Vampires have recently taken a bite out of the entertainment industry. The infamously fanged characters have appeared in literature, film, television and theater.
Even director Tim Burton, who notoriously shies away from mainstream phenomena, is getting a taste of vampire success with his upcoming movie adaptation of "Dark Shadows," a classic vampire television show.
The newly revived vampire movement has hit quick. The Season 2 premiere of "True Blood" was the most watched HBO show since "The Sopranos" series finale in June of 2007, reported TVWeek. The show chronicles the small-town romance between a telepathic waitress played by Anna Paquin and a vampire played by Stephen Moyer.
The show's instant success is just one of the many indications that vampires are out for blood in mainstream popular culture. The pending release of "New Moon," the second movie in the "Twilight" series, already has vampire fanatics staking their claims on the midnight showing. According to Fandango, 50 locations have already sold out tickets for the highly anticipated vampire flick, and the movie doesn't premiere until Nov. 20.
The "Twilight" saga catapulted the most recent vampire renaissance, but in reality, these blood-drinking day walkers have always made good entertainment. Warner Brothers television shows "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," dominated late 90's television. Even before them, "Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles," and other novels by Anne Rice captivated readers with her combination of terror and sadness and were eventually adapted into popular films.
What's changed between new vampire culture and that of Anne Rice is that new literature and entertainment allows vampires to been seen in a softer light. In Rice's "Interview with a Vampire," written in 1973, the main character Lestat chooses to live his life eternally as a vampire. After he has made his decision he is forced to live a solitary and lacking that life forever. Similarly the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" based on the premises that the blood-thirsty creatures are evil. Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, is the only person innately capable of killing vampires who are dangerous to mankind.
Now "Twilight" and "Vampire Diaries" introduce both heroic and villainous elements to the typical vampire character. Edward Cullen's untainted love for Bella Swan never falters despite his drug-like addiction to her blood. Still, Meyer juxtaposes the goodness of Edward with the evil that is the rest of the vampire world. "Vampire Diaries'" hero, Stefan, also doesn't drink human blood but struggles with his desires to satisfy himself in a way that would make him ultimately evil. Things like blood typing in biology and an open wound commonly plague the vampire-gone-good, but in recent vampire-lit, more often than not, the vampire resists.
Vampires now have a chance at romance and love. They are no longer innately evil. Rather, they are good or evil based on their own decisions. The new take on vampires allows interaction between the cold ones and their human opposites. Instead of underground lairs and in-home coffins, vampires are now lurking in high schools and Louisiana bars.
The tension between a vampire's thirst and his desire to fit into the human world simply makes good entertainment. Sexy vampires like Robert Pattinson and Kellan Lutz certainly lure me in.
Stacie Foster is a sophomore magazine journalism major and the pop culture columnist. Her columns appear weekly and she can be reached at snfoster@syr.edu
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