Allure of Vampires

(excerpt from an original article)

Exploring the fascination humans have with the fantasy characters in literature and film will plunge you into a world of inconsistencies and contradictions. What lies in wait are the ingredients for varieties of concocted tales that rely upon the imaginative tastes of the author’s pen. And from that pool of boundless fiction, many an author has produced a delicious treat that appears in the form of a mysterious, yet easily recognized figure. Though they vary from pen to pen, we are delighted to experience any new creative version of – the vampire.

It is the allure of vampires itself that has puzzled many. Of all the fantasy characters available to us – werewolves, witches, elves, fairies, dragons, etc – what keeps the vampire on top? Why is the vampire king of the world? Or, I should say – worlds. Vampires seem to dominate the world of horror, the world of fantasy and sci-fi and now vampires even rule the world of romance. Amazing flexibility for a character that was originally so stereotypically stiff.

Famed wordsmith, Stephen King has proven that you can take any object and make it interesting or scary. From a car to a dog to a puppet. Just let your twisted imagination run wild. So, why do so many choose to reinvent the vampire?

Perhaps, familiarity among the viewing public. Widespread popularity and the ability to “set up” the reader for a unique twist by playing on their belief that they think they know where you’re going.

Since the beginning of horror, we were able to feed from the four basic food groups – Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Werewolf and Dracula. Over the decades and with the advancements in film, these “monsters” have been reanimated many times over, often receiving a new coat of paint. Yet, none have seen the light of day more often – or in a more formats – than the vampire. We don’t even refer to him as Dracula anymore.

Calling on a plethora of spotty folklore and nearly a century of urban legends, the vampire now seems to be able to appear in any form or situation and the general public will welcome him/her with lustful glee. For some reason, vampires are just cool.

You can read the whole article here.