#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed! Here’s the Answer to Our Quiz, and the Name of Our Winner!

/ Marcia Meara

 

Submissions for #FirstLineFriday are officially closed now. My thanks to all who emailed me with their guesses. Today, I’m sorry—but maybe not surprised– to say we only have one winner. While I was hoping I’d be wrong, I had a feeling this would be a tough one, even though it’s a title sure to be familiar with most, if not all, of you. Still, I think it’s fun and interesting to study these opening lines, and I hope you enjoy this little quiz as much as I do.

Congratulations to our winner today, Jeanne Owens, who blogs HERE.

Now, without further ado, here’s the answer to today’s quiz:

“Left Munich at 8.35 pm on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6.46, but train was an hour late.” is the opening line to Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula.

While I know each of you is very familiar with the character of Dracula, whether you’ve read the original story or not, here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Stoker’s book. Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. It introduced the character of Count Dracula and established many conventions of subsequent vampire fantasy. The novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of people led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.

Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, gothic fiction, and invasion literature. The novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film, and television interpretations, and none more famous than the 1931 Hollywood film starring Bela Lugosi.

BLURB:

The hunt is on! Dr. Van Helsing and his accomplices begin the chase to track down the infamous vampire Count Dracula before he completes his quest of moving into England and further spreading the undead disease. Even with the garlic, the crosses, and the holy water, the Count manages to entrance a fellow lady vampire hunter and bring her to the undead side. An invincible foe Dracula may appear to be, but Van Helsing and his group will stop short not even to death itself until they have conquered the most notorious villain of all time.

From Transylvania to England and then back again, this classic 19th century Gothic horror became the cornerstone for the horror genre that boomed in the century to follow.

You can download numerous versions of this famous book on Amazon, including the leather bound version HERE.

And that’s it for this week’s #FirstLineFriday. I’ll be back with another in a couple of weeks, if the bridge don’t go, an’ the creek don’t rise. 😉 Hope you’ll join us then, when the line may turn out to be one you recognize at once.

Thanks for taking a look today! See you next time!

22 thoughts on “#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed! Here’s the Answer to Our Quiz, and the Name of Our Winner!”

    • Glad you enjoyed it, Gwen. This has been one of the most popular features I’ve ever run on TWS, and it will be back in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned. Some lines are easier to identify than others, but always, it’s a fun experience, I think. 🙂

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  3. I never came close to guessing that and we have even been on holiday several times to Whitby, Yorkshire to walk up the 199 steps where Dracula, in the form of a big black dog, leaves his wrecked ship and runs up to the ruined abbey on the cliff top.

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    • Ooooh, that sounds VERY cook, Janet! Would love to see that. 😀 Sorry it didn’t come to you, but as I’ve said a couple times, I’ve read this book many times over the years, and I didn’t recognize it, either. 😦 But it was still fun to give it a go. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

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    • Me, too, Craig. I’ve read it more times than I can remember, beginning way back when I was about 12, which was when I really started digging into all sorts of Literature, and read many classics. But honestly, that line just didn’t ring a bell with me at all. Crazy, huh?

      Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

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    • So glad you enjoy them, Trish. I think they’re fun, too, and always read the line before I read the answer, just to see if I’d get it. I definitely didn’t recognize this one, even as often as I’ve read this book. But stay tuned. We’ll be doing these once or twice a month, if all goes well, so might have another for you in two weeks or so. I’ll do my best!

      Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

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    • Me, too and me, either. 😀 I would NEVER have guessed such an innocuous line would have been the opening for Dracula. I think it’s time to pull my well-worn copy off my shelf for another perusal. 🙂

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    • Thanks, Jan. I really loved doing these before life got so busy. Now that I’ve cut back a bit, I hope to do them at least twice a month, if all goes well. I find them fascinating, myself, as there are so few I recognize, even though I’ve read many of the books. Gonna do something more current next time, and see if it rings a bell for you guys. 😀 Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

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    • The year I turned 12, I started reading classics (both old and “modern”) like crazy, and Dracula is one I’ve re-read many times. That being said, I did NOT recognize that line, though I knew I’d seen it “somewhere.” And given this one’s enduring popularity in horror stories of all kinds and movies, to boot, I imagine a lot of folks are thinking they should have picked up on the line, too. But it’s so innocuous for a book like Dracula, it just doesn’t seem like it would fit. However, the words aren’t Dracula’s. They belong to Jonathan Harker, via his journal, so I think it’s fitting that they sound understated and humdrum.

      Stay tuned for the next of these, Diana. I’m hoping to run this feature twice a month if time allows, so you’ll have opportunities to play again! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, too! 🙂

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    • Exactly how I felt, Sue. I’ve read it SO many times over the years. (Decades!) I couldn’t believe I didn’t recognize it right off. 🙂

      Thanks for stopping by, and happy writing, my friend! 🙂

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