Classic Vampirism and Recent Changes Essay -- Mythology

CLASSIC VAMPIRISM AND RECENT CHANGES Change often occurs due to the simple nature of time. What once stood as a finite and steadfast definition will shift and evolve. Genres bleed into one another and mix mythologies. The realm of the supernatural in literature does not lie outside this trend. Wizards no longer call themselves Merlin and spend their days under the patronage of a heroic king; the average wizard now goes by common names like Harry or Ron and attends school, saving the world on the side. Cyclops presently means a man with laser eyes who wears leather and fights crime, not a one-eyed island beast. Vampirism does not escape such change. No longer can one consistently find a vampire to be the bloodthirsty life-sucking demon of a story. Recent popular fiction humanizes vampires, embodies them with the common individual struggles of humans, and twists the vampire ethos to suit such reformation. This trend exists outside of works traditionally classified as Vampire Literature and spans the breadth of fiction. Sa mples from across the spectrum of vampires in literature, Stephenie Meyer’s popular teen romance series Twilight and Christopher Moore’s absurd humor novels Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck, demonstrate the common humanized portrayal of vampires and its effects. To understand the evolved nature and image of vampirism in recent popular fiction, one must first know of the previous representations and assumed standards. Vampires, and all monsters for that matter, typically exist to represent one of the greatest fears of humankind: fear of the unknown. Vampires embody this through many facets, namely death and the dark world of the night. Rosemary Ellen Guilley, Ph. D. and vampire scholar, succinctly summarizes th... ...ated with their kind. They technically come from deceased humans and thereby have no body heat or need to eat, breathe, or go to the bathroom. As soon as the sun peaks over the horizon, Moore’s vampires automatically collapse and enter the â€Å"sleep of the dead† and survive only by drinking blood (Fiends 28). The vampires also possess heightened senses and immense strength, capable of completing impossible feats such as running up the side of a building and hearing the heartbeats of those around them (Fiends 24). Unable to be harmed by traditional means, Moore’s creatures experience little pain and heal at a rapid rate. The vampires possess the ability to shape shift from human form into mist. Moore bestows his vampires with the unique ability to see the auras of the humans around them. Healthy humans radiate a bright pink glow; the sickly emit a dim gray light.