When Count Dracula Joins the 9-to-5 Grind
At least once a year at my day job, we all get herded into the annual “Respect in the Workplace” training. You know the drill—it covers all the big “isms”: racism, ageism, sexism, and so on. The format is always the same: you’re shown a workplace scenario, then given multiple-choice answers so painfully obvious that picking the wrong one should earn you a one-way ticket to HR.
And yet, clearly, people do make these mistakes—otherwise we wouldn’t need the training.
As a white, middle-aged Gen X guy, I’ve been lucky enough to dodge most of these “isms” in my own life. But now that I’m firmly in the “seasoned” column, I do notice ageism still flies under the radar in a lot of workplaces. If I weren’t so easygoing, I might even take offense. But I love a good burn—just don’t call me a boomer. That’s where Gen X draws the line.
After finishing this year’s training, my brain naturally drifted to a far more important question: how would Count Dracula fare in the workplace? I imagine people would be a little uneasy around a vampire in the workplace. And then there’s the dress code—are capes business casual?
That thought became my latest Between the Screams cartoon. This one isn’t for Book Worms Horror Zine—it’s something I created outside the zine—but it still lives in the same world. The real horror this time wasn’t Dracula—it was drawing the office. Perspective is a cruel beast, and figuring out what not to draw is its own challenge. I kept the detail light, because that’s something I’m trying to get better at. I also drew Dracula four different times before settling on the final version.
I knew the punchline from the start, but there are so many ways to tell a joke—and you never know if you’ve put the words in exactly the right order until it’s too late. Am I happy with the cartoon? The joke—yes. The artwork—50/50.
Because the hardest part was nailing the office background, I think I’m going to spend some time copying New Yorker cartoons just for the backgrounds. Using reference builds skills, and I like having as many tools as possible in my drawing toolbox.
So that’s where I’m at. Let me know what you think of Dracula in the workplace. And remember: no matter your job, a cape is always a power move.
About Between the Screams
Between the Screams is my cartoon series that imagines classic movie monsters living their everyday lives in the moments between the horrors we know them for on screen. It’s the stuff the films never showed us—like what Dracula’s HR meetings might look like, or how Frankenstein handles heartache.
Even though this particular cartoon isn’t part of a Book Worms Horror Zine issue, if you like it, consider picking up Book Worms—each issue includes an exclusive Between the Screams cartoon you won’t find anywhere else.