I've got a vampire/werewolf fascination, and I'm wondering if there's anyone with this taste on here? It's just nice to come into contact with those with similar interests as I. Are there any stories anyone's working on containing darker creatures like vampires and the like? I'm about to work on one, so inspiration is appreciated.
Vampires aren't really dark or scary to me; what I always find is the most dark subject one can think of and write about is depression and mental instability. I am currently plotting a story about a man who returns home from a war to find that he is not only having trouble readjusting to normal 'civilian' life, he also suffers strange hallucinations and is plagued by nightmares. The most fascinating subject, for me, is the power of the human mind over the way we perceive the world around us; and if this thought process becomes disrupted or slumps into madness, how things are then perceived by a consciousness spiralling out of control can be very scary.
I'd have to say I like dark themed books, normally psychological thrillers. Werewolf/vampire novels are fun to read when they're well written but they're subcharacters of a genre that are overwritten in a negative way (i.e. the writing is bad, not the concept of the creatures). When I think 'dark' I think of writers like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and I think of the Cube movies. All of those have 'dark' elements to me. ~Lynn
When I think of vampires, I think of a deep, dark, aristocratic atmosphere. Not... god forbid... sparkly vampires who go by the name of edward. *shudder* I don't think of horror as dark, but rather scary. lol. But everyone has different opinions So is no one working on vampiric novels then?
I never said I didn't like vampire novels I love Anne Rice's vampire novels. And while Stephenie Meyer's vampires are a bit too 'good' for vampires, she still managed to pull that concept of them off pretty well. Could it have been done better? Yes. But it was written for a teen audience. I'd still say my favorite writer of vampires is Anne Rice tho. And actually, I was at one point working on my own vampire novel.. it may be something I should resume now that I think about it.
I have one piece about vampires but I suppose not so much the dark/gothic style vampires read by most. Not long about 10k but could be easily expanded. The problem is, as mentioned, they are defined too well by movies in a certain light. It would be interesting to show them as the beasts and the werewolves as the cultured class, not so much as in comparison to the underworld series but a different form of darkness.
I don't particularly write about vampires and the like, but I am a horror poet. One of my poems does contain a vampire, but the poem itself is not about vampires. I just used a vampire as a reference for drainage of life. But I do write a lot of horror/dark poetry.
Sorry, but I beg to differ that vampires and werewolves are always dark (if by that, you mean scary and evil). Why should they be? Because they were born evil? Come on... If you treat a vampire evil because he has a biological thirst for human blood, then you should treat anyone that is eating animals as evil as well - he/she kills you because they are dependant on something (yes, there are people who think that eating animals / animal products is wrong, but they don't kill meat eaters, nor chase them with torches/ crucifixes). That's simply the food chain. Big wow if we're not the ones on top. And werewolves? They're just people that turn into animals that do not hunt anything by their own will, but instead attack (it is possible in self-defense) whoever comes close. Related to their normal form (human) when they do attack people on purpose... Evil? I think not. They could be scary, because they represent something unknown, a mistery, but that is just a level 2 version of fear of the dark. My main character is Death himself, other characters are ghosts and the like. You've inspired me to include a vampire as well. I don't think myself as a "dark" writer. No, they won't be cheerful and they won't be smiling all the time, but they won't be those evil figures, scheming to take over the world or kill thousands of *cough* 'innocent' people (if such exist. And yes, I accept rather well that I ain't exactly perfect, if you were wondering whether I was affected or not by my last sentence). That's only my personal opinion, though , hope this didn't sound harsh.
Does this mean, since I'm vegan (and eat no animals or animal by-products i.e. dairy/eggs) and I think that eating otherwise is cruel that I'm allowed to use vampires as solely dark creatures? Just thought I'd point out that there *are* people who think it's wrong that other people eat animals. ~Lynn
I would never consider vampyres and werewolves the centre of dark-fiction, nor do I write stories about them. (I've written one vampyre story-sucked, and one werewolf story-it was good for when it was written, but nonetheless sucks.) I prefer to come up with my own mythologies, so I tend to write about angels or witches. The last short-story that I wrote was a dark re-telling of Hansel and Gretel in which the house was at day made of gingerbread, but at night had wallpaper of children's flesh, etc. So I would say that I write too darkly for the conventional creatures. Angels tend to be tortured souls stuck in odd purgatories in which Heaven is in reality their own Hell. I don't necessarily write Horror any more, nor do I write fantasy. More like a medium between the two. So yeah, you could call me a dark writer.
