Summer at Grand Isle - "The Awakening" (Ch. 1 & 2) by Kate Chopin (1899)
Release Date: 09/12/2025
A Year Without Summer: Polidori's Failed Pitch to Mary Shelley (The Vampyre) | The October Rite
Ravyn Reads
We've all done unhinged things for love, but have you ever invented an entire cultural genre? In 1816, the "Year Without Summer," a volcanic winter traps five creative minds at the Villa Diodati. While Mary Shelley dreams up Frankenstein, her admirer, Dr. John Polidori, is busy being insecure, jumping off balconies, and spraining his ankle. From that humiliation and unrequited love, he conjures a new kind of monster: the aristocratic, seductive predator. This is the story of The Vampyre, the failed romantic who wrote him, and the brutal lesson of a sprained ankle. Key Works Mentioned &...
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Vlad the Impaler: Sinner or Saint? (1490) - The October Rite
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Today, having examined both sides of Vlad's legacy, we ask the obvious question: So, arbiter of justice or monster? And the answer is...complicated... Today's primary text is a paraphrasing of the Church Slavonic text: The Tale of the Voivode Dracula https://sourcebook.stanford.edu/text/tale-dracula-voivode
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The Impaler's Theatre: How Did Vlad the Impaler's Legend Spread? (1463) - The October Rite
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Blood Between Empires: The Land Vlad the Impaler Fought to Protect (1456) - The October Rite
Ravyn Reads
Today we examine the duality of Vlad. But more specifically, the land he fought for. There have been longer rulers in the region. More popular rulers. But none who claimed the Devil who would fight for God. A quick note: Wallachian geopolitics and history is fascinating. Vlad's life and lineage is chronicled in Radu Florescu & Raymond McNally's "Dracula: Prince of Many Faces". Alongside this title; Captivating History has an accessible and thorough history of Vlad and Wallachia available in audiobook, Kindle, and print forms "Vlad the Impaler: A Captivating Guide to How Vlad...
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What's Worse Than a Vampire?: Vlad the Impaler (1431ish-1477)
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He's only the third Vlad I know of, and definitely the one I'd least like to be stuck in a forest with. We briefly dive into the history, lore, and non-vampiristic character of Vlad Tepes III, Son of the Dragon. If you're interested in Vlad, I highly recommend these two books: Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times In Search Of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires Both authored by Radu Florescu & Raymond T. McNally If you'd like to connect on social media, feel free to follow me @RavynReads
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The Monk Who Said "...Maybe?" - Dom Calmet (1746) - The October Rite
Ravyn Reads
We've had a scientific rebuttal from 2025. But we've also got one from an 18th century librarian-monk-scholar! @RavynReads on socials
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A Biologist's Guide to The Undead: Revisiting Early Vampires (2025) - The October Rite
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When I'm not reading books into a microphone, I have a degree in biomedical sciences. Unbelievably, our two worlds are about to collide as we revisit the stories of early vampires and examine the likely biomedical causes of the descriptions. I'm delighted to say that your high school chemistry class is about to come roaring back. Forget Dracula, the scariest thing we'll encounter today is the ideal gas law... After all, pressurized vampires equal necrosis, rigor, & trauma. ... @RavynReads for socials and updates (and no more chemistry jokes) Marked explicit for pretty gross...
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The Perfect Couple - "The Awakening" (Ch. 3 & 4) by Kate Chopin (1899)
Ravyn Reads
Today, we're taking a break from all the blood and gore and returning to a far more seemingly placid disquiet. Grand Isle and the slow piercing of the Ponteliers. I hope you enjoy, friends. @RavynReads for social and updates
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UpToStake: How to Take a Vampire Physical: Arnold Paole (1725-1732) - The October Rite
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18th-century medicine has entered the vampire discourse... And...things to do not go well... This one is marked as explicit for the fairly dispassionate description of dissections. @RavynReads for socials and updates Visum et Repertum:
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The "First" Vampire: Petar Blagojević (1725) - The October Rite
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The First Vampire never knew he was the first vampire. Which honestly, seems unfair. @RavynReads for socials and updates
info_outlineNo fun voices today.
Tonight we turn the podcast over to Edna Pontellier and to Kate Chopin, a woman writing against the grain in 1899.
We begin The Awakening.
It starts innocently enough: a parrot repeating phrases, a vacation at Grand Isle, croquet, and my very bad French. But beneath the surface, there’s a tension. Something about to rupture, or maybe something just waiting to be discovered.
There’s something going on at Grand Isle, and I think it matters.
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Marked Explicit for racist, historical language.