too many vampires

This is true. Anyone who is writing a vampire story should go read the wiki on them. Do you know that in most cultures vampires used to be thought to be fat because they were so bloated from drinking blood?

Actually, I don't think so. It is fun to read. I never expected it to be LOTR quality, and therefore I wasn't dissapointed. I read the first book, realized that was fun, and moved on.

 

Actually, yes I do. I had to write a graduation project, which I should be working on right now, and in it I mentioned about their bloated appearances in the coffin because they were freshly filled with blood.

Now we all know that in reality it was just the decomposition doing it's work, not them feeding on the living. But still, people believed for a good, long time that if a coffin was opened and the body was still plump, they were a vampire.

I haven't read it since then, and I probably never will. But, if I ever get the chance, I'm sure it'll be an okay read. I didn't even know he was idolizing Tolkein or anyone else, I just read the book because I found it lying in my one classroom, and the teacher said I could take it because no one claimed it for months. I would sneak reading a page or two in class over the time of three or four months, leading Mr. Orr, my social studies teacher, to ask me if I wanted to keep it. He was so sweet. :]

 

I don't see anything wrong with writers trying to take a different spin on vampires, rather than just following the established mythologies about them...some attempts just don't work as well as the author would like.

And as for the quality of some of the books being discussed (i.e. Twilight, Eragon), I was talking to a friend about them, and as she put it, those books aren't meant to be great literature-they're dessert. Guilty pleasures, if you will.

 

...
There's a vampire book called Guilty Pleasures. XD
I've read it.

 

I should have stated that differently. There is nothing wrong with putting a modern "spin" on the vampyre mythologies, but they should remain true to what made them so popular in the first place. I don't want to see sparkly good-hearted pretty-boy vamps. I do enjoy a nice twist to them every now and again, but if you change everything that makes a vampyre a vampye (drinking blood, fangs, evil) then why even bother calling them a vampyre? (Over-use of the word "vampyre") Why not just make up your own darn creatures and make them look bad rather than tarnishing well-established mythologies?

 

Hold up! Now that just makes soft-porn look bad!

 

Meh. The only vampire book I ever read and liked was Memnoch the Devil. And even that was only cool when Lestat shut his mouth and let Satan do the talking.

 

I do love me the Satan!

 

Ohhh, no way. I adored Once Bitten, Twice Shy.

 

When I compare Twilight to Let the Right One In, I become deeply annoyed by what Meyer has done to the vampire genre, and the way people are falling all over themselves to buy her books and watch the film.

 

uh-oh. One of my stories is about vampires, but I will say, I been working on the story for roughly ten years... hey- its not a twilight spin off!! ROTFLMAO.

But I can see what yous are saying, now with the twilight movie out, just seeing the style of dressing and all the t-shirts everywhere now. Kinda twisted what vampires are and all. But its a fad or whatnot, and I am sure a new one will be coming along..

But I don't mind people's different takes on them or spins- its part of the writers story telling. I guess to each their own. Personally, I prefer the 'pretty boy' vampires to the stories where they are rotting corpses rising from the grave... but I guess that is really Anne Rice's fault It comes down to the readers preference.

I am actually going through the first twilight book now, and am enjoying it. LOL- I can't really pick out any writing flaws, but the book, while keeping my attention, isn't quite my style. Wait, one thing I did notice, the author really repeats the fact that the main character keeps getting butterflies in her stomach... I am sure there can be more ways to describe one getting nervous... Parts of the dialog kind of gets me at times, but hey, as long as a book can take me away from reality for a bit, I'll enjoy it. And I was kind of embarassed to go to the book store to buy the book. And my b/f teased me when I made him rent the movie from blockbuster. eek: Yes, I got the free poster too, but I gave it to my co-workers daughter who is obsessed with the book and liked the movie. For real... its not hanging in my bedroom, I swear!!)

 

I agree about different spins. While I understand why it may bother people that writers like Meyer have taken the idea of vampires in a different direction than is normal or expected, I don't think that's a bad thing. Sometimes it's just fun to toy with different ideas. Asking questions that people don't usually ask and seeing where that takes you isn't a bad thing.

