Iconic vampires in pop culture include Dracula, Angel, and Edward Cullen, but the lore can be traced back even further than the earliest thought of each of these icons. Doctor Guiley, a paranormal enthusiast, has researched countless tales of vampires, and has been able to divide her research into five different generalized areas. Doctor Murgatroyd, a professor of humanities at McMaster University, has studied references to vampires and other supernatural creatures throughout the literary history of our world. Doctor Jason Dittmer, a professor of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University, speculated on why Dracula was centered in Transylvania, and how it represented the mindset of the world at that point in time. Doctor Rosemary Ellen Guiley classifies five different kinds of vampires in her book The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters. Folkloric vampires, living vampires, literary vampires, psychic vampires, and psychotic vampires are all distinctly different. According to her, they all share a few common traits and a few distinctly different ones. She defines vampires as, “a supernatural entity, revenant or supernaturally endowed person who attacks living things, weakening and possibly destroying them.” This is the broader term that applies to all the different types, though each type is, within itself, distinctly separate from its fellows. Folkloric vampires are classified as “demonic beings who have supernatural powers and characteristics and drain the vitality or blood from the living.” According to Dr. Guiley, such vampires were said to have died suddenly and violently. Sometimes the deaths would be unnatural, causing the body to become reincarnate. Some examples of optional deaths include ... ... middle of paper ... ...s and vampire lore have been present all throughout European history. It is not a new fad to find vampires and other bloodsuckers in pop culture. Though science has more-or-less made the fear of vampires virtually nonexistent, they are still shown in many a horror film in the cinema. While vampires and the dark are combated often in modern society, human still fear these blood-sucking creatures of the night. Works Cited Dittmer, James “Teaching the Social Construction of Regions in Regional Geography Courses; or, Why Do Vampires Come from Eastern Europe?” Journal of Geography in Higher Education 30.1 (2006): 49-60, PDF Guiley, Rosemary E. The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters. New York: Visionary Living, 2005. Print. Murgatroyd, Paul. Mythical Monsters in Classical Literature. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co, Ltd, 2007. Print.
Vampires have been a successful and popular form of superstition and entertainment for centuries. The vampire legend began in Eastern Europe, although many forms have existed in several cultures all over the world. Bram Stoker’s Dracula was the first
In a world with ghosts, monsters, demons, and ghouls, there is one being that resonates in everyone’s mind. The idea of these creatures can be found in almost every culture on the planet in one form or another. They prey on the weak and they feast on the blood of their victims. They are compared to a fox for being quick and cunning, but also rather seductive in their nature. With their unholy existence one can only describe them as almost demonic. So what is this horrid creature? Well it is none other than the vampire, a creature as old as time itself. Throughout history there have been many different variations of the vampire, each with their own unique abilities. But one cannot help but mention
Throughout legends there has always been an old tale that vampires do exist. This myth began with a man known as Dracula, Vlad Tepes, who was brought to popularity by the author Bram Stoker. Another, Elizabeth Bathory, also assisted in the vampire myth.
Vampires have been viewed with fear and fascination for centuries. Of all the vampires in literature, Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula is probably the most prominent vampire. Recently, there has been an upsurge of public interest in socially acceptable vampires, like the Cullens in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. This essay will contrast Stoker’s Dracula with Carlisle Cullen, one of the newer vampires from the Twilight series. They will be examined in terms of their origins and how they dealt with immortality.
The Slavic roots of vampires are still prevalent in modern works of art and especially in horror films that may on the surface seem like they are about something as simple as psychosis. One such striking example of this is the 1980 film The Shining. The Shining on the surface to most people may seem like it is a horror film about a man who snaps from either evil spirits or something as simple as cabin fever. However, the film actually incorporates many different indirect story lines and elements under the surface. One element that appears in the film is the Slavic vampire. Jack in the film is a psychotic vampire. A psychotic vampire is not something that people generally associate with vampires rather though just someone who is crazy. But Jack does display many vampire like characteristics throughout the film. When Jack came to work at the hotel he had to take the place of his predecessor who had killed his entire family one winter. Towards the end of the film, in an eerily similar fashion, Jack attempts to kill his wife and child. Jack is trying to take those closest to him as his victims because they are the things that can give him the most energy and joy in the bleak setting. Taking those closest to them is a Slavic characteristic as vampires were often accounted to return to their families first after rising from the dead to take them as their victims. The film however cannot be limited in containing only a psychotic vampire, as it is possible that a psychic vampire caused Jacks insanity. Jack has the life and personality literally drained from him as the film progresses. This linear progression of Jacks induced craziness indicate that some sort of force around him has caused him to lose himself and become a blood thirsty individual with little or
‘Dracula’ is a novel that probes deeply into people’s superstitions, fears and beliefs of the supernatural. The creature Dracula is an evil being with no concern for others, he kills for his own ends and cannot be stopped, and this is what makes ‘Dracula’ truly frightening.
