Pictured: Tom Horton and Aden Russell in Dracula at Bookstore1Sarasota. Photo Courtesy of Bookstore1Sarasota.

It’s officially spooky season, and that means pumpkin carving, costume planning and indulging in your favorite scary movie or book. At Bookstore1Sarasota, one of popular culture’s most iconic villains will come to life through The Gothic Library, a live radio theater event led by Bookseller Ren Pearson. For three nights, a talented cast will perform Dracula, by Bram Stoker, which Pearson adapted to fit the radio format.

Originally published in 1897, Dracula has had a tremendous influence on modern vampire stories. “Everyone knows the imagery of Dracula, and it’s so easy to copy and adapt. But when you’re doing it for an audio format, it presents some fun challenges,” says Pearson. In past iterations of The Gothic Library, audiences have been encouraged to close their eyes during the performances and let the sounds carry them through the narrative. However, for Dracula, an extra sensory component makes for even more compelling viewing. “We’re adding a visual element to the production. The audience will sit and watch the talented actors perform, and we will have imagery of moments and locations from the novel on a big TV, creating a multimedia experience that will fuel their imaginations,” he adds, noting that nudity and blood will appear on screen.

Whether you own a dog-eared copy of the novel or came to know the character as a child wearing plastic vampire fangs for Halloween, you’ll delight in Pearson’s ability to breathe new life into the undead vampire. “We had to get creative with casting. The beautiful thing about radio theater is that it doesn’t matter what an actor looks like,” he says. “Dracula is one of literature’s greatest villains, but we didn’t want to do it in a way that everyone was expecting, so we cast a female, Aden Russell, for the role. Anyone can do the accent, but she had that presence where the moment you speak you sound powerful.” Along with Russell, Tom Aposporos, Tom Horton and Amanda Heisey will lend their voices to the performance.

“As we go through the script, we keep the book by our sides. The case of Dracula is so interesting because Stoker wrote one thing and culture took it and and made it into something else. He’s old and parasitic and wicked, which we kept in the script, but we also made our Dracula sexy,” Pearson adds. “Casting a woman opened all these interesting doors and conversations around power. I’m not sure what people will discuss, but I hope the show will start some fun discussions.”

Dracula will be performed by The Gothic Library at Bookstore1Sarasota on October 12, 13 and 14 from 8-9:30pm. 117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, 941-365-7900, sarasotabooks.com.

Pictured: Tom Horton and Aden Russell in Dracula at Bookstore1Sarasota. Photo Courtesy of Bookstore1Sarasota.