Unearthing DRACULA
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Mar 02, 2021 at 10:12:44 PM
Dearest, darkest friends,
It's been a long, cold winter, at the black frozen center of a sad, dark year.
But here in Philadelphia, the frost is starting to lift, and the vampire-repellent sun is shining through our office windows. And we get to sit here working on DRACULA: The Evidence -- the absolute strangest and most challenging publishing project we've taken on in our ongoing series of strange and challenging publishing projects. We've stayed warm working on this crazy thing, which is throwing off more heat as it goes further along.
What's most exhausting about this project is the level of domino-effect that takes hold -- many many things we need to finish before we can finish 10,000 other things that must be finished to finish 10,000 other things Figuring out our sequence of operations sometimes feels like planning the moon landing. And sometimes it feels like setting up for the shoot of this classic early-viral video. (Which I just made totally random reference to but, according to YouTube, appears to have been originally posted ten years ago today?? Weird synchronicities abound.)
A few examples:
- We decided that Mina's journal would be written in a combination of shorthand and longhand, with Mina switching back and forth to suit her mood and the needs of storytelling. So we found a great calligrapher (Beth Lee) and a great shorthand specialist (Anmol Pandita) to take on the journal together. But we didn't think about the fact that they wouldn't be able to work in parallel -- we need to know where one journal entry ends on the page to plot out where the next will begin. So Anmol and Beth have had to pass the text back and forth like a baton, slowing both of their work down.
- We planned to have our wonderful actor Sam Oladeinde get going on his voice recording while we searched for an actor to play Van Helsing. We thought this would be no problem, because Van Helsing only reads one two minute section into Seward's phonograph machine, while Sam has over four hours of audio to record. But it suddenly occurred to us that Seward is frequently quoting and imitating Van Helsing throughout his recorded diary. We need to know what our Van Helsing sounds like, so our Seward can do an accurate imitation! Thankfully, we've now cast a remarkable Irish voice actor named JP Wright as the good doctor, so all the voice-acting is well underway!
- We had intended to finalize our clamshell slipcase and Immortal Edition wooden housing designs while we waited for our hardcover edition dummies to be finished. Until we realized -- we need the hardcover dummies finished to properly size the clamshells, and we need the clamshells designed to properly size the housings! Our printer took a couple weeks off for the lunar New Year, so we would up with another hurry-up-and-wait situation there.
I could go on and on with examples like this! We're constantly having to scramble our production schedule because we realize we can't do X until Y is finished, and we can't do Y until Z is finished.
But we're been tenacious, and figured out how to keep knocking things out along the way! We're thus far staying relatively on schedule with everything.
What's more -- our hardcover dummies just shipped out to us, now that our printers are back on the job. We're also looking at brand new cover art test prints, and these translucent acetate book jackets are looking extremely sleek and sexy. Our cast of seven calligraphers and two voice actors are getting deep into their characters. Things are moving along faster and faster as we go.
We've also been hard at work with Dacre Stoker on an essay positioning this project historically -- as well as doing some research of our own, diving into the documentation around Dracula, including Bram's notes and typescript, and how our suitcase full of found documents fits into that picture. By the time we're done here, we ourselves will not be able to tell where literary history ends, and our strange meta-fiction begins.
Please forgive us if this update is boring or bogged down in technical details -- since we're trying to keep most of our visuals under wraps, I thought it might be nice to share more of the behind-the-scenes maneuverings than we usually do. Especially since the technical process here is so much stranger and more elaborate than our usual processes.
Thank you for making it possible for us to invest our full obsessive souls into this project. It really has been an adventure -- and we've only just begun.
Hope you're all safe and warm, and that your immortal souls are intact -- despite everything.
Eternally yours,
Josh, Paul and Dacre
Building Castle Dracula
about 5 years ago
– Mon, Jan 18, 2021 at 01:06:10 AM
Fellow fiends,
Just a quick update to let you know that all is still proceeding relatively smoothly on the Dracula front!
We're deep into grind time now -- our print deadline is in June, and we have literally hundreds upon hundreds of documents to produce by then. The page count of this project, taking into account each of its constituent documents, numbers over two thousand! And that's before you factor in the many suitcases, portfolios, artifacts, caskets, slipcases, and the seemingly endless other array of objects we're producing.
So we now have quite a number of different calligraphers, actors, audio engineers, designers, printers and production folks all hard at work scribing journals, performing roles, engineering packages, writing letters, and much more.
We'd like to especially thank the truly remarkable cast of calligraphers we have on this project: Beth Lee, Celeste Lucas, Abdullah Ozdemir, Daniela Santarossa. And extend very special thanks to our two practitioners of the nearly-ancient art of Pitman shorthand writing, Tracey Jennings Harding and Anmol Pandita. This must be the first publishing project in a century -- maybe even the first publishing project ever? -- that requires TWO experts in shorthand Pitman.
Here's a sample from the amazing Celeste Lucas, as lovely Lucy Westenra.
Meanwhile, our wonderful actor Sam Oladeinde is digging into the text and building out the character of Jack Seward. We can't wait to see what he's going to do with this role.
Our team at Headcase Design is also cranking out all kind of designs for us to test with our wonderful production partners at LSC Communications. We're very sensitive to materials on this projects, and we're testing out countless paper stocks, binding materials and production techniques. It's a dizzying amount of testing and deciding we're doing, but it's an absolute joy at the same time.
As always, we're holding back on the sneak peeks and production pics to keep everything relatively under wraps. There's a lot more we can show you, but we're restraining ourselves for now. We want you to discover these sets as something brand new when they arrive.
