or Will The Real Blade Please Stand Up? Because when all’s said and done, we’ve always preferred the original seventies comic book Blade to the revised, enhanced version of the late nineties and the films. And maybe because Blade is actually British, which has been rather forgotten in the slew of Marvel re-imaginings over the last twenty years…

So yes, in one of our last entries for Black Vampire Week, we can state firmly that Blade the Vampire Killer (or Slayer, or Hunter) was born Eric Brooks in Soho, London, England, and raised as a Londoner. Honest.

We don’t find that out immediately in the comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, Blade’s first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 (1973), an all-action issue which had little time for flashbacks. And to be fair, they messed with his origins a few times even back in the seventies, though they never went as far as to make him Wesley Snipes and give him an American origin – that came much, much later.

In the original Tomb of Dracula comics, in early guest appearances and in Marvel Preview #3 (1975), Blade’s mother was bitten during the last stages of a difficult pregnancy, and Blade was the child delivered before she died. Who bit her was never stabilised – there were stories with an unnamed vampire, then a specific vampire, Deacon Frost (who would enter the main Blade mytho-verse), and even occasionally Dracula. Writers often played a bit fast and loose in those days.

The result was reasonably consistent, though. Blade is simply a human who, because of the events surrounding his birth, cannot be turned by a vampire’s bite. Having been raised in a brothel (with suggestions that his mother had been one of the prostitutes there) and told of what happened, he grows up mad as hell, with a serious chip on his shoulder. Which seems reasonable.

Tomb of Dracula presents him as a guy with a grudge, ready to kill any bloodsucker. Wolfman and Colan, however talented, could not come up with much in the way of an English accent, though, and so Blade talks more like Detroit than Soho a lot of the time. Throughout those early appearances, everyone else speaks in polite or cod-English, with some bizarre language from and about the London police especially – the ‘fuzzies’ appear and say things like “haul your black butt inta the wagon.”

Depictions of Britain itself vary between seventies modern, unlikely castles and faux-Dickens slums, but you do have vampiric English teen thugs, wicked nobility, and an annoyed New Scotland Yard. There’s no mistaking the London-centred nature of it all.

But he’s great. No huge swords or techno-weapons, no mutant talents – just a guy in coloured goggles and a green or purple jacket, with an afro and a bandolier of wooden knives – variously teak, ebony or mahogany. Very physically fit and very determined, with nothing else about him but the attitude, he manages to slay even Dracula (temporarily, of course). A real hero, with a touch of anti-hero loner about him.

Tomb of Dracula #30 and Marvel Preview #3 provide more detailed background material. We learn of Blade being brought up by the other women in the brothel, and exposed to vampire hunting through encounters with a man called Jamal Afari, an old jazz trumpeter, who fought vampires with silver but who was later turned. Blade hangs out at Slow-Boy’s, a London jazz club, was taught to play the horn, and so forth. We also learn that back in 1968, he was in China with other human vampire hunters, all Black, called Ogun, Azu, Musenda and Orji. Dracula is supposed to have killed all of them except Musenda (we believe) eventually, but it was there that Blade learned the value of using wooden knives, before returning to London.

(Marvel Preview #3 follows on from Vampire Tales #8 and #9 (1974) and is well worth picking up). The original Blade in full action against the Legion of the Damned.

As time passes in the seventies, Blade loses the afro, which is a shame, and grows a chin-beard, but still goes out there with his trademark jacket, goggles and bandolier of knives. It’s a great portrayal of an angry man. He’s no teenager – origin dates vary, but he’s at least in his mid-thirties, possibly much older – and he doesn’t take kindly to anyone interfering in his work. Other vampire hunters floating around Britain, such as Quincy Harker and Rachel van Helsing, do not find him easy to work with.

“You know you just killed a teenager, Blade?”

“That’s Mister Blade, Harker – and, frankly, I don’t give a flying hoot! He was a stinkin’ vampire.”

BLADE: THE RETREAD VERSION

But this is Comicsworld, and they couldn’t leave it alone. By the late 1990s, Blade becomes American (from Detroit, rather than only talking like that), and then… he turns into Wesley Snipes. Who gives us Blade as a dhampir (see later below), a human with vampire strengths but not their weaknesses, with the background timeshift that the attack on Blade’s mother happened in1967; doctors were able to save the baby, but the woman died of an unknown infection.

It’s not that we don’t like the films, or even some of the later comics, but yeah, we really want the afroed, knife-throwing British Black Bad Boy of the seventies, when Wesley was a mere teenager, and everyone could dig the cat who knew where it was at, the man you didn’t mess with…

Blade the Vampire Killer.

