Tonight on MeTV- we have a different version of a familiar story- brought to us by Dan Curtis, who has chilled viewers with so many amazing horrors- from “Trilogy of Terror” to “Dark Shadows” and ‘The Night Stalker” and more! This time, he heads back into the archives for his take on the novel that began the tale of the most famous vampire of all- in “Dan Curtis’ ‘Dracula’!”

This 1974 made-for-TV production, starring Jack Palance, was originally called “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”- but is now identified with the Dan Curtis monicker to avoid confusion with the Francis Ford Coppola 1992 film- and also because Coppola actually bought the exclusive rights to the title “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”! Regardless, this was really the first version of the Dracula story to touch upon the Vlad the Impaler history of the Count, and to adhere more closely- but not entirely- to the original novel.

We are whisked back to 1897- where residents of a Transylvanian village seem fearful upon hearing that real estate solicitor Jonathan Harker ( NOT Renfield in this version- in fact, there is no Renfield in this story) is on a business mission at Castle Dracula. After an eerie trip to the castle, accompanied along part of the way by a pack of wolves, Harker meets with the Count, who is looking for some property in England. He is interested in the least desirable offering Harker has- the decaying Carfax estate. Dracula also shows great interest in a photo Harker has of his fiancée Mina’s best friend- the lovely Lucy.

Harker soon finds himself a prisoner of Dracula, after encountering his undead wives and realizing the Count is a vampire! He is forced to remain at the estate, while the Count makes his way to England and, not long after, Lucy comes down with an unexplained illness-and her beloved, Arthur, not knowing where to turn, calls on a doctor- who else but Van Helsing?!

The doctor begins to suspect the truth about Lucy’s illness- with even more shocking proof stunning poor Arthur- and soon Mina has become the object of the fiendish Count’s attentions- with the story leading back to Transylvania for a final showdown!

This film, written by the great Richard Matheson, was the reuniting of Jack Palance and Dan Curtis, after having worked together on a TV version of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”- with Palance, of course, in the lead role. We’ll discuss him and the rest of the cast, with some background on the production, and present such notable nonsense as Nostalgiaferatoo for the defense of Dracula, a new product that’ll spread all over England, a song, and a vintage Sven bit you will not want to miss!

“Dan Curtis’ ‘Dracula’ ” emerges from its MeTV coffin tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time- and, as always, that’s when the live-Tweeting will begin during the show on Twitter/X. Make sure you use the hashtag #svengoolie in your Tweets! Again, last week, we were trending among the most-Tweeted-about topics during our time slot. Chicago area viewers can get an encore look at the all-star funeral farce “Comedy of Terrors” this morning at 11 am on CW26.

Voting is currently underway for the annual Rondo Awards- the fan-chosen honors for horror and sci fi in various media (yes, I am nominated again under “favorite horror host”). You can make your vote count- for whoever your favorites are- by checking the ballot at www.rondoaward.com . Make sure you follow all the rules, or your vote won’t count- including only voting once. We may remind you bout it on air before the deadline (midnight April 16) hits.

We have been getting a lot of great feedback on new Sven products like the Sven lunchbox and the black and white Sven figure from Super7. In the works- some new items celebrating my 45 years as Sven! Keep checking in the store for them!

Please join us tonight for one of the most chilling portrayals of Count Dracula ever- courtesy of horror masters Dan Curtis and Richard Matheson!