Calling all vampire lit fans

[A*O]

My real life bookclub is having a discussion next month about vampire lit generally and why it's such a huge hit with people, especially teenage girls. We are all reading random examples of the genre (I've got "Fallen") and to be honest I don't really get it apart from perhaps the "safe" erotic subtext that would certainly appeal to pubescent girls. I certainly remember seeing old Dracula movies with people like Christopher Lee and the effect they had, although I was too young and dumb to realise they were tapping into any kind of sexual fantasy.

So, can anyone explain exactly what the special appeal of this genre is - not because I'm being critical, I just want to understand it from the "target" audience's point of view.

[suede]

I watched all those black and white vampire films as a kid. LOL

[sputnik]

i can understand the appeal of vampires. they're fascinating. dark, evil, sexy, nocturnal... what's not to like? but my problem with vamp lit is the same as with chick lit - it's so fucking badly written! and while i can get into cheesy, guilty pleasures when it comes to tv shows (i admit i've seen every episode of the OC, and enjoyed it), i can't do the same for books. i'm a snob. the twilight books are terrible! cringe-worthy. the sookie stackhouse books aren't that much better. maybe there are vamp books out there that are actually well written but other than bram stoker's dracula (which i love), i can't think of any.

[Mel1973]

I agree that it's the tapping into the idea of fucking an immortal soul. Especially with teenage girls - its all about the "romance". This idea that this immortal, undead, supernatural being wants YOU... I've read all the Sookie books and sex is a major factor. I'm not a teenaged girl (unfortunately for me) but yeah, if you're looking for fake and unattainable romance, why not with a vampire?

[LaFolie]

It didn't use to be about romance, strangely enough.

[Butterfly]

I have always been a book reader at young age and used to pillage my dad's book case and the first vamp books I read were, Brian Lumley's Necroscope series...Believe me these books are not for romance lovers.

I love horror books and science fiction I get it from my dad. Then one day I came across Ann Rice's vamp books and they were different...You're not supposed to like the monsters, FFS! I was hooked and it has been downhill from there. My favorite authors for fluffy vamp stuff are the first 5-7 books of Laurell K. Hamilton's, Anita Blake Vamp Executioner books... before she started putting in poorly written porn in the series. I also like Kim Harrison's, Hollows series... And Jim Butcher has the Harry Dresden series which is more gumshoe.

[sputnik]

oh yeah, i read interview with the vampire years ago and the vampire lestat when i was about 15 (when the movie came out) and enjoyed them. i tried reading the queen of the damned and i couldn't get into it and that was the end of anne rice for me.

[Ravenna]

^Queen of the Damned sucked and Tale of the Body Thief was even worse. I did enjoy the first two.

My experience with vampire literature is pretty much limited to Anne Rice and Dracula. Of course I have also seen some movies and was a big fan of Buffy. What I find most intriguing about vampire tales is the occult aspect- the idea of some hidden world and secret danger to which only a few are privy. There is also some fascination with immortality, or more precisely, eternal youth (I can't think of many vampire characters who were turned at an advanced age). Newer vampires are not intriguing; the idea of a being who was once mortal, who looks and thinks like a human but has been around for centuries and lived through famous historical events not experienced by any living man is fascinating. And somehow living at night adds mystique.

Of course, that's just me. I have no idea how teenage nitwits who swoon over Edward Cullen standing on the porch looking like a sweater model think.

I don't think vampires are inherently sexy. The idea of getting sexy with one just makes me think of disease, what with all the indiscriminate sucking of contaminated blood. Yes, I tend to overthink things.

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[LaFolie]

^No, you don't.

[A*O]

Good points, but I'm still trying to pinpoint why the whole vampire mythology is seems so compelling to young girls in particular. Someone suggested it's a sanitised rape fantasy which I don't totally discount even though that subject is so sensitive. Women have rape fantasies as well as men so perhaps being ravished by a vampire is a way of channelling those thoughts? Apart from Bram Stoker's original I haven't read any vamp lit apart from Fallen which I'm currently battling through. You're right, as "literature" it sucks (geddit?)

[Ravenna]

Teenage girls fantasize about somebody who is special in some way wanting them more than they want anyone else. Literary vampires are special because they are mysterious, pretty, immortal, powerful and rare. And then there's the drama aspect; being in love with the undead is complicated. It's all so frightfully romantic. To a teenage girl.

I haven't read Twilight but it sounds like the vampire was practically stalking the protagonist. That's just how irresistible she was. Teenage girls read it so they can put themselves in the position of the protagonist and imagine that they, too, are just that irresistible.

I guess that can be something of a rape fantasy. You are so desirable that the vampire just can't help himself.

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[A*O]

I haven't read Twilight either but I think its marketing as the hero/vampire finding his "soul mate" is another teenage romance trigger point.

I also wonder if the reason why these books are so incredibly popular with young teenage girls is because most of them these days have reached puberty and so the sexual subtext appeals to them even if they don't exactly understand why. It's safter to fantasise about a non-threatening fantasy figure rather than a human character.

[Bellatheball]

I think Twilight appleals to teenage girls because they are able to fantasize about a perfect man. He's perfect looking. He's an old soul so he always knows what to say. He has crazy fast instincts so he can literally save her from a moving car. His strength is beyond measure so he can crush anyone. Blah blah blah.

Then they insert themselves into the story. Bella is so plain Jane, it's easy for them to see themselves in this role.

Frankly Twilight is my only experience with Vampire Lit and it made me want to punch someone. The writing was awful. The ending was pathetic and the characters weren't lilkeable.

[A*O]

I agree about the crap writing. I'm only 50 pages into Fallen and I'm already skipping through whole chunks of it. I know it's aimed at a (much!) younger reader but does it have to be quite so dumbed down? It's also unintentionally funny with the usual high angst teenage dramas, example, the heroine is sent to a reform school and has to hand over her cellphone. She is devastated and as it drops into the box with a 'thunk' she thinks "this is the sound of being totally alone" ROFL.

[Karistiona]

How did you get on with your discussion group A*O?

I know I'm late to the party, but I love me some vampire romance despite most of it being cheesy and poorly written. I think Bella's pretty much nailed it; the books feed into young girls' desire to be special and different, but I think it's also about a kind of sexual fantasty where your partner has been around for centuries and is a perfect lover. The vampires are - without fail - tall, gorgeous, tortured, witty, sensitive and protective. What's not to love when you're fifteen? I also think that Twilight was so sucessful because Bella was such a blank canvas and Edward was completely devoted to her so a lot of these other vampire books are trying to capture some of that "magic", and the teenagers in turn are buying them feverishly in the hope that they'll find another Edward and Bella.