Vampires, Vampires, Everywhere!

Well, it’s official: we’ve become vampire-obsessed. And I’m not just talking tuning in to Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns every so often, either. Everywhere you turn, whether in words, actions, t-shirts, bumper stickers, and other paraphernalia, echoes the imploring phrase: “bite me.” However, what remains the most intriguing (other than the sudden desire to be punctured) is the fact that the bloodsucking institution is not a new one – Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the masterpiece that started it all, was written in 1897, for crying out loud. So why the sudden fixation on the cold, pale undead?

Naturally, the most scientific way to assess the magnitude of this phenomenon was a simple search on Google. Type in ‘vampire’, and you’re returned with 55,500,000 results in a cool 0.23 seconds. If you fancy refining your search, the same query on Bing brings back a still impressive 51,600,000 hits. The truth is, vampires have managed to stage a sort of benign invasion into the consumer consciousness, now ubiquitous to every form of life. Don’t believe me? Check out the latest in vampire media:

Meet the newest TV vampires

True Blood
A show I believed to be cheaply riding the success of Stephenie Meyer’s hugely popular Twilight Saga has grown into a phenomenon in its own right. Already invested in season 3 for the summer of 2010, HBO’s television drama was a hit from the beginning, racking up several nominations and a Golden Globe for its very first season. The story itself comes from The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The Sookie Sackhouse Series (say that five times fast) by Charlaine Harris.

Careful -- they bite.

Vampire Diaries
Watch out Gossip Girl – your new replacement boasts fewer handbags and more handsome bloodsuckers. The CW is reported to have reunited with Dawson’s Creek writer Kevin Williamson and picked up the show, based on the book series of the same name by L.J. Smith. Relax, there’s no longer much of a wait: the show is set to premiere on September 10th of this year.

Vampire-Con
Yes, you read correctly. And it seems only natural – the incredible popularity of the Comic Con Convention for nerdy fandom of all kinds has finally been followed with the first ever vampire convention, which hit Hollywood, CA August 14-16. Complete with True Blood discussions, and Vampire Film Festival, and a ball in honor of comic book heroine Vampirella, the vampire-lovers even teamed up with Bram Stoker’s estate with a discussion panel featuring his great grand-nephew.

One of many bloody reads

Vampire Lit
And if that’s not enough to convince you, it’s nothing compared to the veritable deluge of books following in Stoker’s footsteps. There are the individual novels: Sucks to be Me: The All-true Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe) by Kimberly Pauley, Suck It Up by Brian Meehl, Tantalize by Cynthia Smith and Thicker Than Water by Carla Jablonski. And of course, we can’t forget the series: Night World and Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith, and House of the Night by Kristen and P.C. Cast.

Though I’ve thrown a plethora of media at you, we’re still no closer to discovering why, after keeping a low-profile nocturnal existence for years, the vamps have suddenly captured our attention. Magazines, tabloids and internet publications left and right have experts on the case, but no one is really sure of an answer – much like no reader over the age of 18 can’t readily explain why they’re in love with Twilight. However, Newsweek’s Joan Raymond makes a crucial observation: today’s undead are nowhere near as creepy as their predecessors. The sex metaphor of sucking blood has taken a very drastic turn for the teenage world, and has even demurred itself for older audiences. These days, the defanged, chaste and sparkly (well, in certain cases) are walking among us, rather than rising from their coffins. The cruel sexual predators are instead becoming a symbol of the hardships of fitting in, of a race working against their nature to be good in the face of temptation. Almost biblical, no?

Whatever the direction, it has only served to heighten the female desire for fanged love. Between the unspeakable dangers and exotic appeal, vampires are, to speak plainly, powerful. They’re essentially invincible; some have even spiced up their repertoires with extra supernatural abilities. And immortality isn’t overlooked either, even in a culture that’s staying younger longer than ever before. Most importantly, the vampire myth is perpetually tied to adolescence, of all things. The forbidden love, the need for something you can’t have – or simply the desire of something you shouldn’t – is something that recalls the teenage years more than anything else. Apparently, it’s become widely acceptable for the middle-aged to relive their teens. And as long as we have Robert Pattinson, we’re ok with that.