A Vampire's Seduction

During these past weeks, I rediscovered an old passion of mine: vampires. To distract me from my job and all the stress, I've been watching "True Blood", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the "Underworld" movies. With all of this influence, an old, forgotten passion I had for vampirism awoke again. I find myself now looking for more vampiric tales, filled with darkness, blood, seduction and danger. But why? What is it about vampires that make them so attractive to us? 

That's the question I will try to answer in today's post, and also explore different vampires. 

So, go going back to my previous question, why are vampires so attractive to many of us? I mean, they're violent, gory, dark, creatures of the night and evil. Therefore, why are we pulled towards them? 

In our world, there have been different takes on the vampire figure, and many of them have managed to make the idea of vampirism attractive enough for some us wanting to join them. But according to history, vampires are not such a modern idea. They may originate from ancient Egypt, where some people believe Egyptians summoned a demon from another world through sorcery. Ancient Greeks may also have helped with their myth of the Empusa, a female monster with one leg of copper and the other one of a donkey, with living flames for hair, and a taste for human blood. 

Empusa made by Morphicelus on DeviantArt. 

Regardless of the vampire origins, there is no doubt that the vampire is here to stay. The proof is in our pop culture elements, many of which have been influenced by vampirism. From Halloween ideas, to books, television series and movies, vampires are now more attractive than ever. 

Let's look at them, shall we? 

We have for example the vampires in Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The titular character is perhaps the world's most famous vampire of all, with a desire not only for blood, but to dominate as well. Dracula was able to turn into a wolf, a bat, a dog, or even mist and fog. He influences the actions of many people, kidnaps some others, and preys on the innocent (of course he does). His story has been adapted many times, in numerous ways and fashions. But no matter the version, he is one powerful being, made scarier by the fact that he was inspired by someone who actually existed: Vlad the Impaler. 

Dracula in his 1992 movie adaptation. 

Dracula's classic adaptation in 1931.

Dracula even appears as one of Marvel's villains.
 

This is Vlad the Impaler, one of the main inspirations for 
Dracula. 

Then there are the "Vampire Chronicles" by Anne Rice, which took the world by storm and showed the vampire more humanized than ever. Before Anne Rice's books, the world only knew the vampire as a soulless monster, a killing machine with no other purpose in this world other than murder. But Anne Rice did something with the vampire never seen before her: she gave them depth, a soul, a purpose, a history. We saw the world through the eyes of the monsters and we found out that they were more human than we thought. Yes, they're still dark and dangerous creatures, but they are so much more than that. In her books, Anne Rice's vampires also explore deep philosophical questions such as the existence of their soul and if they're damned to Hell; their morals or lack thereof, especially considering what they eat; if God really exists and if he does, then how does he feel about them; if they're actually evil because of their diet, considering we humans also kill to eat and survive; and what does an immortal life really implies, and the effects of it upon a vampire's psyche. 

The vampire family I fell in love with: 
Louis, Claudia and Lestat. 

Akasha, ancient Egyptian Queen. Mother of vampires. 
First of her kind. 

With Charlaine Harris, we moved to the south of the United States in Louisiana, with vampires more human than ever. Through the eyes of Sookie Stackhouse, we met vampires such as Bill Compton, Eric Northman and Pam Ravenscroft, who after the public outing of vampires to the human world, walked and worked among us normally. Of course Harris' books go further than just vampires, as she explores maenads, faeries, witches, shapeshifters and werewolves. But the true stars of her books were always the vampires, who posed to us a very simple but eternal premise: We just want to belong, and be treated equally. 

Sookie was so lucky. That's all I'm saying. 

Eric and Sookie, made by Clefchan in DeviantArt. 

