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Cemetery Girls
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Modern Vampires |
Abraham (Bram) Stoker, a theater manager and part-time novelist, was not the first
author to feature the vampire in a literary work, but his version is the one that really
caught on. This is largely due to the novel's unforgettable villain, Count Dracula, as
well as the foreboding setting. Stoker arrived at both elements through extensive
research. He set much of the action in the mysterious mountains of the Transylvania
province of Romania, and he based his vampires on eastern European and gypsy folklore.
Selectively sampling from several versions of the vampire myth and adding some details of
his own, Stoker formed the standard for the modern vampire. Unlike the vampires in the
eastern European tradition, Stoker's monster loses power in the sunlight, is repelled by crucifixes
and has acute intelligence. Interestingly, Stoker's vampires do not have reflections,
while many earlier vampire creatures were fascinated by their own reflection.
Stoker's research also turned up a name for his villain. The original Dracula was a real
person, Prince Vladislav Basarab, who ruled Wallachia in the mid 1400s. His father was
known as Vlad Dracul (translated as either "Vlad the dragon" or "Vlad the
devil"), in recognition of his induction into a society called The Order of the
Dragon. Vlad Jr. was sometimes referred to as Vlad Dracula, meaning "son of
Dracul," but more often he was called "Vlad Tepes," meaning "Vlad the
Impaler." This was in reference to Vlad's predilection for impaling his enemies on
long wooden stakes.
In the 1927 play "Dracula," and the film adaptation that followed in 1931, Bela
Lugosi embraced this aristocratic notion, playing the count as a suave, sophisticated
gentleman. This play also introduced Dracula's familiar outfit -- black formal wear and a
billowing black cape. In the novel "Dracula," the count is described as a
withered, ugly old man, more like Max Shreck's portrayal in the 1922 silent film
adaptation, "Nosferatu," than Lugosi's presentation. But the suave Dracula
caught on, showing up in scores of vampire movies, television shows and cartoons.
The vampire has continued to evolve over the years, as novelists and filmmakers
reinterpret and expand the mythology. In Anne Rice's popular novels, she takes vampires to
the next level, giving them a conscience and a range of emotions. In her work, vampires
are not necessarily evil -- they are presented as real, rounded people. On the television
show "Buffy
the Vampire Slayer," creator Joss Whedon has pursued similar ideas, exploring the
idea of a vampire with a soul. 
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Modern Vampires |
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The vampire lifestyle |
The vampire lifestyle is an alternative lifestyle, based on the
modern perception of in popular fiction. The vampire subculture has stemmed largely from
the Goth subculture,but also incorporates some elements of the sadomasochism subculture.
The Internet provides a prevalent forum for the subculture along with other media such as devoted to the topic.
Active vampirism within the vampire subculture includes both blood consumption, which
is commonly referred to as sanguinarian vampirism, and psychic vampirism, through which
the practitioners believe they are drawing spiritual nourishment from auric or energy. |
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