Vampire Awareness Month!
The Lure of the Vampire
A Guest Post By Roxanne Rhoads
There were vampires…and the people who loved them, long before Twilight. It’s just now…they are EVERYWHERE.
Why? For the most part- Teenagers.
In the marketing world it is said if you can create a product that teenage girls want then you’ll be rich. It’s true, teenage girls rule the world. At least when it comes to sales. Vampires are the hottest thing since sliced cheese. But why, why have teenage girls (among others) suddenly fallen so deeply in love with pale (sometimes sparkly) immortal guys with fangs?
The truth is that the love of vampires isn’t something new at all, this generation has just found a new breed of sullen bad boys that sparkle while generations before have loved the angsty bad boys (and girls) that had more bite and less glitter-though the angst seems to be a given. Must come with immortality.
The seductive lure of the vampire has been there since the first tale of vampires being more than blood thirsty monsters were spun back in 19th century Europe when sex was taboo and darkness still lingered in a blooming modern world. Stories emerged like Dr. Polidori’s “The Vampyre”, Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” and the tale of the most famous vampire of all time, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”.
Before these literary vampires hit the scene vampires were considered to be monsters, walking corpses, and blood thirty beasts of myth and lore. These 19th century “modern” tales of darkness, intelligence and seduction introduced the vampire that was cultured, friendly, seductive and above all mysterious and full of desire, full of need. Vampires of 19th century fiction were romanticized; they were the sensual, dark and erotic creatures that that indulged their needs and desires without the constraints and boundaries of humanity such as moral, religious and societal rules and restraints. The sexually repressed Victorian era turned the vampire into the embodiment of dark desires and sensuality that represented all the pent up sexuality of the time. The vampire became something not only terrifying but also highly attractive and alluring.
As a teenager my generation had Lestat and Louis, vampires from the once reigning queen of vampire fiction, Anne Rice. Her books spoke to a lost generation that wanted to be something more than what society would let them be.
I still her adore her Vampire Chronicles but I’ve moved beyond her vampires that were so compelling, needy and self loathing to vampires that embrace their “otherness” and use their powers without fear or self hatred. And damn they are sexy as hell when they accept who and what they are -for example Bones in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series- he never apologizes for being himself and that makes him so appealing.
Anne Rice’s vampires are still beautiful and enlightening…and they will always have a special place in my heart-like that first love that you grow up and away from but I like my fanged men with a little more bite and a lot more sex.
These days I appreciate vampires that are a little rough, less self loathing and with a lot more sex appeal-real sex appeal and the very real ability to have sex.
There are plenty of vamps in the literary world to suit my tastes and fulfill my fanged needs. Like I said before-they are everywhere. In every flavor imaginable.
To me no other "monster" comes close to being as sexy and erotic as the vampire. While men usually write the vampire into being savage and monstrous, women love to be seduced by the eternal bad boy, the epitome of dangerous sex appeal.
Many of my own works contain vampires, including my newest release Paranormal Pleasures Ten Tales of Supernatural Seduction. This collection of ten of short erotic paranormal stories contains tales of vampires, witches and demons- in fact eight of the ten tales feature a vampire.
The sexy bad boys (and girls) of my collection tend to revel more in their fanged glory than try to deny to true nature. Which to me, is a huge turn on.
What about you- what do you love most about vampires?
Leave a comment telling me what draws you to vampires and you’ll be entered to win an eBook copy of Paranormal Pleasures: Ten Tales of Supernatural Seduction.
Winner will be chosen on October 14th.
Paranormal Pleasures: Ten Tales of Supernatural Seduction is available in print at Amazon, for the Kindle, Nook, and in many eBook formats at Smashwords and All Romance Ebooks