DHAMPIRS ALIVE

As an addendum, the folklore side: Blade has been described as dhampir, the child of a union between a vampire and a human. Quite how this applies in this case is uncertain, as rather than him being the unlikely offspring of two genetic strains, the comics seem to suggest that some unknown factor was passed from the bitten mother to the child, presumably through the placenta.

Nor, as we’ve said, do they use the dhampir angle in the comics at first (he is eventually bitten by Morbius the Living Vampire and gains quite a few directly vampiric/dhampiric characteristics).

Dhampir, a word of Albanian origin, had its own variable place in Slav folklore, and we can do no better than to direct you to Andy Paciorek of the Folk Horror revival, who wrote an entire book on Eastern European myths which we covered a while ago. In his Black Earth: A Field Guide to the Slavic Otherworld, he says:

In East European lore it is not uncommon for dead husbands to visit their still living wives. Sometimes they will feed on the vitality of their spouse, but sometimes they will still follow other matrimonial desires. It was believed, particularly amongst gypsies, that should a male child be born of the union between a widow and her revenant husband (or sometimes lover if out of wedlock) then the baby boy will grow up to be a being known as a Dhampir. Known sometimes as the ‘Devil’s Partner’, Dhampires are actually a force against evil, though their power demands both fear and respect. Dhampires assume the role of Vampire-hunters and are well equipped for the position for it is said that they possess great speed, strength and agility and the ability to see invisible spirits anti recognise vampires at sight.

There’s more in the actual book, which you can get through the link below (it’s also heavily illustrated by Andy):

black earth by andrew l paciorek

As we close down Black Vampire Week, don’t forget that SLAY, full of some fantastic authors,  is due out on 13th October, and available to pre-order now:

SLAY on Amazon UK

SLAy on Amazon US

Before we bite down hard, a neat piece of trivia related to our post on Blacula earlier in the week. Old greydog‘s talented writing partner, author and award-winning artist Alan M Clark, also noticed the review, and informs us that:

“I went to high school at Symbas Experimental High School in a warehouse commune in San Francisco. My ‘film’ teacher was the Joan Torres who wrote Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream.”

Rather cool. You can find the article on Scream Blacula Scream here:

SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM

Anyway, vampire fiction is again the mood of the day, as three more word-whisperers tell us a bit about their stories in the forthcoming SLAY anthology. This time we’re pleased to have Valjeane Jeffers, Marcia Colette writing as V G Harrison, and Miranda Riley, who provide three very different takes on the Vampire Noire…

‘Beautiful Monsters’ by Valjeanne Jeffers

Sanyu, the heroine of my story, ‘Beautiful Monsters’, is both a vampire and a freedom fighter. Thus, she is something of an anti-heroine, if you will. Sanyu is powerful and bloodthirsty. But she is definitely focused on her end game, which is slaying oppression. Her journey takes place in the town of Passion, in an alternative steamfunk universe.

I’ve been in love with vampires—werewolves too (really all creatures of the night)—since I was child watching Dracula and Barnabas from Dark Shadows, But when I saw the call for submissions to SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire, I realized that I’d never written a story about a traditional vampire, although I wrote about “time vampires” in the third novel of my Immortal series, Immortal III: Stealer of Souls.

So, I decided to challenge myself. I drew from the myths of traditional vampires, their birth, their fatal allergy to sunlight and, of course, their bloodlust. I decided to use a steamfunk setting because I love world building. I also included a tribute to my late sister Sidonie, who has a small but quintessential role in ‘Beautiful Monsters’.

I’m so very thrilled. and honored that ‘Beautiful Monsters’ has been published in SLAY, surely a groundbreaking anthology, the first of its kind, and to add my voice to the chorus of wonderful authors writing stories of vampires from the African Diaspora.

Valjeanne Jeffers is a speculative fiction writer, a Spelman College graduate, and a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Carolina African America Writers’ Collective. She is the author of nine books, including her Immortal and her Mona Livelong: Paranormal Detective series.

Valjeanne has been published in numerous anthologies including: Steamfunk!; The Ringing Ear; Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler; Fitting In: Historical Accounts of Paranormal Subcultures; Sycorax’s Daughters; Black Magic Women, The Bright Empire, and, most recently, All the Songs We Sing, and Bledrotica Volume I.  Visit Valjeanne at: www.vjeffersandqveal.com

‘Message in a Vessel’ by V.G. Harrison

Featuring Dr. Adelynn Jakande, ‘Message in a Vessel’ takes place on the moon in the distant future where a virus has turned most of the world into vampires. The few humans who are left can no longer feed the rest of the world. Vampire and bioinformatics specialist Dr. Jakande is faced with the task of helping her people look to the stars for new sources of food. There are no threats to the mission, so it’s a go… until Dr. Jakande double-checks what little humanity she has left.

