I’ve been
fascinated by vampires since the early 1980’s as a child. There’s nothing like
a childhood memory of yourself curled up in bed on a hot summer night in as few
clothes as possible, no covers and the fan on as you drip sweat from your brow
and try to sleep. However, you make sure you have your trusty sheet wrapped
around your neck so the ‘vampire’ couldn’t come get you (like that could stop
him, you later find out and feel awfully silly…lol). You try to watch vampire
movies but your parents tell you that you are too young and you’ll have
nightmares. Now you’re really curious.
In high school, you can get books out from the
library on the subject. They even discuss Vlad and Romania in History class and
the excitement about vampires builds. You start to dress like the nocturnal
anomaly because the long black hair, pale white face, black clothes, red
lipstick and fangs are really cool, man! When I was in high school, there were
four sterotypes of students.
·
Jocks-the athletic kids that
played the sports but were dumb in the classrooms. Most times they were passed
based on their athletic performances.
·
Preps/Preppy-the kids who had
money and usually the kids with the brains. They were the popular and the
geeks…a daring combination…one I’m sure I never saw much of during those four
years.
·
Stoners-the kids who hung out
just barely off school grounds, smoked whatever and listened to Heavy Metal
music/80’s hair bands.
·
Freaks-the kids that dressed in
all black, spiked their hair, wore pale pancake makeup with black lipstick…and
that was the guys! I believe this group was our generations “vampire years”.
In college you start to explore your own
sexuality so it was only a matter of time that the sexuality of vampires would
come into play as well. If anyone tells you vampires don’t have a sultry
sexuality about them and are gross…watch out for them and check your local sex
offender lists for their pictures. The best reference of sexuality in vampires
is depicted in Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” which was published in 1897. The three
vampire brides in the castle, controlling Jonathan Harker’s mind, performing
lewd sexual acts with each other to keep his attention away from Dracula and
Mina is very prominent in the gothic and gay world. A “good girl” Lucy Westerna
is “plagued” by these dreams and desires and acts like no proper Southern Woman
should during her transformation. She acts like a sex crazed, unladylike
creature after being bitten by Dracula. The story of “Carmilla” by Sheridan Le Fanu was, in a way,
an attempt to rewrite “Christabel” (1816) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They both
discuss vampires who are found in the woods near a noble family’s castle and
are invited in. In both stories the vampires attack the prominent character in
the story. Both works have been seen as the icons of sexual exploration within
the vampire realm. Finally, blood has been used over the decades as something
sexual. It is part of a transformation and bonds the vampires together for
life. Also, the taking of blood from another can seem very sensual in nature,
synonymous with foreplay in humans .
After college
and partying, you start to settle down and you actually start to sit down and
read books for enjoyment. This is when you pick an Author you really like and
read EVERYTHING they ever wrote, scouring bookstores and ebay for new material
AND/OR you just start reading everything you like and you one day look around
you and you have 45 books about vampires J. Now
you’re a little more than curious, you have a baseline knowledge and want to
know more about these beautiful creatures we call vampires. You’ve read all the
information about folklore and evolution of the vampire. You’ve continued
watching movies and reading more books because now tens of thousands of books
are popping up on shelves everywhere with vampires as their popular topic.
We’ve moved, as generations, from
the ghastly Nosferatu to the sexy Lost Boys, the exquisite Vampire Lestat (both
Tom Cruise and Stuart Townsend) and to Team Edward of today’s Twilight Saga.
Vampire merchandise has gone through the roof and just about everybody from the
young to the old”er” own something vampire related. Kids or ‘Twihards’ as they
are called are picking up books and actually reading them outside of classroom
assigned material. I thought we were going to lose a generation of readers but
the upsurge of vampire novels has proved otherwise. It’s like an epidemic that
plagues you and you’re either part of it whole-heartedly or want nothing to do
with it. I’m a vampire writer and my mother is the later. Go figure.
Happy Reading All!
Jodie Pierce
www.thevampirequeen.webs.com
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