Breakfast with Pandora and Rebecca Clay Haynes have been discussing the question: "What accounts for the enduring appeal of vampires?"
Now, I'm not the best person to answer that because, in general, I dislike horror movies, and I only like a few vampire stories. Still, I consider it an interesting question so here are a few ideas.
My favorite vampire story, as I've written before, is the 1979 version of Dracula. It's only partly true to the original book (for instance, for no particular reason, they switch the names for Mina and Lucy, which irritates daughter so she calls the main character "Moosy"). You can see it as a romance where the male's tragic flaw happens to be that he's a vampire (dear husband disagrees with that, but he can write his own post). It's a very sensual movie (not just in the lovemaking scene), but a large part of the appeal comes from Kate Nelligan's portrayal of Lucy. Lucy is a strong minded, adventurous, loving woman who is not well matched with her traditional fiancee. Langella Dracula comes along, focuses his attention on her, and obviously appreciates her mind and spirit along with her body and femininity. Of the eligible men male creatures in her vicinity, he's the only one who's her match - well, except for his dining habits. To give him his due, he is going to make her his queen - unlike Mina, who, having served her culinary purpose, is now a disgusting creature wandering around the graveyard trying to chomp people.
That's where I generally part company with vampire stories. The disgusting, mindless vampire in search of food doesn't make for an interesting character in my opinion. When we were talking about this, older son said that part of what makes vampires interesting is their sense of style. Unlike other monsters - say zombies, Frankenstein, etc., vampires can be suave and attractive. Dangerous, but alluring - as dear husband mentioned, like sirens and mermaids. Unlike them, however, vampires often are somehow resident in a community whether hidden in plain sight (Langella's Dracula or Twilight) or known but avoided (Robin McKinley's Sunshine). This resonates with everyday experience where we don't always know what resides behind the masks that others (or even sometimes we ourselves) present to the world.
Other monsters also can only kill. If a mummy, or a poltergeist, or a Frankenstein monster attacks you, you die. Vampires transform. You are all of a sudden different than you were. You have the same memories, the same body, and the remnants of the same personality, but now you're driven by a new imperative - going around biting people and turning them into the same sort of creature. This transformation is really worse than death. You continue to exist, but without any real volition of your own...
...in most vampire stories. That's what makes Twilight different. The vampires have a choice, and the attractive ones choose to be celibate vegetarian non human-ivorous. Edward is attracted to Bella both romantically and gastronomically, and the push-pull with which he struggles makes his character more interesting than the average vampire.
Internal struggles also feature in Robin McKinley's Sunshine. In order to achieve a common goal, the main character allies with a vampire, who would be fatal to her were it not for their alliance.
Nearby, alluring, often intelligent, transformative - at their best, vampires can pack more of a punch than the average, dramatic monster.
That being said, although I read all three books, I only got about halfway through the movie of Twilight. I intended to finish it, but just haven't gotten around to it. I still do intend to see the second movie, probably on DVD.
I'm really curious about the werewolves.
[Note: For all the discussion of vampires, the strangest thing about the post has to do with the vagaries of the internet. I regularly read Rebecca Clay Haynes' blog, have commented once on there, and have even received the wine at Communion from her (if the recent church program was correct about that morning's Eucharistic ministers), but I have never actually met her in real life. Isn't the internet a strange place?!]