For sci-fi visit: www.vgharrison.com

For paranormal/urban fantasy: www.marciacolette.com

‘Rampage’ by Miranda J. Riley

I’d say that my vampire is unlike any vampire written before because she is not originally human. When Nicole posted the call for SLAY submissions and I read the description of “unique, never before seen vampires”, I knew I could knock this out. I thought, “what if…we took the giant, most gentle being on the planet and turned it sour?” And so Talik, the vampire elephant, was created.

I lived with my family in Mozambique for a period of time and fell in love with a small village named Machanga. That is where I base my story, except in my world, Machanga was attacked by a league of vampires and killed Aziza’s family. Aziza trained to become a warrior who could protect her village and serve as a guardian.

But what is all that training good for if no one comes to attack?

Kruger National Park is losing elephants fast due to Talik’s rage and bloodlust. The Order of vampire slayers calls in Aziza, a warrior in the area and of interest to the Order, to help slay the beast and find the one responsible for transforming Talik into a monster.

This is Miranda J. Riley’s first published work! She has another short story in the works for publication through Prospective Press and she thanks Mocha Memoirs Press for the chance to share her talents. You can follow her on Twitter @TheSpunkyDragon and friend her on Facebook. You can also check out her beta website at https://mjrileyonline.co. Miranda is originally from Brazil and has lived on three different continents in her short lifetime. She gathers inspiration from the people, places, and events that have impacted her life.

SLAY, full of some fantastic authors,  is due out on 13th October, and available to pre-order now:

SLAY on Amazon UK

SLAy on Amazon US

At the weekend – our SLAY-fest continues with the comic book origins of Blade the Vampire Killer, and then on to pastures new…

Vampires ahoy! Today we’re looking back at one specific film, that fascinating piece of horror/blaxploitation known as Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973). And why? Well, mostly because this sequel to Blacula (1972) is pure seventies Black fun and horror, apart from a few white cops shoved in to increase the victim count. Count, get it? Never mind. And it’s also a film that, whilst enjoyable as it is, should have been great, far greater…

First of all, we say ‘blaxploitation’, but hold your horsepower a moment. Blaxploitation or blacksploitation has been described as:

“An ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The films, while popular, suffered backlash for disproportionate numbers of stereotypical film characters showing bad or questionable motives, including most roles as criminals resisting arrest…

“Blaxploitation films set in the Northeast or West Coast mainly take place in poor urban neighborhoods. Pejorative terms for white characters, such as “cracker” and “honky,” are commonly used. Blaxploitation films set in the South often deal with slavery and miscegenation. The genre’s films are often bold in their statements and utilize violence, sex, drug trade, and other shocking qualities to provoke the audience. The films usually portray black protagonists overcoming “The Man” or emblems of the white majority that oppresses the Black community.”

Yet Scream, Blacula, Scream isn’t really that way out, and we could question it being placed under the blaxploitation umbrella (although the period and commercial intent make that fairly inevitable). For our money, it has the makings of a decent mainstream horror film. One with Black characters, of course, for perfectly good reasons.

The non-vampire hero is an ex-cop and collector of valuable African artefacts – he’s not there to clean up mean streets or deprived neighbourhoods – and he is friends with at least one African professor. He has good relationships with the local police; the heroine is a sophisticated woman who happens to practice voodoo as part of a local sect/group. Their social scene is not faux ‘ghetto’ and alleyways, but urbane living room parties.

And the titular Blacula is not a criminal or raving madman, but a cursed African prince who is not exactly delighted by his own vampiric condition. In addition, there’s hardly any other criminal activity in the film – unless you count making and staking vampires – and only a throwaway Black pimp scene for a bit of background excitement. Although described as being set in Los Angles, it was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia.

The film critic Roger Ebert had this to say in 1973:

“Scream, Blacula, Scream” is an adequate vampire movie, which is to say that a satisfactory number of vampires spring out of hiding and sink their teeth into helpless victims, and there are abundant shots of vampires with blood drooling down their chins. But beyond those two prerequisites, the movie isn’t exactly the best thing in its line since Taste the Blood of Dracula.

“(William Marshall and Pam Grier) both have a lot of style; so much, indeed, that it stands out in this routine movie. Marshall has the kind of pseudo-Shakespearean dialog and delivery that Vincent Price and others have been polishing at Hammer. And Miss Grier, a real beauty, has a spirit and enthusiasm that’s refreshing. Also, she can scream well, and that is always important in these enterprises.”

