Vampires Essay

The myth of the vampire existed in a multitude of civilizations and cultures under various names such is strigoi (for the Romanian territory), Apotamkin, etc. But no matter the name, vampires will always refer to gothic creatures that drain the blood of humans, thus being monstrous.

Vampires have been around for centuries, they represent the fear of many things such as sexuality, race, gender, etc. and above all, they stand for the fear of diseases. Vampires have once been the symbol of horror due to their terrific depictions and were described as a threat to the humanity. Throughout time, the image of vampire has changed dramatically from a monstrous, inhumanely creature that doesn’t belong to human society to such an attractive and adaptive figure that expresses more of the human side than the evil. They developed human feelings, senses, and live within our society. Modern vampire movies are often more romantic and “sympathetic” comparing to the past. Vampires have abandoned their horror and evolved to a more

Although vampires have always been known for drinking blood and immortal, the nature of their kind has developed over time into a more compassionate kind. Dracula and Lestat centered more on European and aristocratic culture and the immortal aspect of the monster where they were sinister and preyed on the weak. The culture of vampires were seen as malicious and predators, whereas the Cullens are the “good vampires” that do not feed on human blood. Throughout the twentieth century, vampires main focus in on the Western culture. Since the barrier between human society and the immortals has been broken down over the past century, the vampires in modern media are now viewed as more of a misunderstood, heroic character. Protection over the ones the vampires care about is a vital part of their identity.

To be a vampire, you have to take something from someone else to benefit yourself, whether that be anything from blood to money. Vampires weren’t always what we see today in “Twilight. Vampirism does not always have to do with vampires but selfishness, exploitation, and refusal to respect.

The vampire is not by any means a new manifestation of the fears of a society. Their presence in human culture can be traced back for centuries in human folklore. The first Anglicized representations of the creature in literature date back to the English poetry of the early 1700s, and were then followed in the fiction genre by such works as John William Polidori’s The Vampyre, Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, and of course, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. For the audiences of the 18th century, vampires embodied many of the following common fears shared between the people: of illness, both mental and epidemic, of an embraced sexuality, particularly that of women’s and homosexuals’, and of foreigners. As the archetypical vampire evolved throughout the

Anne Rice writer of such vampire books as Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, etc has what I think one the best takes on what it means to be a vampire. “Interview with a Vampire”, for example, is a book that follows the life of a man named Louis and his journey in becoming a vampire. You don’t learn much on how the vampires in this universe came to be, but you do learn what their weaknesses are. The vampires must drink blood to maintain themselves whether it be human or animal and it must be part of a fresh kill. Drinking old blood will kill them if they drink too much of it. Now there is another rule to this that will be addressed below. They cannot go out into the sunlight and if they do it will surely mean the death of them, almost instantly turning them into dust. The sun is really the only true death for these vampires. Beheading can be consider a true death for them but it is not necessarily one and to think that

Does Dracula, Queen of the Damned, or Anne Rice sound familiar? Surely, they must, but not just for one person. In fact, for people all over the world! The three terms expressed all have one thing in common; vampires. These mythical creatures are one of the most popular horror-related figures. Vampires may be a frightening subject for most, but that does not take away from the fact of their popularity throughout. The fascination of vampires has greatly affected past, present, and future cultures all around the world.

Vampire have been made out to be a lot of thing over the years of history. Vampires are evil mythological beings who roam the world at night searching for people whose blood they feed upon. They may be the best-known classic monsters of all. Most people associate vampires with Count Dracula, the legendary, blood-sucking subject of Bram Stoker’s epic novel, Dracula, which was published in 1897. But the history of vampires began long before Stoker was born. (History.com Staff A+E Networks, 2017). Many people also believed that vampire’s legends came from bats “vampire bats” but the legends and myths go much deeper and older.

In the late nineteenth century vampires started to evolve into to what is the modern day vampire. Although they were still seen as “evil”, the vampires of the late twentieth century were no longer creepy creatures that would crawl out of their coffins to seduce women and feed from their blood. This was the start of a new period of

Vampire legends and myths are thousands of years old and find homes in most cultures around the world. From the chiang-shih of China to the Lamia of Greek legend, a mix of a woman and winged Serpent (Richardson, 2007). These myths, however, have little in common with modern tellings of the vampire, which are based on European myths. The European vampire myths originated in places like China, Tibet and India and was taken back to the coast of Greece and into the Balkans, which include the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania (Richardson, 2007).

The generalization for vampires has been displayed in films and literature for hundreds of years. The stereotypical versions of vampires are that they have long fangs, sleep in coffins during the day, and suck the blood out of humans. Both novels contradict those stereotypes in different ways. To understand the diversity of the vampires described in both novels, one must examine the characteristics that the vampires display and the meaning and purpose behind them. David D. Gilmore’s book “Monsters” analyzes monsters and other mythical creatures. Gilmore describes why humanity invented the idea of

The superstitious and mythical figure of the vampire has been seen throughout all era’s off history. It is a figure of mythology that is transcendent in an abundance of cultures and regions. The most significant aspect of the vampire is its ability to redefine itself throughout history and continued to stay relevant to society. The most modern and commonly known definition of vampires is a preternatural being know to be a corpse that resurrects from the dead and lives of the living, by draining humans of their blood, until a it is impaled by a wooden stick or burned. In ancient history we see the myth of the vampire appearing in burial traditions, showing vast similarities to the modern day definition of the vampire. We see this appear in various cultures and regions like the Tibetans, ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome (Wotherspoon, 6-8).

The legend of the vampire in history is boundlessly frightening to all and fascinating to people world-wide. Vampires are creatures of the night who live by feeding on the blood of human beings. Stories of vampire creatures have been told around the world from nearly the beginning of time itself. The way they look, their tendencies, purposes, and other characteristics of vampires, appear to differ based on the time period in which the vampire folklore originated or what culture it derived from. These cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, and the Romans all have various folklores that explain how the vampire came to be.

In most of the novels and movies, vampires are always known as the living creature of the night. To fulfill their sexual desire and get what they want, vampires will mostly hunt and seduced their victims during night time. According to Vampire Legendary Creature by Alison Eldridge, “Creatures with vampiric characteristics have appeared at least as far back as ancient Greece, where stories were told of creatures that attacked people in their sleep and drained their bodily fluids. Tales of walking corpses that drank the blood of the living and spread plague flourished in medieval Europe in times of disease, and people lacking a modern understanding of infectious disease came to believe that those who became vampires preyed first upon their own families.” (Eldridge)

For years, the vampire has been a mysterious creature. We have all been infatuated with the appeal of immortality and distinctiveness that vampires possess. Many writers have visualized what vampires are supposed to look like and how they act. The common description of a vampire is terror, violence, viciousness, and fear. Nina Auerbach, writes that “There is no such creature as ‘The Vampire’; there are only vampires” (Saler 218). This statement recognizes that vampires differ tremendously in behavior, motivation, and culture. Because vampires are a fictional character, depending on the writer, the vampire will be different, even if they are all influenced by one image.