SF Signal: Whatever Happened to Scary Vampires?

[Midnite]

Patrick Hester blogs that he prefers his vampires evil and scary and believes their romanticization traces back to Barnabas:

www.sfsignal.com

or archived at:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/09/draft-i-miss-scary-vampires/

[CastleBee]

Interesting article Midnite - thanks for posting the link.  I find that whole vampire personality development thing kind of fascinating and was actually trying to write something about it not too long ago.  I do believe Barnabas was one of, if not the most influential romantic vamps of the 20th century.  But I also agree with the person (silviamg) who posted, “You’ve always had the parallel development of sexy and unsexy vampires.” Parallel…hmmmm, almost seems like another DS reference to me.

And speaking of “Twilight” and the continuing/growing romantic vampire craze of recent times, I happened to stumble on this “cross-reference” the other day and couldn’t help but chuckle…

They also have a Team Quentin (naturally) and Team Angelique.  I couldn’t help wondering if one of the posters on this board had something to do with this.   

[Midnite]

Hi, CastleBee!  Very cute merch by that artist.  I honestly don't know if she's a member of the boards or not.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Once you put a vampire in a soap opera, it's pretty much downhill from there.

Huh?! Barnabas was a fascinating character and it was the fact that he was a character in a soap opera that allowed him to become so fascinating because soaps are an outlet that allows all sides of a character to be fully explored and one in which an audience can watch that character evolve over years of storytelling. And make no mistake that Barn could be quite monstrous. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't watched DS for any length of time during his tenure. Maybe they should come over here and read some of the topics that have been created just to discuss how monstrous Barn could be. But at least the author does also say -

But he was also a monster, and people tend to forget that. They romanticize him.

Saying that some fans romanticize Barn is certainly an understatement. But then, we've discussed many, many times how a blind eye is all too often turned to Barn's decidedly less than admirable qualities/actions.

Lestat, who, for all his fan following among the 'vampires are sexy' camp, shouted to the heavens on more than one occasion that he was a monster and wasn't afraid or shy to prove it to you at the drop of a hat by ripping your throat out.

The same could be said of Barn - definitely the shouting to the heavens that he was a monster. But when it came to proving it, he wasn't always as premeditated as Lestat.


As for Twilight, I do find it fascinating that people seem to only want to focus on Edward as if he's the only vamp in the series. But the truth is that he is not. And there are indeed monstrous vamps in the Twilight universe - and they do monstrous things - and teenage girls (or guys) are not swooning over them. But clearly the people who criticize Twilight for its vamps being romantic icons either choose to ignore the vamp characters who certainly are not, or they have no idea that those vamp characters exist because they've never actually read a book or seen a film and are merely criticizing Twilight based on a preconceived and uninformed idea of what it's all about. But then, so what else is new - for eons people have been criticizing things without any personal knowledge of them...

[Annie]

Very interesting indeed!    Thanks for posting this Midnite .
          Love   Anne

[Gothick]

People seem to have totally forgotten the marketing ploys around the original release of the Bela Lugosi Dracula around St Valentine's Day, 1931.  I saw some of the posters and lobby cards in a book a few months ago and the glamor and romance with which Bela's Dracula was presented leaves the Twilight stuff in the dust.

Just another day in the United States of Amnesia...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I saw some of the posters and lobby cards in a book a few months ago and the glamor and romance with which Bela's Dracula was presented leaves the Twilight stuff in the dust.

I've seen some of that stuff, too (several years back there was a TV program, possibly on PBS, about movie promotion in the 30s), and know exactly what you mean.

Just another day in the United States of Amnesia...

So true. But then it's hardly surprising that many people and particularly that many people who post these blogs have no clue how Lugosi's Dracula was promoted because they don't even know how movies in the '70s and '80s were promoted, much less the movies of the '30s. It's quite unfortunate how much their knowledge base is limited. And heaven forbid they should actually do research - particularly research that doesn't include simply looking up info on the Internet which is all too often as unresearched as their own knowledge. Checking out old (and by old, sadly I mean ones even published only 20 years ago) books and even old magazine articles is a foreign concept to them...

[CastleBee]

As for Twilight, I do find it fascinating that people seem to only want to focus on Edward as if he's the only vamp in the series. But the truth is that he is not.

Yes! When I was reading the series this summer I also thought that all the back stories of the Cullen family could have been developed further too.  I personally really liked Jasper and Alice’s story.  As you said, this kind of character development could be possible in a long-running soap.

And there are indeed monstrous vamps in the Twilight universe - and they do monstrous things - and teenage girls (or guys) are not swooning over them.

And even the Cullens had their periods of adjustment to the vampire life and weren’t always as in control as they were when Bella came into the picture.

But clearly the people who criticize Twilight for its vamps being romantic icons either choose to ignore the vamp characters who certainly are not, or they have no idea that those vamp characters exist because they've never actually read a book or seen a film and are merely criticizing Twilight based on a preconceived and uninformed idea of what it's all about. But then, so what else is new - for eons people have been criticizing things without any personal knowledge of them...

So true.  I guess you can’t help forming cursory impressions especially when something this popular crops up.  At first, I wasn’t sure I’d like the series but couldn’t really put my finger on why.  It may have been something to do with a resistance to change (that I have to punch in the face every now and then) and some idea I had that this was an attempt to mess with my own perception of vampire lore.  I do know my impression of the series dramatically changed once I actually decided to read it (dody doh).  As it turned out, I loved the series, thought it was a very entertaining read and was actually sad when I finished the last book.

~CastleBee
Proud member of Team Barnabas and Team Edward (o;