What is up with our infatuation with Vampires???

What exactly is our love affair with Vampires? What is that all about? I must admit, I too am one of the infatuated. Over the years, there have been more movies made about vampires than any other creature of fantasy or fictional character for that matter. There are over 170 versions of Dracula alone.

What is it about them? Their history and backstory has changed dramatically throughout the years and every incarnation as it is told by the next person. Some have romanticized the idea of vampires as nobility while some have them as mindless simpletons whose only urge is blood and killing. Some have them as rogue teenage outcasts or as the popular kids with a dark secret. Most have shown to have a tormented soul, but isn't it common that vampires have no souls, hence "the undead"?


There have been mentions of vampires and fantastical creatures all the way back to the beginnings of recorded history. Every culture has reports of the undead. Some based religious practices around it. The strange thing is that we assume, based on a good assumption, that ancient civilizations did not correspond with each other. However, stories of the undead and the reports of vampires in their earliest forms are eerily similar, some almost identical. Could that be coincidence? Maybe. Who knows? So whether we are talking about ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, medieval Transylvania, old Bulgaria or Romania, old world London, early United States, Russia, China, Japan, Alaska, Mexico or some other country; vampires have been part of the lore of that region of the world. There have been so many iterations, that I will only focus on the more important.

1. - Vampire of the Coast (1909) - 1st Vampire Film. Silent.
2. - Nosferatu (1922) - First movie of "Bram Stoker's Dracula. Unofficial. Bram Stoker's estate sue and won. All prints ordered destroyed. Only 5 copies survived. Restored in 1994.
3. - Dracula (1931) - The most famous Dracula movie of all. Dracula infamously played by Bela Lugosi.
4. - El Vampiro (1957) - Mexican vampire movie. The first where the vampire show his fangs and introduced alot of other cliches.
5. - Dracula (1958) - Reintroduction of Dracula featuring Christopher Lee. Starred in 7 more movies in a series.
6. - The Last Man on Earth (1964) - Based on Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend".
7. - The Omega Man (1971) - Also based on Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend".
8. - Blacula (1972) - Introduced the first black vampire and the first 2 gay male vampires in a movie.
9. - The Lost Boys (1987) - Cult Classic. Made vampires cool for the teen crowd.
10. - Bram Stoker's Dracula (1993) - Honest adaptation of Bram Stoker's Novel. Cult Classic. First to mix Dracula and story of Vlad Tepes, A medieval Bulgarian Count.
11. - Interview with the Vampire - Famous for starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Kirsten Dunst along with many other star actors.
12. - Blade (1998) - Intermingled the story of the Daywalker.
13. - Underworld (2003) - Mixed the story of a war between vampires and werewolves.
14. - 30 days of Night (2007) - Based on a graphic novel. Featured vampires as simple bloodsuckers.
15. - I Am Legend (2007) - Remake of "The Omega Man" Based on Richard Matheson's novel where vampirism appears to be symptoms of a worldwide disease epidemic.
16. - Twilight (2008) - Super popular series based on novels by Stephanie Meyer.

And let's not forget the great TV series along the way:

• - Dark Shadows (1966-1971, 1991)
• - Forever Knight (1992-1996)
• - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
• - Angel (1999-2004)
• - Blade: The TV Series (2006)
• - Moonlight (2007)
• - True Blood (2008-Present)
• - Vampire Diaries (2009)

Not to mention all of the wonderful anime series that were based around vampires, most notably: Trinity Blood, Blood: The Last Vampire & Vampire Hunter D, just to name a few.....




Anyway, you'll see what I'm talking about. Well without further ado:



Special Love Affair for the Undead....

Don't believe me....check these videos out.....

"Vampire Diaries" TV show on the CW (for tweens)

True Blood Season 1 on HBO (for Adults)


True Blood Season 2 on HBO (for Adults)

Well until next time....
R. Steed (Big Goldie)
"Fluffy Puffy - The Media Mogul in Training"
www.arewenotentertained.blogspot.com