Dawidziak busy signing his 11th book

Former Beacon Journal –now Plain Dealer– television critic Mark Dawidziak of Cuyahoga Falls Is busy promoting his 11th book:, The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dracula, just released by New York publisher Continuum.

Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

This Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to the world’s most famous vampire looks at all aspects of the Dracula phenomenon in often unexpected ways. Illustrated with dozens of photographs, sketches and maps, the painstakingly researched book includes entries on the psychological and sociological implications of the novel and the stage plays; the movies; television versions; actors, and, of course, the historical Dracula, Vlad the Impaler.

Published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was the last of the nineteenth century’s three major horror stories. It followed Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but Stoker’s novel had the greater impact on our culture and our nightmares. Count Dracula has been called the king of the vampires, but, in truth, he is the king of all the monsters, and his influence can be seen everywhere today: in everything from the number-obsessed count on Sesame Street to the vast fandom for vampire novels appealing to all ages.
A bit about Mark:

Dawidziak has been the television critic at the PD since July 1999. During his fifteen years at the Beacon, he held such posts as TV columnist, movie critic and critic-at-large. Also an author and playwright, his many books include the 1994 horror novel Grave Secrets and two histories of landmark TV series: The Columbo Phile: A Casebook (1989) and The Night Stalker Companion (1997). A recognized Mark Twain scholar, his acclaimed books on the author include Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing (1996) and Horton Foote’s The Shape of the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain (2003).

He is currently collaborating with Paul Bauer on Broken Shadows, a biography of “hobo writer” Jim Tully, a forgotten author hailed as “America’s Gorky” and as a literary superstar in the ’20s and ’30s. It will be published in 2010 by the Kent State University Press.

Here’s the list of book talks and signings:

Monday, September 29, 7 p.m.: North Canton Public Library, 185 North Main Street . Please register at 330-499-4712 (ext. 323 or 320)

Thursday, October 9, 7 p.m. Akron Woman’s City Club, 732 West Exchange Street,, Windows of the World Film Series (dinner & movie, or just the movie)
Dracula (1931) film screening Reservations: 330-762-6261

Friday, October 10, 7-8 p.m. Border’s Books, 335 Howe Avenue, Cuyahoga Falls, 330-945-7683

Saturday, October 18, 11 a.m.-4p.m.: GhoulardiFest, Holiday Inn, Cleveland/South
Rockside Road, Independence

Thursday, October 23, 7 p.m.: Nordonia Hills Branch Library, 9458 Olde Eight Road, Northfield, 330-467-8595

Monday, October 27, 7 p.m.: Cuyahoga Falls Library, 2015 Third Street
Cuyahoga Falls, 330-928-2117

Tuesday, October 28, 1 p.m. Akron Woman’s City Club, 732 West Exchange Street Book talk after luncheon

Thursday, October 30, 7 p.m.: Joseph-Beth Booksellers , Legacy Village,
Lyndurst, 216-691-7000

Saturday, Nov. 1, 9:30 a.m.-4p.m.: Buckeye Book Fair, Fisher Auditorium
OARDC Campus, Wooster www.buckeyebookfair.com/