Undying Popularity Through Sex and Death
I'm pretty sure that vampires are probably the most popular genre, with zombies coming a close second.
I've read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles quite a few times already, along with quite a few of the novels on the alternate reading list. I'm sad to say that I have read all of the Twilight books... and am very ashamed of it. So I decided to read The Hunger by Whitley Strieber because my vampire-obsessed friend recommended it. I found it an interesting read compared to some of the other vampire novels that I've read where the vampire is either a mindless killing machine or an awkward 17-year-old boy (puke).
The story centers around a vampire called Miriam Blaylock, who is constantly craving humany companionship. The difference in this book, as compared to some others, is that she often refers to humans as "pets" instead of idk... being livestock? They aren't just beings to feed from and kill. She of course has some of the classic "powers" associated with vampires, like the ability to manipulate the mind. I found this book has a similar premise with Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice; Louis and Miriam are both lonely (vampire-as-alien theme), which the reader tends to sympathize for.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of vampires (like I've said werewolves float my boat). The vampire novels that I enjoy more are often the ones where the vampires are not ravenous demons without a personality because then I never get that deep gothic, struggling, sympathetic, compelling connection. That may be because I'm a girl, we tend to like that. With films on the other hand, I really do like the violent monsters on a murder rampage.
Monsters are manifestations of our fears, the most prevalent being death. So why are vampires so popular? I believe the most obvious is humankind's love of immortality, the ability to live on forever free from illness and disease. There still is no cure for all of the cancers there are today, and vampirism is a solution since once you become a vampire you're instantly cured. Of course, vampires are always described as being gorgeous figures, especially in America when we idolize beauty. Through history the vampires being written about are slowly being domesticated; the most recent development being that vampires don't drink from humans anymore, they either drink from animals or use a blood bank. Anne Rice's novel really started a chance in vampire literature, turning the vampire from horror to hero. In the 1970s you can also see the appearance of the Count on Seasame Street and Count Chocula the cereal.
Oh! Before I forget, you MUST see the movie Let the Right One In, it's a Swedish vampire film that I think is fantastic.
The first time that I read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was during my senior year of high school as part of the AP English course. Before that I only knew the Hollywood story of Frankenstein that James Whale popularized in the 1930s. So I was pleasantly surprised when I read it and found out it was hardly like the film at all. I definitely enjoy the novel more, although the Frankenstein movie with Robert De Niro as the monster is a good one that follows along with the novel pretty well.
So it's been a few years since I've read it, so I re-read it for class. When I finished, all I could think was, "Man, that's just as messed up as I remember." There are many morbid twists in the plot of the story, and I'm constantly feeling sorry for the monster, especially during those chapters that are entirely narrated by the monster when he's on his own. I always get irritated when people incorrectly call the monster “Frankenstein,” since the real monster of the novel is Frankenstein, Victor to be exact, not his creation. Victor is the father figure in the book, and the creature more of a newborn child. When the monster approaches Victor in the book, which is much like the first steps of a child to its parent, he flees the apartment, completely abandoning the creature. I felt this was very irresponsible of him, and portrayed his selfish character. What I don’t understand is how what he has done just suddenly dawns on him. He called the creature ugly, yet what did he expect when he used pieces of different corpses to assemble him?
Well, although I enjoy the novel more than the film, I’ve never been much of a Frankenstein fan. The Wolfman is more of what floats my boat, personally :)
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