Week Two: Vampire: Love and Pain

     I can still remember the first time I was introduced to vampires. My family sat huddled around the television in our living room one night once the trick or treaters had gone, watching some sort of black and white Halloween special. A man with slick black hair, fangs, and a cape slowly rose from a coffin and said "I vant to suck your blooooood" in some sort of funky Transylvanian accent. It didn't faze me then as a four-year-old, nor does it faze me now. I've never truly understood why vampires are considered to be within the horror genre. This could be due to how the interests of the modern audience evolve. Though the vision of a bloodsucking vampire may have spooked audiences then, it barely affects people now. I've never met anybody with a fear of vampires. Though these creatures may not horrify modern day audiences, people's interest in vampires has peaked.
     Vampires have seemed to change drastically as the years have gone by. When vampires first came to light, they seemed to be nothing more than bloodsucking monsters. It was difficult for audiences to sympathize with these characters since they seemed to have no emotion besides bloodlust. As years have passed though, writers and filmmakers have decided to view vampires from a new angle; they want us to love them and empathize with them . . . almost pity them in a way. Vampires have transformed from monsters into people who were born this way and can't help it; it's not their fault that they were born with a hunger for blood. This empathy has gone so far that it's gotten to the point of strange fetishes. I can't tell you the number of teenage girls I've encountered who rave about wishing they had a vampire boyfriend. While at work, I overhear plenty of conversations about this subject matter. These discussions can range anywhere from the innocent middle schooler wishing Edward Cullen was in love with her, to things far more sexually explicit. Whoa.
     After "Twilight" became wildly popular, everything seemed to become vampire themed. From t-shirts, to books, to television shows, to movies, I couldn't go anywhere without coming face to face with a pair of fangs or a pale, smoldering teenage boy with swoopy hair. Frankly, I'm glad the age of the vampire is coming to an end . . . it was really beginning to suck the life out of me :)