Then "The Vampire Diaries" and "Twilight" came, and the idea of the vampire changed forever. These book series (later adapted for TV and cinema) placed the vampire in a totally new place: high-school. We may not like this idea that much, but we cannot deny the fact that both books took the vampire genre to the next level, making these creatures more accessible to young readers, and stepping up the game of pop culture. With "Twilight" and "Vampire Diaries" we see a new take of the vampire: a creature who passes off as human to survive and fit in. After all, many times teenagers have done everything in their power to fit in with others and survive in a school society that often rejects the ones who are different. Therefore, even though in my opinion these two series are not exactly the best, they do capture the reality of many teenagers, albeit in a supernatural way. 

A photo of the books because the TV adaptation wallpapers
are way too cringy. 

Again, the movies' wallpapers and pictures are
too full of cringe. 

Speaking of high-school, we also have television series such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", where the titular character began her journey in high-school and later went on to college. Buffy destroyed not only vampires but also other menacing, dark creatures such as monsters and demons. In this take on vampires, the creatures went back to being killing machines, with less supernatural powers, but surprising depth in many cases. Buffy herself fell in love with some vampires, proving that underneath all that violence, they still have a soul. 

Where was Buffy when Edward Cullen and his family
came into town? Just saying.  

The vampire has also taken the role of a warrior, with works of fiction such as "Blade" and "Underworld". The first is about a man half-human and half-vampire who hunts other vampires. Then we have Selene in "Underworld" who starts her story by fighting against werewolves, and then changes her course by fighting her own species. 

I think Blade is a very underrated hero. 

Selene was pure awesomeness. Period. 

Then we have books such as the "Vampire Academy" series by Richelle Mead, on which several vampire ideas were mixed: warriors, high-school and later college, magical powers over the elements, hunting down evil vampires, and their relationship with other beings of the supernatural world such as alchemists and witches. The "Vampire Academy" books made us relate to the vampire characters like never before; we also loved the main books' friendship with our whole hearts, and swooned at the fantastic romance. These books also went more into detail with the vampire society, regarding their politics, economy, religion and education. These books took vampires to the ultimate level of supremacy. I still prefer the "Vampire Chronicles", but Mead's vampire society was so well built that I can't help but love it. 

Rose and Lissa are friendship goals. 

So, now that we have seen vampires and their different adaptations, the question arises again: why are vampires so attractive to us? Is it because of their high level of darkness? Are we perhaps attracted to the darkness itself? And if so, why? After all, since we were children our parents have been pulling us away from all things dark, mysterious and dangerous; other parents were more liberal of course, but still. All these tales of vampires used to inflict pure horror in the hearts of people, while nowadays, people even wish to be a vampire. 

We can't deny that the vampire offers a very tempting idea: the promise of eternal life. All of us, at least in one point in our lives have wished to live forever. The vampires offer us that chance, or at least the possibility to imagine how it would be. With this immortal life there is the incredibly high sex appeal, as vampires are known to be very sexual creatures. There is the promise of violence, the feeling of danger, complete inhibition, no sin, no punishment, no human laws or rules, superhuman gifts, eternal youth, and being able to just let go. Being free enough to live out our innermost wishes, with almost no consequence. Being creatures of the night, governed by none. 

Anne Rice made me fall in love with the vampire world. 

I believe the idea of vampires appeals to us so much because of everything I previously stated. The idea of vampires allows our dark, wild side to roam free. We lose ourselves in this fantasy, thinking of how everything would be if we could only do what we wish. We live under so many rules and laws that just the possibility of being free from all of them is exciting. Yes, the vampire world is dangerous and scary most of the time. But still... the desire to be a part of it is very real. 

In conclusion, I believe vampires are a symbol of freedom, and a symbol for the sexy appeal of darkness and danger. Not everything in our lives can be all innocent, light and sweet all the time. Sometimes we need to be tempted, and what better thing than to fall into temptation from time to time? Vampires might have been perceived as monsters from the beginning, and as a dark tale to scare children in the night. But they are so much more than we believe. 

Thank you to all the authors who brought the vampires to us, but mostly Anne Rice. Thank you for everything you've done. 

P.S. This post goes dedicated to one of my best friends, Dianaryz. She made me fall for vampires from the start, and I hope she likes this post if she reads it.