And I would like to second what you said about it taking you away from reality for a bit, too. Sometimes it's nice to be able to pick up a book and take a break from reality for a little while, even if that book isn't the most brilliantly written thing you've ever laid eyes on...

 

It's all well and good to take them in a different direction than expected. The glittering was a bit much for me, though.

 

If you are talking about the scene in twilight- I was actually watching that, and I shouted ' what the heck is different?' At first I didnt notice the glitter. I was kinda expecting him to turn into a monster or have something very odd/scary change in direct sunlight. I did find it kinda over the top as well, especially since i have this bronzer make-up, and I put way too much on once, and my face was a glittery-gold color. I used to think that this make up mishap made me look like c3po, but I guess now I think differently....

 

Personally, I love vampires
The fascination has always been around and just happens to be embodied by the vampire craze right now. The fascination I refer to is the concept of immortality. It is something that human beings are naturally drawn to and makes us question what it truly means to be human. The Twilight series have now, more than ever, made vampires relatable and thus makes us feel that much closer to immortality.The idea that feeling and loving and having goals is now an emotion shared both by humans and the immortal leads people to consider, both consciously and subconsciously, that maybe we are greater than we realize and more resilient than we give ourselves credit for.

It marks a new era when the undead is no longer scary and foreign but something that we admire and relate to. Those teens growing up openly fascinated with immortality may be more likely to embrace the unknown and ask "what if", which I think is great.

Regardless of the time vampires have always been sensual and strong characters that people have been fascinated with either from afar or more intimately. The sorrow and wonder of being immortal, whether it be vampires or a fountain of youth, has and will continue to intrigue and be welcomed by humans. It is the most blatantly accepted forum for people to express confusion and dissatisfaction with the circle of life. I think that our ability to personify something and examine something so abstract speaks volumes for our culture.

 

There, fixed that up a bit.

 

that... was ingenious.

 

I appreciate your opinion ManicPro...I personally consider crossing out someones work or opinion to be the lowest form of expressing a contradicting opinion and as insensate as spitting on someone. I would have appreciated it if you could have expressed your obvious discord with my opinion in a less aggressive way

with that said, when I wrote about vampires and trends I wasn't interpreting them for their obvious face value. It's easy to simplify whats going on by just looking at it as "sparkling vampires" that have attracted the teeny boppers of the world. I prefer to ask WHY people are following this trend and what it will lead to...I'm sorry if this seems too far fetched for you or even off topic but what's the fun in life if you can't interpret things your own way?..

I see where you are coming from with how flashy vampires are being portrayed now and how it takes away from how immoral and severe they traditionally are. Having read Feast of Blood (one of the first vampire novels) Dracula and of course, Vampyre for a Gothic horror course, I too prefer vampires to be predicted more grave, frightening and less human. But before Anne Rice made them all silly-like Vampires were already changing. Tell me, what do you see when you picture a vampire? Do you see the original European look of being bloated and purple skinned or do you see the Transylvania idea that is in a lot of early literature where the vampire is gaunt, pale and tall. Do you see a vampire to be wearing a long black cloak? Can it shape-shift like Bram Stoker's version of a vampire? Despite your claim that Anne Rice was the fall of the horror of vampires, some of the most early literature and myths about vampires involve romance since they were based on the concept that loved ones came back from the dead. The poem "the vampire" was extremely erotic and based on a human-vampire relationship...You see what a Vampire "should" be is all up for interpretation and usually depicted however the public needs it to be depicted at that time. What you are saying is that you enjoy a scarier Vampire, which is great, maybe a more human vampire is too close to home for you. But both of these depictions are accepted and have been for ages. By no means is a different and softer take on what a Vampire should be a wrong or modern occurrence.

I love thinking about this topic from your point of view as well, so thank you for creating another pair of eyes for me to consider this subject through

Being open-minded and letting yourself appreciate other opinions and learn from them...I believe that's called growth.