We're still looking good on our production schedule for delivery in October. It's going to be pretty tight, but we're confident that we can get it done. We'll keep you in the loop if any issues arise.
Thank you once more for the extraordinary support and trust you've all shown this project. We're going to make it worth your while.
Hope you're doing as well as possible through the long dark miserable march of the past year. Here's to a happier, healthier 2021, and to finding joy in the darkness.
Josh, Maëlle, Paul and Dacre
"Thanks, and thanks, and thanks again..."
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Dec 15, 2020 at 06:14:07 PM
"Thanks, and thanks, and thanks again," writes poor doomed Lucy Westenra -- and we here at Beehive Books echo her sentiments.
We now get the privilege of spending the next 10 months building the biggest, strangest, most immersive world we can around Bram Stoker's enduring creation.
And that's all thanks to you. We can express the depth of our gratitude.
Bram Stoker had no real literary reputation when he published DRACULA, and the book didn't change that. Despite putting close to a decade into writing it, and despite garnering some strong reviews, the novel didn't sell very well. Stoker went back to the work at the Lyceum Theatre, and began to plug away on other writing projects. It wasn't until the release of NOSFERATU a quarter century later that the true thrall of Dracula began to take hold.
Here we are 100 years later, and DRACULA remains one of the most beloved pieces of fiction ever published, and the subject of several zillion adaptations, reimaginings, and new editions. Visions and revisions.
And thus, us: a bizarre little literary community 1,238 strong, who have banded their minds and funds together to try to create a particularly stirring new elaboration of the rich and enveloping world that Stoker built for us.
Time and creation are odd, dreamlike things. Whatever the meaning of the above, we're so happy to be with you on this mind-muddling journey, dear friends.
We won't be posting too many sneak peeks along the way, because we don't want to spoil the experience of digging into the productions for the first time. But we will drop in and let you know how the process is going, and share some little teasers with you wherever we can. Please stay in touch with us, send us ideas, thoughts, notes, questions, critiques. We love to hear from each and every one of you.
We're told there's a nor'easter blowing towards Philadelphia. We have the generosity and richness of the vast, dark world of Dracula -- and the kindness and passion of thousands of committed readers -- to keep us warm. Your trust and support work better than mulled wine.
2020 has been, as Jonathan Harker described the events of Stoker's story, a year through the flames. Too much has been lost and ruined.
Let's all dream and build in 2021. Here's to Mina Murray's "castles in the air."
Eternally yours,
Josh, Maëlle, Paul and Dacre
Dracula's Final Hours
over 5 years ago
– Mon, Dec 07, 2020 at 10:22:45 PM
Greetings,
We're now into the final 24 hours of the mad dash for dark glory that is this twisted saga of a Kickstarter campaign.
We end at 1PM EST tomorrow, December 8th. If you'd like to adjust your pledge before the campaign ends, you can hit the "manage your pledge" button on the front page of our campaign.
And please consider sharing the project one final time on social media or anywhere else! (Our fave comedian Patton Oswalt just sent out a post about the project, so we promise you'll be in good company!)
You can see what we're sharing in these final hours @beehivebks on Twitter, or @beehivebooks on Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you, from the very bottom of our cold black hearts, for making this project possible. It's a genuine dream for us, and it's only possible because of your support. We remain,
Forever in your thrall,
Josh, Maëlle, Paul and Dacre
Horror in the Holidays, and other thrilling announcements
over 5 years ago
– Wed, Dec 02, 2020 at 07:06:05 AM
Dearest Dracularians,
We're entering the final week of the strange and fantastic journey that is this Kickstarter campaign, and we thought we'd share a few small updates as we close in on our grand finale.
A lot of you have suggested that you'd like to give copies of DRACULA: The Evidence as holiday gifts. So we, your faithful fiends, have decided to produce a special card fit for handing and mailing to your friends and loved ones! A communique from the secret files of Beehive Books, inviting them for a long walk into the darkness.
You can print these at home on any standard letter-sized home printer. We've produced two versions -- being the gothic gloom-gluttons we are, we prefer the black version. But some home printers may have trouble with heavy blacks, or you may just prefer the lighter look -- we think both versions look great! Here are download links for the hi res print files:
A few production notes on the holiday cards:
- for best results, use high quality paper and print at the highest quality your printer is capable of.
- if possible, choose “Print on both sides of paper,” and select “Flip on short edge.”
- fold printout in half to form a card with a cover and interior.
Please let us know if you have any other questions about the cards -- or anything else for that matter.
We're also excited to announce that we've cast a voice actor for Dr. Jack Seward!
Fresh off the West End production of HAMILTON and currently appearing as Young Scrooge in A CHRISTMAS CAROL, we're proud to present Sam Oladeinde.
You can hear some samples of Sam's beautiful voice at his website. We couldn't be more excited to work with such a talented actor in bringing the audio components of our project to life.
We've been relatively quiet during the past few weeks, as Halloween slouched its pandemical way into Thanksgiving, but we've been hard at work making things happen behind the scenes -- and we're excited to steer this project into port. Hopefully with greater success than the captain of the Demeter.
So follow us on Instagram (@beehivebooks) and Twitter (@beehivebks) where we'll be posting some more sneak peeks as we head into our final days. And please, as we close this thing out, keep spreading the word about this bizarre, ridiculous, exciting project. We're hoping to unlock at least one more stretch goal before we're done here!
Thank you all once more for your extraordinary support, passion, and general wonderfulness.
Until then, protect your precious throats, dear ones.
Josh, Paul and Dacre
