Bram stoker’s Dracula showed us the way to our modern pop-culture vampire. But the author needed to pay homage to existing legends, even as he created something new. Source: Dracula (1931) / Public Domain.

Dracula, Stoker’s Vision and the Path to the Modern Vampire

When Dracula was published in 1897 it was an instant success, but one built on an old legend. The strange gothic count of the novel may have been new, but the legend on which Bram Stoker built his story was decidedly not. Vampires had been around for hundreds of years, one of the motley assortment

The Harpe Brothers were confirmed to have killed 39 people, often for no reason, and are believed to have killed many more. Source: Picryl / Public Domain.

Ben Franklin, and All Those Bodies They Dug Out of his Basement

Benjamin Franklin is a figure of historic importance. He is what used to be called a “man of letters” and a polymath, but this only goes so far in explaining how important he was during his life, and how important he remains after his death. Franklin is a founding father of the United States, for