I would consider myself a dark writer. My favorite theme is innocence lost or corrupted but like Lemmex said insanity is good too. I never write about vampires or werewolves though. I don't like writing in other peoples made up worlds. If I want to write fantasy then I'll try to come up with my own concepts and creatures. In that way I'm like Gingersnapped. I would consider tackling a vampire novel to try showing vampires differently but that's hard to do. The creatures have been taken from pretty much every angle. A virus, a different species, evil, good, not quite either. Whats left? I really think the genre is pretty played out. I once read a book where vampires were really dragons who took on human form. All that's really left is vampires as aliens or perhaps gods. I don't know. Now I kinda want to try it just to see if I can squeeze something original out of it. Werewolves on the other hand haven't yet reached their peak. They have always seemed to play second place to vampires except in the white wolf world. I would like to see them portrayed as a more noble race and less beast like. I've seen them as good a couple of times and evil a lot but rarely walking the line. Perhaps I just haven't explored the genre enough though.
I don't have a vampire/werewolf fetish, no, but I have been called a dark writer many-a-time in my several year career (unintentional rhyme ftw!). I think it's just because one of the major points in my writing are the extremely detailed battles, usually duels or minor skirmishes. :/ But I can't be sure.
Sounds like Jacob's Ladder in a way, never a bad thing. Except when it's called The Unborn. Dark writing doesn't have to mean vampires and werewolves. I agree with Lemex on this; the best dark subjects to tackle are the more humane ones, because we can all relate to that, and as such, it may scare us. The world is full of dark things, and I don't think writing about it is uncommon at all.
I'm just gonna throw it out there. Vamps and weres aren't dark, they're horror. Answering the question i do a bit of scifi and every now and then I work with werewolves. I tried vamps once but I'll be darned if I don't find vampires as presented in fiction are horribly boring and have never really been able to work with them long.
I disagree that vampires and werewolves are dark but their characters can be painted dark. Anything can be dark, children, butterflies if you want them to be, sucking on your body fluid for example. Its the story around them that places the genre. interesting thoughts here
Glad you agree. And yes, I must be honest in saying Jacob's Ladder is one of my favoute films ever made, but this story I am plotting is more about the character torturing himself rather than something that had happened torturing him.
personal favorite are vampires over werewolves, and i love all of the books in anne rice's vampire chronicles.... i love writing and reading about vampires, and yea, no to edward, yes to lestat
Okay, just to mix things up: Where do you get inspiration for your "Dark Side" from? I usually get mine from my innermost thoughts and unfiltered dreams. Usually the stuff that I would normally never admit to the world that I'm capable of imagining and the likes that seep into the pages without my conscience knowing.
the thing is, tho, just writing about vampires, when i do, i seem to make them in a way similar to anne rice, they are a form of the dark seduction, a romance more than anything, but a true dark story, when writing about vampires, has to be based on more human aspects of the vampire...not the animalistic parts, but rather the human emotions and desires that cloud the mind of the vampires...
vampire fascination I as well have a vampire fascination. I agree with some on this thread who have said that Anne Rice's vampire novels are great. At the moment I'm reading the Vampire Lestat, which is completely awesome. But for me, vampires and such creatures of the night are not so much dark as fascinating. I think the idea of dark comes along in the ways that you write your stories. Some vampire fiction is not dark. It depends also on the point of view that the writer has of the creatures they depict, and what exactly what wish to convey.
Well i see what you mean about animalist side, but we all seen the human side now of vampires and werewolves, and with so many stories out now about them you have to make it unique to what is out but not so unique that it loses its blood-quenching flavours. It can be anything, the beast or the beauty, but has to be told well. As for the dark side and where i get inspiration, sometimes my past, sometimes what i read, what i see. a lot of darkness in this ole world, lots to choose from.
