Author(s): Kevin Jackson

Film & TV

F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), the first screen adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, remains a potent and disturbing horror film. One of the outstanding documents of Weimar culture's dark side, the film's prevailing themes of human destructiveness, insanity, and moral and physical pollution had a stinging topicality for contemporary audiences. Kevin Jackson's illuminating study traces Nosferatu's production and reception history, including attempts by Stoker's widow to suppress the film's circulation. Exploring the evolution of the vampire myth, both in the film and in wider culture, Jackson exposes how and why this film of horror and death remains enduringly beautiful and chilling today. This special edition features original cover artwork by Julia Soboleva.