Just one bite

We live in the era of the sexy vampire.

I have always liked vampires. As a third-grade nerd, I liked to impress other students by reading big books. My biggest accomplishment was wading through the dreadfully dull Little Women. While that book bored me, others like Around the World in Eight Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Prince and the Pauper, and The Wizard of Oz completely entranced me.

Bram Stoker's Dracula may have impacted me most. I never watched anything scarier than 101 Dalmations until I got to middle school, so Dracula absolutely terrified me. As Dracula terrorized Jonathan Harker and his family and friends, I closed my closet at night and locked my bedroom door for protection.

This book was the best introduction to vampires I could have had. Stoker's vampire was something inhuman, something to fear and hate. He standardized vampire lore and defined the powers and limits of the classic vampire. God bless Bram Stoker.

I am not quite sure when vampires stopped being monsters and started to be sex icons. Buffy may have a lot to do with it. On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampires are demon-possessed people that return from the dead. Sunlight and stakes kill them easily. The relationship between Buffy and Angel, a good vampire due to a gypsy curse, was always steamy and exciting.

Anne Rice's dark vampire literature further contributed to the mainstreaming of vampires. Although her vampires are not human in mind or ability, Rice's readers identify with the characters. The casting of the wildly famous Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in the lead roles of Rice's book-to-film adaptation, Interview with a Vampire, brought crowds to the theaters in 1994 and connected vampires with their sex appeal.

One of the greatest television tragedies occurred in 2007 when the CBS drama Moonlight was cancelled after one season. Moonlight followed the life of Mick St. John, a vampire private detective who had been protecting a reporter, Beth Turner, since his crazy, vampire ex-wife kidnapped her as a small child. This show was intriguing, humorous, endearing, and captivating. Unfortunately, it aired before America had caught vampire fever, and could have been a huge success if released only a year or two later.

Stephenie Meyer's infamous Twilight Saga made people fall head-over-heels in love with vampires. Not only are these books incredibly popular amongst children, but people of all ages and backgrounds enjoy them. The series of films based on the books have transformed Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner from nobodies to members of the young elite of Hollywood. On a personal note, Twilight got me more excited about reading than I had been in several years.

HBO's True Blood and the CW's Vampire Diaries took popular book series and transformed them into even more popular television programs. Both provide sizzling vampire love and intense fight scenes for their respective audiences. In contrast to the mostly optimistic world of Twilight, these two shows are not afraid to kill of characters. When I watch them, I expect someone to die at least once an episode.

I find the inconsistency within all this media interesting. Some vampires have powers, like the ability to change into animals or control minds, while others simply have super strength and speed. The controllability of the thirst for human blood varies considerably. Some can eat food and drink coffee. For some the sun means death, while for others it is merely annoying or causes their skin to sparkle. Their seems to be a lot of artistic license taken in each case.

Someday, when I meet a vampire, he or she will tell me who comes closest to the truth. Until then, I will just keep enjoying all of the above.