had the opportunity to meet so many of the fine folks making the journey with us, and it has been the absolute best time. I have been blown away by the writing and creativity folks are using to envision themselves as a first edition Dracula Reader.

For fellow Substack users, if you write or make something for the read-along and feel comfortable doing so, please tag me in the article or post it in our chat! I’d love to share your stories so you can all get to know your fellow passengers.

And now for a very important message:

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I’m so delighted you have elected to make this exploratory journey through Dracula with me. To me, you are a guest and I take the safety and comfort of my guests very seriously. The road may be perilous, so today I’d like to take a moment to introduce our community charter.

• Count Dracula is dangerous and cruel, but we, the genteel people of this Read-along are not. This is a safe space for all readers regardless of race, gender identity, or sexual orientation to participate and ask questions.

• This Read-along will involve discussions where participates may have differing view points. When engaging in discussion, I find it helpful to assume positive intent. Civil discourse is encouraged. That being said, this is not the place to discuss modern day politics. Spaces for that abound. This is not one of them. This is for fun, learning, and connection.

• If someone posts “in character” please respond to them “in character.” You are in charge of your own storyline and reading experience. I encourage you to get as creative in your participation as feels fun for you. It is a common guideline in improve theater to use a concept called “yes, and.” This means if someone suggests plot threads in their comment, you should try to affirm what they are offering you and add something to it. This fosters collaboration and helps ideas grow.

That’s all for now. I can’t wait to discuss chapter one with you!

Thank you for being here, Dear Reader. Thank you for caring about me and the words that trickle out of my brain. Until Friday, stay spooky.