The New and Old Vampire: Evolution of the Monster

The Changing of the Monster

By: Gabby Nguyen

Throughout the class in which we have focused on vampires, we see the differences between the kind of old school vampire such as Bram Stoker’s interpretation of Dracula and Charlaine Harris’ version of her vampire. It seems as if there is an evolution of how the vampire develops, it is no longer a scary monster that comes to suck on human’s blood, but it is now portrayed as a sexy chiseled man or scantily dressed woman that is over sexual. The comparison between the modern age vampires is quite different from the one of Dracula’s day and age and I believe that this was to appeal to the audience as the writers Harris or Stephanie Meyer portrays their version of the perfect vampire to their readers. The evolving of monsters is still in continuation and is due to the fact that it will conform to what the readers or viewers believe is attractive, and this is what the author will base their writings off of.

            First we see that Stoker uses Dracula as a monster of horror, who holds his prisoners in a dark castle with the threat of him catching them snooping through his things. Dracula is seen as a figure that lurks in the darkness and is associated with darkness, which is a common theme between all characters that are evil. Stoker describes Dracula as “cold as ice, more like the hand of a dead man. His face is aquiline, with a high bridge, thin nose, and arched nostrils” (Stoker 24). And then the film adaptation holds this description true, with a high forehead and red lips, trying to give the audience the visual of what evil looks like. What was kept similar with the evolution of the vampire from Dracula to Bill Compton in Dead until Dark was the reoccurring theme of sexual tones and the interactions between the characters.

            In continuation in talking on the theme of sexual interactions as well as the communication between characters, we see that Sookie and Bill seem to have some type of sexual tension between them, or at least how Harris wrote her books, that is what she intended for her readers to catch on. However, the differences between Dracula and Bill is that Bill is more possessive of Sookie. Dracula was possessive in the way that he just wanted Mina for blood but Bill has an attraction towards Sookie and claiming her as his own. It also is different that in some way, Harris writes more about sex and is more explicit about it than Stoker was. She uses Bill as a sexual symbol as well as the other vampires in the novel and in the show True Blood. And even though Dracula is desired by Mina and Lucy, Bill and the other vampires have their own fan club, the fang-bangers. These people WANT to be bit by the vampires because it gives them pleasure to the point that they will end up dying because of it. I believe that the modern day vampire is more desirable than the era of Dracula because authors make them seem more attractive with the uses of imagery and the ideal man.

            Overall, the changing and growing of monsters is still in continuation. Authors intend to appeal to their readers and directors of shows want consistent viewers. And the way to do this is to keep with the culture of what is popular. And I believe that in the era of Dracula, the appeal was for that intended audience, but Dracula was actually a monster who was preying on women, where in Dead Until Dark, Bill is a vampire who wants to protect a woman he loves and just because he is a so called monster, this comes to his advantage due to his good looks and charm. I am excited to see the further evolving of monsters through books and film adaptations based on how the culture is during that time.