The Vampire Problem

I have a problem.  It has to do with vampires.  Not vampires and romance, though that is a pretty huge problem all on it's own.  Just vampires.

See, the problem is that I used to love vampires in high school. I thought they were the best supernatural creature around.  Why?  Because there are forms of vampire-like creatures in most mythologies so there's a lot of history an author can pull from when creating vampire characters.  Is your character more like Dracula?    Or is it more like the vetala, an undead spirit from Hindu mythology that possesses corpses and haunts charnel grounds. Or more like edimmu of Sumerian mythology that sucked the life from the living (not blood)?

I looked up all the vampire-like creatures when I was younger and the thing that shocked me most was how much wasn't used by modern authors who favored variations of Bram Stoker's creation or the sub-creation that appeared in the films.  It's like knowing knowing every candy in the world but going to a candy store to find only Hershey products.

Here was a creature with so much potential!  Hell, humanize any one the vampire-like creatures listed like they're doing nowadays and you'd have one hell of a story!  And it would be almost entirely original because no one seems to want to do it as of today.  Put them in a doomed romance with some goth girl who likes to haunt graveyards and you could probably hit the bestseller list even if your writing is dull and forgettable.

See, I'm all for vampires who are monsters and vampires who are just misunderstood predators who happen to live during the third shift.  Neither really bothers me a whole lot.  In fact, I find the vampires who are monsters, but have personalities you can relate with to be the best vampires there are.

Essentially, if I'm going to pick up a story with a vampire or vampire-like creature, I want a Vincent Price Vampire.  For those of you who don't like old films, Vincent Price was an actor that appeared in a lot of classic horror films as the suave, debonair man who'd be romancing you one minute and then stabbing you in the back when you closed your eyes to kiss him.  I like the smooth-talking monsters that are complete black-hearted villains who happen to have thoughts and feeling about their actions.  Even better if they find their actions both monstrous and natural.  Even better if they do things to seemingly "make up" for the evil they feel they do.  Even better if the creature still embraces his existence to its fullest because it's the only existence he can have.

I wouldn't trust such a character with a ten-foot-pole.  I wouldn't want to be in a situation where I'm alone with that character.

I just want to read about that character.  I want to see what he or she will do.  I want to be able to root for him or her winning even if he or she is supposed to be a villain.  I don't care about the romance aspect a whole lot.  The point of these monsters isn't to be romantic; the point of these monsters is to be seductive.

I think that's why people keep turning away from the vast array of mythology behind the vampire to water the monster down more and more and replace them with the pretty, with the "nice".  You can easily fall in love with a creature that is very nearly human.  How can you fall in love with a spirit that may occasionally possess corpses?

Well, if you're me, that question just got about 50 answers, some of them fuel for a good story.  Others.... not so much...

So, just think about it.  What kind of vampire do you want?  The monster that happens to be shaped like a man?  OR the pretty man who happens to be a bit of a monster?

If you're interested in the former, you may like bits of my blog.  If you're interested in the latter, there is  world of literature just for you.


Sweet dreams.