 

motions, we all know why teenage girls like Twilight. It's not about how the vampires are protrayed that we don't like the book. We don't like the book because it was so poorly written. If Meyer had done with skill, the way Ann Rice wrote her novels (I haven't actually read her books, just guessing from what people saw) or the way Joss Whedon wrote his vampires, we might have liked it and accepted the changes. People on this site are bored to tears of discussions on Twilight. Manic may not have chosen the most polite way to response, but it's an understandible reaction to teenie boopers (not saying you are one of them) who act like it's the best thing ever published.

 

Okay, I'm going to suppose you're just joking because I could show you a room full of nerdy girls who read a ton and are 4.0 GPA students who were in love with Twilight not so long ago.

Getting back on topic, here's a book that looks awesome and could be just the thing to get people off of the vampire craze and on to zombies:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1594743347/?tag=postedlinks04-20

 

I worked with a guy who hated that about the book more than anything else. He used to always ask me "if you want them to be able to go out in the sun without dying, why not make them get violently ill when they do? Why do they have to SPARKLE?" And I agree...I thought that particular decision was a little silly.

I think that's very well said, and I couldn't agree more.

As could I. Just because some people may not care for books like Twilight doesn't mean that the only people who DO enjoy it are teeny boppers or lonely housewives. That kind of thing isn't your cup of tea...doesn't mean you have to degrade the people who do like it.

 

ohs noes what have i done

The only "people" I see following this trend are some white girls from the 'burbs. Twilight is just a marketing phenomen, and hopefully it will die soon. It might not - for reasons that I discuss later - but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Vampires change, etc etc.

You're trying to bring literary analysis to bear on something that doesn't need it. Twilight isn't some kind of major literary phenomen, it's just populist nonsense that gets lapped up by (mostly) stupid people. Sweet Valley High novels sold enormous numbers, but that doesn't say something important about the zeitgeist of Western society when they were published. It just shows that romantic schlock was popular among teenage girls in the 90s, just like now.

Vampires have been a popular romantic trope for ages, sure. I'll accept that - you're obviously very up on your vampire tradition - but it just shows that Twilight is unoriginal, which makes it even less worthy of literary analysis.

Perhaps the only interesting point about Twilight comes from the pop culture wars that have been launched on the internet. Twilight shows that rubbish is getting more popular, or at least more internally self-sustaining. I suspect that a lot of this is because of the Internet in general, and Live Journal and fan fiction in particular. People have become convinced that rubbish, Mary Sue stories are OK. Not only that - they get together to talk about how awesome their rubbish fiction is, until they're practically convinced that it's some kind of valid literary tradition.

Now, you might say that I'm overstating the popularity of Twilight. Sure, romantic rubbish has been popular in the past. However, unlike, say, Sweet Valley High, Twilight has a vocal following of crazy teenage fans that screamed blue murder when Stephen King calls Stephanie Meyer out on writing crap. Instead of just STFUing and reading their rubbish books, they put up videos on youtube and set up forums attempting to defend this nonsense. Twilightmoms.com describes itself as the "Best elite Twilight fan site and member community on the internet."

Puhlease. Being an elite Twilight forum is like having the best LiveJournal.

The whole thing's a little bit like furries. Furries have probably existed for a long time - heck, Nero was probably a furry - but it's only once they started posting on the internet and telling each other that it was OK to be a furry, that they started getting up the nerve to come out of the closet and wear their stupid bunny ears in public, where we have to see them.

 

themotions, I wanted to say I appreciated your interesting and well-considered comments (even though I guess I preferred the 'nutshell' version by Manic!). It's the whole Twilight/vampire thing we're laughing at, not you.

 

Careful about when you put that on, people might think you're one of them! -gasps- XD

The sparkling was just too much for me. In the books, I imagined the sparkling to be more or less... well, not like they did it in the movie. IT MADE NOISE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Sparkles, making noises? Nuh-uh.

 

Ok, THANK YOU. I tried to point out to my fiance and all my friends that they put stupid noises in when he was sparkling, and none of them knew what I was talking about. I agree that was stupid. I'm not a fan of the sparkling.

I do still think the idea of a "good" vampire was an interesting twist on things, though.