Vampires (25 page)

By Laurell Kaye Hamilton (1993- 2008). This bestselling series, about a female necromancer turned magical investigator, began with the first novel, Guilty Pleasures, and in the sixteen novels thereafter has continued to attract readers with its focus on the erotic side of the vampire myth.

By Christopher Pike (1994-1996). This series chronicles the life of a 5,000-year-old vampire, Sita, drawing from ancient history and world mythology as well from the science fiction and horror genres. Christopher Pike is a bestselling author of young adult and children’s fiction, whose real name is Kevin McFadden.

Series by Charlaine Harris (2001-2009).
Dead Until Dark
, the first novel in the series, introduces Sookie Stakhouse, a telepathic waitress in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, who falls in love with a handsome vampire and embarks on solving a series of murders in the town. The basis for the
True Blood
TV series.

By Ellen Schreiber (2003-2009). The series begins by introducing us to Raven Madison, a sixteen-year-old who complains that her life is boring. However, when a stranger comes to town, vampire Alexander Sterling, she falls in love and embarks on a series of adventures in the world of the supernatural.

By Stephenie Meyer (2005- 2008). The latest vampire series sensation, the novels chart the adventures of teenager Bella Swan, who falls in love with a classmate, vampire Edward Cullen, thus endangering her life. Hailed as a thoughtful reflection on teenage sexuality, the books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

 

One of the most extraordinary developments in modern vampire fiction has taken place in the new millennium, with the publication of Stephenie Meyer's
Twilight
series of novels for the teen market. The first of these, the eponymous
Twilight
, appeared in 2005, and there have since been three more in the series:
New Moon
, published in 2006,
Eclipse
, in 2007, and
Breaking Dawn
, in 2008. A film adaptation of
Twilight
, released in 2008, has increased the already astronomical sales of the original novel, and the second film, New Moon, released in November 2009, is continuing to build on the series' success.

 

 

The author, Stephenie Meyer, tells of how the idea for the story of Twilight, that of a vampire who falls in love with a teenage girl but thirsts for her blood, came to her in a dream one night. Evidently, in terms of human psychology, this is a very strong scenario, since it touches on the intense sexuality of the teenager, expressing on the one hand, the anxiety young men of this age may feel about harming a girl that they are emotionally attached to, and on the other, the mixture of fear and excitement that a young woman may feel about losing her virginity. Although the story was ostensibly about a mythical world – that of the vampire – it appealed to young adults because it described so vividly the real sexual and emotional anxieties of the teenage years, including feelings of alienation from society; of being ‘different'; of one's burgeoning sexuality being harmful, even fatal, to others; of struggling to come to terms with the adult world of responsibility; of being doomed to failure; and so on.

The story of
Twilight
introduces the central character, Isabella Swan, known as Bella. As a teenager, Bella moves from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, to live with her father, Charlie, in Forks, Washington, while her mother and stepfather go travelling. Thus, she leaves behind the sunshine of her childhood years, and begins to make her way in a confusing, and complex, adult world.

 

 

On her first day at her new school, she meets a handsome young man, Edward Cullen. Later, when she is almost run over in the parking lot at school, Cullen manages to save her, showing superhuman strength by stopping the van with his bare hands. Bella is intrigued, and tries to find out more about him, eventually learning that he and his family are vampires. Instead of human blood, they drink animal blood.

The plot thickens when other vampires come to town, including a vampire called James, who wants to attack Bella. Bella tries to escape from James, but eventually he catches up with her, and bites her. Edward comes to the rescue, destroying James, and sucking out the venom from James' bite before it can infect Bella and turn her into a vampire. Bella is grateful to Edward, but at the school prom, she tells him that she wants to become a vampire. Although Edward loves her, he refuses, knowing the difficulties that such a life will bring her.

As a metaphor for sexual development in modern-day teenagers, the novel works well. Although the young couple have intense feelings for one another, they cannot engage in a sexual relationship, as this would corrupt Bella and she would become a vampire. Sexual love is seen as a ‘forbidden fruit'.

As regards the modern world, the story of
Twilight
seems to express some important themes. It recognizes that, contrary to sensational media coverage, many teenagers in actual fact approach the idea of sex with caution, and may sometimes feel they do not want to sully a ‘pure' love relationship through having sex. In a society where the dangers of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are constantly discussed in the media, and where sex is often represented as a cheap commodity, it is not surprising that sensitive and intelligent young people might have such a reaction. In addition, in the United States, there is a strong ‘chastity before marriage' movement in some religious sections of the population. It seems that, since the days of sexual liberation in the sixties and seventies, and with the onset of AIDS in the eighties, the picture for many adolescents has changed, so that the complexities and dangers of early sexual relationships, as well as the pleasures, are given more consideration. And, for all its gothic elements of romance and horror, the
Twilight
series appears to recognize these concerns, which perhaps explains the stories' current appeal to teenagers across the world.

Since the early twentieth century, the figure of the vampire has inspired countless films, some of them classics. These films have influenced popular conceptions of the vampire legend, adding many features, for example, introducing the notion that vampires fear daylight, have fangs, and sport high-collared cloaks, which are not essential part of the original folklore.

Early screen vampires, in the days of silent films, were not literally bloodsucking fiends, but seductive women, known as ‘vamps’, or femmes fatales. These early screen sirens preyed on foolish men – and their wallets. The films include
The Vampire
(1913) and
A Fool There Was
(1915) starring Theda Bara. No actual vampire appeared until 1922, when F.W. Murnau made
Nosferatu
, based on the novel by Bram Stoker.

