Vampires Impact on Literature, Movies, Ect

Does Dracula, Queen of the Damned, or Anne Rice sound familiar? Surely, they must, but not just for one person. In fact, for people all over the world! The three terms expressed all have one thing in common; vampires. These mythical creatures are one of the most popular horror-related figures. Vampires may be a frightening subject for most, but that does not take away from the fact of their popularity throughout. The fascination of vampires has greatly affected past, present, and future cultures all around the world. “The word vampire (or vampyre) entered the English language in 1732, according to The Oxford English Dictionary” (Skal 200). One can’t go living life without knowing about the vampire because they’re everywhere! Someone can spot a vampire on a cereal box known as Count Chocoula, commercials for candy, mouth wash, nail polish, greeting cards, even a grammar book called The Transitive Vampire. There are also many groups based upon vampires such as Vampire Information Exchange (VIE), Vampire Pen Pal Network, Vampire Studies Society, and who could forget the thousands of people who have become members of the Count Dracula Fan Club. Vampires are very well known to everyone. To describe a vampire can be more difficult than one thinks, because of how diverse they can be. “We have vampires, energy vampires, emotional vampires, mortal vampires prone to illness, and vampires who’ve inherited their condition, or become that by sorcery, reincarnation, or a virus” (Ramsland 176). Vampires have quite a large number of traits, reactions, and abilities. Some include: animation of corpse, immortality and defiance of aging, physical agility and increased strength, ability to see in the dark, ability to shape shift into animal forms, dust, or mist, teeth with a sharp point, and of course, thriving exclusively on blood. Also, to recognize some of the physical traits in a vampire would consist of aversion to sunlight, pale skin, red eyes, foul breath, lack of