Welcome to the Horrors of Love! I am your host, Jeanette Wall. In this series, I discuss what we learn from the genre of horror about dating, sex, love and relationships. In this episode we’ll be discussing the epic, bizarre, delightfully ornate Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In this very loyal adaptation, we see Gary Oldman star as Dracula, in his many forms, as he seeks out his lost love reincarnated as the wonderful Wynona Rider. Keaneu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Waits also star in this masterclass in dreamlike filmmaking.

I’m joined by a wonderful musician, Will Sheff, who I’m lucky to call my friend. He is a troubadour of American indie rock, a well-read and well-watched hero, a filmmaker, podcaster, the list goes on.  He’s also one of my favorite people to follow on Letterboxd. You will know him from his many, gorgeous albums with his band Okkervil River, as well as his latest solo album, Nothing Special (which I think is quite special), out now.

We dive right into the episode here, we couldn’t help ourselves. This is such a rich conversation, Will and I dig into Coppola’s maximalist ode to the vampire myth, vampires as a metaphor for power in war, the beautiful costumes of Eiko Ishioka, and much much more. It meant so much to me to have Will on the podcast, and I can’t wait for you to listen. So, with that, here’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula…

Be sure to follow Will at @okkervilriver.
Thank you for listening to Horrors of Love! You can find us on Instagram at @horrorsoflove.