Where All The Vampires Came From

Around November of 2008 (which saner people will recognize as the month America’s first president of African descent was elected), the movie Twilight came out, and we began to ask ourselves where all the vampires came from.

Technically, it began with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or perhaps even earlier than that. It’s clear that the blood-drinking immortal is a character strongly rooted in the past, back with the tribal tales and old folk stories. Vampires aren’t necessarily a new thing.

However, when people think of fangs and blood, they aren’t reminded of Dracula or Nosferatu. They recall the more recent wave of gothic fiction- True Blood, House of Night, The Gates. The vampire fad, or more accurately, obsession, faded away somewhere during the twentieth century. Now, though, even those who detest the idea can’t deny that it has resurfaced.

Some, mostly anti-fans, believe that it was Stephenie Meyer who began the newer popularity of vampires, that the Twilight Saga ignited the fire of vamp stories. Contrarily, her first book came out in 2005, four years after the publication of the first in the series that inspired True Blood, The Southern Vampire Mysteries. Twilight, I believe, caught the “fanpirism” and took it to new heights, making a flame a bonfire. However, that fire was already there.

I maintain that it all began with L.J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries, which was published in 1991, before even Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Of course, perchance there is no clear beginning to the fandom. The mere idea of blood drinking, of forbidden love battling thirst, is a seductive dynamic that appeals to many. Perhaps that addictive inspiration is really where all the vampires came from.

So good.
Such a good topic.
I have no negative response.
<3