When the vampire came about the thought of the monsters themselves were terrifying, and to view one they were ghostly pale with dark sunken eyes, large nose similar to that of the stereotypical witch, pointed ears like an elf and dark hair usually dark brown if not black. The original folklore on vampires showed a terrifying creature that you would know if you would see it out and about during the night. Today’s films and novels want to present you with an attractive vampire, like dying and becoming an immortal being is something a human would want to do because they would become more attractive. But also in today’s depiction of the vampire they have no obvious tells that a person is a vampire until they get angry and the fangs elongate. The idea of the vampire has shifted so drastically over the course of time, from fear to an admiration of a creature that could kill you in seconds. In the popular culture of today, the vampire is something attractive that girls pine after and want to be since there are a multitude of romance novels printed today with the male leads being portrayed as a
Orlomoski, Caitlyn. "From Monsters to Victims: Vampires and Their Cultural Evolution from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century." N.p., 7 May 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. .
From Transylvania to Hollywood, vampires have transformed from unfamiliar, mysterious personalities to one of the most dominant monsters in the horror genre today. Vampires are one of the oldest and most noted creatures in mythology, with many variations of them around the world. Although the most famous version is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, many variants have come before and after telling of the same legend with their own added ideas and modifications to relate to their cultures. Today, there is a multitude of literary and film works that convey and resurface peoples’ fear of vampires. As gothic works like Dracula, by Bram Stoker and Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire directed by Scott Jeralds share certain traits reflective of the genre;
Throughout time Vampire fiction has served as a great resource for dealing with our own feelings of what can be fearful. As of recently, vampires are viewed as sparkly sex icons, less fearful, and more lustful. This lust is not just toward heterosexual vampires looking for thirst, but homosexual as well. Starting with undertones in the 18th century with Polidori and Byrons’ relationship to Carmilla finally leading to the 20th century relationships in Interview with the Vampire and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Homoeroticism has been a huge factor when it comes to vampirism and sexuality, are authors purposefully making these vampires homosexual? Or are mainstream viewers just reading too much into the undertones. The nature of a vampire’s sexuality is an interesting characteristic of the vampire's freedom from social norms and restrictions. For instance, it’s obvious the contemporary vampire is an individual of many appetites, and that undoubtedly includes their sexual appetites. The vampire's sexual escapades are not exclusive to just members of the opposite sex, but of the same sex as well.
Dracula, as it was written by Bram Stoker, presents to us possibly the most infamous monster in all of literature. Count Dracula, as a fictional character, has come to symbolize the periphery between the majority and being an outsider to that group. Dracula’s appeal throughout the years and genres no doubt stems from his sense of romanticism and monster. Reader’s no doubt are attracted to his “bad-boy” sensibilities, which provide an attraction into the novel. Looking first at his appearance, personality, and behaviour at the beginning of the novel, we can easily see Dracula’s blurred outsider status, as he occupies the boundaries of human and monster. Related to this is Dracula’s geographic sense of outsider. For all intents and purposes, Dracula is an immigrant to England, thus placing him further into the realm of outsider. To look at Bram Stoker’s Dracula as solely a monster in the most violent sense of his actions would to be look at a sole aspect of his character, and so we must look at how he interacts with the outside world to genuinely understand him.
The vampire genre is one that is so widely exploited because anything can be done with it. It can be made into a horror story made to induce nightmares, into a story that displays humans can be just as monstrous as the monster, or into a romance that proves that love conquers all. The mystery and sensuality that shrouds vampires allows for a vampire story to be anything and everything the writer or reader desires.
Simply searching through articles, databases, and other resources, vampires are depicted as malicious and monstrous creatures. First off, the vampire is famous for its dark and mysterious image affiliated with fear and death. In many ways, “the vampire can be seen through its most basic characterization as the bringer of death”(Stevens par. 3) and evokes a “marginal world of darkness, secrecy, vulnerability, excess, and horror” (Stevens par. 6). Obviously, the vampire has adopted a dark, fearful, and mysterious image. Next, vampires are famous for their unique characteristics. Dictionary.com defines the vampire as “a preternatural being, commonly believed to be a reanimated corpse, that is said to suck the blood of sleeping persons at night”(dictionary.com). Vampires are also known for their distinct weakness suck as “various tailsmans and herbs”(Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia) but the only way to kill a vampire is “only by cremation or if a stake is driven through their hearts”(Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia). Another distinct and commonly known characteristic of the vampire is their fear of the light as it could potentially kill them. Emotionally, the vampires are almost viewed as sex symbols as they “indulge in their desires ...
In Twilight, Edward Cullen presents the question; “ But what if I’m not the hero? What if I’m the bad guy?” The role of vampires is very controversial. Back in the day they were evil, soulless monsters and people genuinely feared them. However, in the present day it seems that we have grown to love them and even hope to one day be them. There are a plethora of vampire stories and many of them have become immense hits. With so many vampire stories, it is not uncommon that readers are able to identify a vast amount of similarities. Although similar in aspects, there are still many differences between the classic and modern day vampires. Two highly popular stories, in which we can easily identify similarities and differences, are Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
The author’s op-ed piece was published in 2009, the very peak of the vampire contagion, where one could find these creatures wherever they looked. This pandemonium that arose from vampires is what drove del Toro and Hogan to pen “Why Vampires Never Die.” Furthermore, the purpose behind this essay is to give an abridged description of the past of vampires for the people who had become fanatics of the creatures. Also, this essay showed how vampires have persisted in pop culture. They suggest that vampires have been remade by diverse cultures at different times, and this change echoes that society's angst and concerns. The novelist’s imply that Stroker’s Dracula may mirror an exaggerated human on a prim...