Vampires. These blood-sucking monsters have
captured our imaginations for years. But in modern times, many of the vampires
we read about tend to be friendly. Stephenie Meyer gave us sparkling vampires. In
urban fantasy, there are lots of brooding anti-heroes. And in romance, it’s
vampire-lovers. While vampire mythology tends to suggest some of these things
(maybe not the sparkling), modern stories sometimes overlook the fact that
vampires are dangerous predators. So here’s a look at books that remind us of
this fact.
The best place to start is of course Bram
Stoker’s Dracula. Stoker is credited with giving us the modern
form of the vampire with his gentlemanly mannerisms. And while Count Dracula is
incredibly charming, make no mistake: he is a monster who wants to spread the
curse of undeath. And spread the curse he did: Dracula greatly influenced the horror genre, paving the way for
more contemporary authors like Stephen King to write Salem’s
Lot. And in typical King style, the vampire
isn’t the only monster in his small town setting; Salem’s Lot shows us the darkness that is hidden inside us all.
Thinking of monsters, David Wellington’s 13 Bullets has state trooper Laura Caxton and FBI agent Jameson Arkeley take
on the undead. In the 80’s, Arkeley stopped a vampire rampage, killing all but
one of them, who has been left in an asylum to rot. But 20 years later there is
another attack, and Arkeley realizes the last vampire has found a way to spread
her curse. And for some reason, the vampire wants Caxton. Be aware, while 13 Bullets is a great thriller, it is
not for the faint of heart; the vampires often leave only gruesome remains of
their victims.
Speaking of gruesome remains, in graphic novels
we have Steve Niles’ 30 Days
of Night series. This is the
story of Barrow, Alaska being overrun by Vampires. During Barrow’s winter,
there is no sunlight for one month. It’s also an isolated community, making it
an ideal place for vampires to have a feeding frenzy.
Robin McKinley’s Sunshine also makes a point of reminding us time and
time again of how dangerous vampires are. In this book, humans know on an
instinctive level that vampires are dangerous; when they smell them, their
bodies immediately go into fight-or-flight mode. Of course, by then it’s often
too late to escape. All of that goes through Sunshine’s mind when she gets
attacked by vampires at the lake, a spot which should have been safe. Sure, she
manages to find a vampire who is different from the others. But even he
repeatedly warns her to stay away.
Moving away from Stoker’s version of
vampiricism, there’s also a version where vampiricism is a disease or virus,
which is what Richard Matheson used in I Am
Legend. Matheson’s story is
about the last surviving human in a world overrun by vampires; Robert Neville
is immune to the virus, which makes him a very attractive target for a world of
blood-sucking monsters. Guillermo del Toro’s The
Strain also uses this virus
idea. In del Toro’s story, a Boeing 777 mysteriously goes dead on the tarmac. The
investigators find that everyone on board is dead. Or at least they should be;
three people originally declared dead have somehow survived. When one of the
survivors threatens legal action, the three are released, allowing them to
spread the infection. The vampires in The
Strain have been compared to the Reapers in Blade 2, so be prepared for nearly unstoppable
monsters!
Both new and old, these seven books do an
excellent job of reminding us of how terrifying vampires really are. To find
these and more, stop by your nearest Thunder Bay Public Library branch!
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