Episode · Stuff You Should Know · 2026-10-01
Books mentioned on Let's Thank Universal Pictures for Monster Movies!
Basically everything you think of when you think of vampires, mummies, werewolves, and Frankenstein all come from a spate of films made in the 1930s, and every one of them by Universal Pictures. Amazingly, they are still among the best films ever made.
Josh Clark discussed Dracula by Bram Stoker and others and The Magic Island by W B Seabrook.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Dracula
Dracula by Bram Stoker is a classic 1897 epistolary horror novel that established the modern literary vampire through its use of mixed-media documentation like telegrams and newspaper clippings.
Discussed“And Noseratu, the actual 1920s film starring Max Shrek was not authorized by Bram Stoker's estate. So it wasn't based on Bram Stoker's Dracula. It was Nosatu. Instead, this was based on Bram Stoker's version”
Where to get it
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The Magic Island
Discussed“But the funny thing is it was based on a book called The Magic Island by WB Sebrook which is a non-fiction travel log. So, I guess I don't know if those were pre presented as fact or what, but that that's what the movie was based on.”
Where to get it