In 1931, the first vampire ‘talkie’ was released:
Dracula
, starring Bela Lugosi. With his slow, menacing speech and deathly pallor, Lugosi personified the living corpse, and frightened audiences so much that some fainted with shock when they saw him. The film was a box-office sensation and for many, Lugosi became the definitive Count Dracula. Two sequels followed,
Dracula’s Daughter
(1936), and
Son of Dracula
(1943). The fact that the Count had been well and truly destroyed in the first film did not stop him coming to life again for further Hollywood horrors, including
House of Frankenstein
(1944),
House of Dracula
(1945), and a comedy,
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
(1948).

The
Dracula
film of 1931 was directed by Tod Browning and was based on a stage play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which in turn drew inspiration from the original book by Bram Stoker. The play was already a big Broadway hit, and provided the producers with a blueprint for the film version. Bela Lugosi, a Hungarian actor, was cast in the central part, but there were reservations about this choice, and he had to accept a lower salary than many of his co-stars. Legend has it that Lugosi could hardly speak English when he made the film, which accounted for his heavy accent; however, this seems unlikely, since he had been working in Hollywood for some time by this point.

There are many stories about the making of the film, including the rumour that Tod Browning took no interest in the process, and that as a consequence there was a great deal of chaos on set. It appears that Browning was upset by the death from cancer of his friend Lon Chaney, who would have been picked to play the part of the Count. Nevertheless, despite all these difficulties, the film became a milestone in the cinema, not least because it showed how the industry moved from the ‘silent’ era to the ‘talkies’. In contrast to today’s films, there were many silent moments during the movie, and most of the actors’ lines were brief and to the point. The script limited itself to explaining the story, rather than developing the characters’ relationships through dialogue, and in this sense, although a ‘talkie’, the film’s structure bore a strong resemblance to that of the silent movies.

The premiere of
Dracula
took place on Valentine’s Day in 1931. The studio took care to circulate stories of the extraordinary effect it had on those present at the screening, including tales of people being carried out of the cinema suffering from shock. This drew large audiences to the cinema to see it, more perhaps from curiosity than anything else. It proved to be a huge hit, which was by no means a foregone conclusion at the time. Today, it is listed in the Library of Congress as a film of ‘cultural, historical and aesthetic significance’. For Lugosi, however, it was a mixed blessing; from that point, he was typecast as Count Dracula, and never again played a wide variety of parts.

Even though the portrait of the vampire as an elegant, cultured aristocrat with a decadent taste for blood triumphed in the cinema, the medieval monster of Slavic folklore was not entirely forgotten. Inspired by F. W. Murnau’s groundbreaking
Nosferatu
in the twenties, German director Werner Herzog followed up with
Nosferatu the Vampyre
(1979), a homage to, and update of, the original film, which Herzog considered to be the greatest film ever to come out of his country. In Herzog’s film, the vampire is portrayed as a hideous, lonely creature to be pitied rather than admired. Other vampire films with this theme include Elias Merhige’s
Shadow of the Vampire
(2000), a fictional account of the making of Murnau’s film, in which the lead actor turns out to be a vampire, much to the horror of the cast and crew.

In the fifties, the Dracula legend continued with the British Hammer Horror series. The first of these,
Dracula
(retitled in the US as
Horror of Dracula
) was released in 1958 and starred Christopher Lee as the Count. With an incredibly low budget of just over £80,000 the film nevertheless managed to capture the public imagination, and became an instant success, spawning seven sequels. Tall, dark and gruesome, Lee brought a chilling suavity and magnetic sex appeal to the role that thrilled cinema audiences throughout the following decade.

The sixties and seventies saw a proliferation of vampire films covering all kinds of subjects, from sex to comedy to science fiction. There were a number of lesbian vampire films loosely based on Le Fanu’s
Carmilla
, including Roger Vadim’s
Blood and Roses
(1960),
The Vampire Lovers
(1970), and
Vampyres
(1974). Among the many comedy films was Roman Polanski’s entertaining send-up of the genre,
The Fearless Vampire Killers
(1967), and
Love at First Bite
(1979) starring David Niven. Several science fiction films, such as
The Omega Man
(1971) took their cue from Richard Matheson’s vampire novel
I Am Legend
.

As the seventies progressed, the themes became more diverse: there was even a film about race, the blaxploitation movie
Blacula
(1972). One subject, however, continued to be a stable box-office draw: the vampire as sex symbol. By the eighties and nineties, a number of gay pornographic movies were being made, including
Gayracula
(1983). In the new millennium, the trend continued
Lust for Dracula
(2005), a lesbian remake of Bram Stoker’s classic.

From 1966 to 1971, the ABC TV series
Dark Shadows
introduced audiences to a ‘sympathetic’ vampire. Barnabas, played by actor Jonathan Frid, is from an eighteenth century family, and has had an affair with his fianceé’s maid, Angelique. Angelique has cast a powerful spell on him, using voodoo. After a series of setbacks, Barnabas shoots Angelique, who summons a demon bat from hell to attack him. Angelique recovers, but Barnabas dies, only to rise again from the grave as a vampire, forever searching for his true love. Wracked by self-loathing and misery, Barnabas the vampire brings more chaos and despair to his family, and eventually asks his father Joshua to kill him. Joshua feels unable to oblige, and instead asks Barnabas’ devoted former servant Ben to do the deed. Ben puts a crucifix inside Barnabas’ coffin and wraps it round with chains. The coffin is then placed in the family mausoleum, where it stays for many years.

In ensuing episodes, Barnabas comes to life again, when a man named Willie Loomis comes to the Collins family crypt to look for lost jewels, and accidentally releases Barnabas from the coffin. More mayhem ensues as Barnabas falls in love with a young woman, Maggie Evans, and tries to make her his vampire bride; Maggie escapes but is traumatized by the experience and loses her mind. She is treated by Dr Julia Hoffman, who also tries to help Barnabas. The plots continued, with many twists and turns in true soap-opera style, until the series finally came to an end in 1971.