Unless you have been living under a rock lately you have to be aware of the influx of Vampire books, movies and television shows into the entertainment rotation these days. With Twilight, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and more you can hardly turn your head without hearing about one of these blood-sucking heroes. And of course most of the modern day Vampires are heroes, pretty much gone are the days of the evil vampire who needs to be staked instead they are the romantic heart throbs created to set teenage (and not so teenaged) hearts a flutter. What do you make of the influx of Vampires?
When I was growing up you had two choices for Vampire books, you could read the classic Dracula and you could read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and the Chronicles that followed it. In those days, Vampires were dark, seductive and carnal creatures. You had your classic Dracula movie, Lost Boys, Interview with the Vampire and the black and white Dark Shadows. While Vampires could be romantic, they were still vampires, creatures of the night that had some major issues with the sunshine.
However, times are a changing in the land of the vampire. The first noticeable change to this writer seemed to be with the ever-popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the spin off Angel. Vampires were still essentially evil with a few exceptions and they could be staked and did not have a great time in the sun, but they could also be romantic and be rather funny. Who doesn’t remember one of Spike’s witty lines? The evolution of the Vampire did not stop there, not at all. With the new generations zest for these creatures of the night we have seen a new range of book series that have been turned into movies, and television shows and have such a wide variety of different types of Vampires it will make your head spin.
Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga is the biggest thing since sliced bread, say the name Edward Cullen in any mall and I guarantee you will hear shrieks. But these vampires are so different from what the well settled mythical creature is supposed to be can you really even call them vampires at all? They do have to drink blood to survive, and they are bitten to make their change are immortal and have speed and strength and that is where your similarities stop. Twilight vampires are nearly intractable, no staking for these vampires they are like moving marble and the best part? They can go out in the sunlight, no flames no combustion no they sparkle like diamonds. They say Diamonds are a girl’s best friend maybe that is why Edward Cullen is so popular.
HBO’s True blood has a more standard Vampire in general; however, the world they are in is much different from ours because Vampires have “Come out of the Coffin” the series is based on Charlene Harris’ series and has an interesting cast of characters, there have been some fan wars between the Twilight lovers and the True Blood lovers. Can’t we all just get along?
Adding more fuel to the different species fire are two young adult novel series that do not yet have movies or TV shows, but I say yet because I do not think it is out of the question. The House of Night series by P.C and Kristin Cast showcases a world in which people know about vampires and vampires are not created by being bitten, instead teenagers can one of two ways they grow up to be normal humans or they begin the change. Overall, it can be a more pleasant way to look at it I suppose, a you are born that way vampire instead of being drained and made undead. The second series is the Blue Blood series by Melissa De La Cruz, Vampires are again born that way but not in the same way. Blue Bloods has found a way to make Vampires more acceptable, they are Fallen Angels and have “cycles” it sure makes you think of the rich and the powerful in a different light.
At the end of the day no matter which Vampire team you support there is one glaring thing that everyone has to notice, Vampires are no longer taboo. Gone are the days when you mentioned Vampire and it conjured up visions of black and red velvet and people drinking from goblets of blood looking stuff and getting an odd look for it. These days your more likely to have someone bring to mind a vampire sparkling like diamonds and laying in a field while declaring his love to a human. Is this a good change or things or a bad change of things? Only time will tell really as we watch the entertainment trends continue to change. Until than this author is firmly going to remain Team Switzerland when it comes to which type of Vampire is better.