There’s no doubt that William Marshall, as Blacula/Prince Mamuwalde, is well-suited to the role. In fact, he has moments of being magnificent and genuinely threatening. With presence, stature and a deep, powerful voice, he can certainly stand alongside other ‘Draculas’ of the period. As for Ebert’s ‘pseudo-Shakespearean’:

“(Marshall) played Shakespeare many times on the stage in the U.S. and Europe, including the title role in at least eight different productions of “Othello”. His Othello (which was later captured in a video production in 1981), was called by the London Sunday Times “the best Othello of our time”

IMDB

TRIVIA: We were delighted to find that Marshall had been in the first-season episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. entitled ‘The Vulcan Affair’ – because 1968 he also appeared as Dr. Richard Daystrom in the Star Trek episode ‘The Ultimate Computer’. A great performance, in which his scientific efforts were initially supported by Mr Spock – a Vulcan.

It’s sad that Ebert’s 1973 review ended with the sentence “Scream, Blacula, Scream is just an interim exploitation effort, and a warm-up for the better vampires in Marshall’s future.” There should have been more, and the film allows for a sequel, but alas, that was never to be – no further Blacula films were made. If the world were fair, Marshall would have ended up with the same status in vampire filmology as someone like Christopher Lee.

SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM? SO, IS IT ANY GOOD?

Yeah, but listen…

The score is wobbly. Dark tones occasionally, but too much seventies plinky Quincey ME stuff, and a song at the end which doesn’t help a lot. The direction is erratic – scenes start suddenly without explanation, jumping to ‘and then this’. Women scream for ages and then suddenly stop; men charge around without any obvious clear plan. We can live with that, but it could have been tighter – the pacing isn’t always in keeping with the story.

There’s nothing terribly wrong with the effects, but more money might have helped – the voodoo parts are quite eerie and powerful; the vampire parts vary, and aren’t helped by the use of ‘werewolf’ eyebrows to show that a character is being vampiric.

The humour is light to variable. The character who raises Blacula, Willis (Richard Lawson), starts the film with promise, as if he is going to be a main player, determined to take his place at the head of the voodoo cult, but then gets bitten, and drivels away into a weak comedy figure who serves no real purpose, complaining about not being able to admire his own threads in the mirror. Whilst this puts the focus on Blacula as the ‘baddie’, it’s a wasted opportunity, with the mammaloi/pappaloi issue almost completely abandoned.

The female lead, Lisa (the now legendary Pam Grier), is stylish and capable, but misused (or underused). A touch more agency and determination would have helped. Instead, the focal point for the ‘goodies’ throughout most of the film is the ex-cop we mentioned earlier, Justin (Don Mitchell, also known as Officer Mark Sanger in Ironside). Who is fine, and is given the routine role of being the one who first suspects vampires, gets the authorities to listen, and so on. One of the nice parts is when he persuades a gang of mostly white cops to take up wooden stakes when they raid the vampire lair, and although clearly dubious, they go along with it (not that it helps them that much, as they wander around inside fairly incompetently and get done in a lot).

The only notable white character is the senior police officer Harvey Dunlop (Michael Conrad). Nor is there any reason, to be frank, why he couldn’t have been Black as well.

Where the film works best is at the start and towards the end. When Mamuwalde says that “you have a power unlike my own” to the voodoo priestess, and seeks her help in removing his curse, you have some good stuff. The presence of a voodoo fetish doll during the film’s introductory scene and again when Blacula is being ‘exorcised’ is another nice touch. Which shows you what Scream, Blacula, Scream could have been – an innovative take on the demonic spirit of the vampire, and the power of other ancient beliefs (rather than just throwing a cross and a priest into the mix, as was done with many traditional vampire films). The more ‘African’ moments are the best ones, and given that Blacula himself started as African nobility, this would had fitted nicely.

“Scream Blacula Scream is actually better than the first film because it makes the story a bit more complex and interesting. Bringing the voodoo aspect into the plot, (something that is also the basis of the classic 1974 Blaxploitation-Horror film Sugar Hill), gives us more depth to bite into.”

The Grindhouse Cinema Database

In Conclusion

Yes, Scream, Blacula, Scream is enjoyable and well worth a look, as long as you don’t expect too much; the Hammer-type Dracula franchise that never got a fair chance, and absolute proof that the Black vampire film can work.

Ready for more tales of the Black vampire? You’re in luck, because SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire, full of some fantastic authors,  is due out 13th October. And it’s available to pre-order NOW:

SLAY on Amazon UK

SLAY on Amazon US

See also Monday’s post http://greydogtales.com/blog/the-african-vampire-or-where-no-draculas-roam/

More vampire visions later this week, including a look at the comic book origins of Blade the Vampire Killer, and some more SLAY authors… dig it?

It’s a week of vampire stuff, so we’re meeting a few of the authors from the forthcoming SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire anthology, coming soon from Mocha Memoirs Press. Today we’re delighted to have Vonnie Winslow Crist and Penelope Flynn with us…

Continue reading SLAYING IT WITH PENELOPE FLYNN AND VONNIE WINSLOW CRIST →