Albin Grau; German filmmaker, artist, and occultist.

Doctor Dugald Eldritch

Doctor Dugald Eldritch

Mystic
Albin Grau (1884-1971) is perhaps best remembered as the production designer for F.W. Murnau's immortal Nosferatu. In his time, however, he was a respected occultist and had an ambition to make a number of films of a mystical and occult nature. Alas, only Nosferatu came into being, and even that was sabotaged by Bram Stoker's furious widow, who was hell-bent on destoying all copies and ensuring that this unauthorised adaptation of her husband's novel never see the light of day. Over the decades, its reputation has surfaced like a vampire from the tomb and is now regarded as a classic of early horror-cinema, thanks to the extraordinary appearance of Count Orlok, and the atmospheric and bleak imagery of Grau's visionary temperament. Grau was also acquainted with Aleister Crowley and his influence can be seen in Nosferatu, especially the cryptic ''contract'' that Knock and Count Orlak exchange, which looks as though it were torn from the pages of some nameless grimoire. Below are some production sketches by Grau for the film, which the site Lovecraft is Missing believes to have inspired Lovecraft's Pickman's Model, and the similarities are rather uncanny. Here is an excellent and in-depth article on Grau and his occult affiliations. Another master of ghoulish mysticism to join Gothic and macabre visionaries such as Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, William Blake, Austin Osman Spare, David Lindsay, W.B. Yeats, E.H. Visiak, L.A. Lewis, Thomas Lovell Beddoes, James Thomson (B.V.), Lucio Fulci, and H.P. Lovecraft.



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