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The history of the vampire
The history of the vampire
The history of the vampire
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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.
Just some of The vampire’s numerous powers are: He can turn humans into the Undead, he is virtually immortal, he has the ability to grow younger by drinking blood, he casts no shadow, he casts no reflection, he has the ability to crawl along walls, he has the ability to control animals, he can control the weather and he also has the power to transform his own shape. Here we can see these powers.
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
Similar to Dracula, Twilight’s vampires have many of the same characteristics. The vampires in Dracula and Twilight both are very pale. People in both books often mention how pale the vampires are. Along with pale skin their skin is usually very tough. This meaning that it is very strong and does
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.
‘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.
As it is presented here, vampirism is not a product of art, it is a path followed by every selfish and powerful one who misuse his powers on the account of others’ happiness. It is the moto of the outcast and those who are deprived of the good nature.
The legend of the vampire has emerged countless times within human imagination over the past few centuries. The first available representation of the mythical creature in prose fiction can be found in John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” (1810). It was not until eight decades later that Bram Stoker popularized the existence of this figure with the publication of “Dracula” in 1897. The folklore of the vampire has come a long way since and can be found in today’s popular media more frequently than ever before. However, with due course of time, the representation of the creature has taken alternate routes and today’s vampires are noticeable different – socially and physically – from their predecessors. One effective path to trace this transformation is to compare arguably modern day’s most famous representation of the vampire, Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” with “Dracula”, the foundation from which a large number of modern works draw inspiration. Examining this comparison closely, one finds that a new socially acceptable, sexually abstinent and desirable creature is fast replacing the fearsome and sexually voracious monster, as depicted in early tales of the vampire.
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
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; These factors include setting, actions of each vampire, the initial reactions to news of them, and how their presence affects the people who live within the region the vampires inhabit.
Humanity has always been fascinated with the allure of immortality and although in the beginning vampires were not a symbol of this, as time passed and society changed so did the ideas and perceptions surrounding them. The most important thing to ask yourself at this point is 'What is immortality?' Unfortunately this isn't as easily answered as asked. The Merriam Webster Dictionary says immortality is 'the quality or state of being immortal; esp : unending existence' while The World Book Encyclopedia states it as 'the continued and eternal life of a human being after the death of the body.' A more humorous definition can be found in The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce:
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 vampire genre is one that is so widely exploited, that 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.
Vampires are in a sense immortal. They cannot die of old age and are always in their prime at around 20 – 30 years of age (physically). They are immune to almost any diseases and poisons and cannot spread a disease from one human to another. They can recover from most wounds; a new vampire might take three days to recover from a wound that would take an older vampire three minutes. Vampires can of course be killed if the wound is large enough that they will die before they have time to heal, this means that old vampires are almost impossible to kill as they heal almost instantaneously
This Journal article discusses the modern concept of vampire cinemas through a historical analysis of its literary origin starting from the mindless creation of the 1819 fiction by Polidori John to the modern day sophistication of technologies. Godfree targets the academic audience. He explains how the literary works such as “Penny Dreadful” by James Malcolm, Joseph Sheridan’s “Carmilla” and the famous “Dracula” by Stoker spearheaded the imagination of the vampire art which has since been taken up by film and TV series. The article stresses the transformation of the depiction of vampires from a repulsive
Does the supernatural simply flare and then fade forever? More specifically, do vampires die? Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan claim in their essay, “Why Vampires Never Die,” published in July 30th 2009, that the reason paranormal creatures are immortal is due to the fact that they stress what is corporeal in humanity, whereas vampires accentuate the endless and everlasting desire within mankind. They deem that in a society fixated on the transient, something truly endless grasps a distinctive charm. Furthermore, their core idea is that the individual craving for vampires hasn't been altered, albeit how radically society has been reformed. That in actuality, present scientific progressions have amplified one’s interest of vampires and monsters, and that forms inherent fears that will stay with people persistently. Del Toro and Hogan take advantage of multiple rhetorical elements such as telling the story in a compare and contrast manner, making use of similes, using a more connotative language, and having a unique structure of text.