Interest: Vampires
Jan. 18th, 2006 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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twilight2000 asking about Vampires!
So I've always had an interest and fascination with vampires, and in some ways am a bit of a purist in my own little mind. I like the genteel vampire, the smooth talking, terribly wise vampire. The mindless blood drinkers (or messy ones) just never fit the bill for me. There are also rules : blood transfusions DON'T cure Vampirisim damn it!
I started with TV movies and the Discovery Channel's myth series (Dracula and Tuberculosis.)
Then I got into Anne Rice in Middle School. While I like the first three, after that they sort of start to suck. (Ha, no pun intended.) I also like the series' by Chelsea Quinn Yarboro, Laura K Hamilton, and the DarkAngel series by Meredith Ann Pierce - even if it's not very vampire-y at all by the end. Ironically by the time I got around to reading it, I found out that I HATED Dracula by Bram Stoker - it was too much a preachy Christian piece, and sparely written and that didn't make it any easier to swallow. There were many others, who's tittles I've since forgotten. An interesting series required the vampires to sleep in the sunlight reflected through special stained glass - cool idea but I can't remember the name and author, pity. There's also Poppy Z Brite's Lost Souls and one where the vampire has a stinger under his tongue, no fangs. Interesting take on the Vampire myth. So many books, lost to my hazy memories.
Then came the role playing game "Vampire the Masquerade". I started in the traditional table top for about a month before I discovered this new cool thing, the Camarilla - then I got into live action role playing and I was totally sold. The thing I liked about the Masquerade was that it covered all of the various (European) vampire myths in a reasonable, semi-logical way. And that, I just loved...being able to pretend to be one, and in a way write my own Vampire Stories. (Embarrassingly I must admit I co-wrote most of a novel in White Wolf's World of Darkness, and it taught me that I could write, but don't want to, not really anyway. My co-author wrote the main character, and I wrote everyone else and the plot.)
There are so few good Vampire movies, but for posterity the few I liked are: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, Tale of a Vampire, Lost Boys and The Hunger. Middling Good Movies (cheesy bits or bad rule execution) : Near Dark, Fright Night and From Dusk 'til Dawn which I loved, but I don't really consider a Vampire film. Nosferatu would probably be on the list, but tragically I have never seen it.
I also like the occasional 'bad vampire movie' (my personal favorite: Love at First Bite with the immortal quote : Come back black chicken, come back!) Some friends and I used to play a game where we would go to the video store, and pick out a vampire movie none of us had seen. Then we all had to vote from the cover alone: Bad Vampire Movie, Good Vampire Movie, or Porn Masquerading as a Vampire Movie. We saw some terrible films, and got very good at picking out what they would be. There were some funny gems, and a couple of good ones, but it was usually Porn Masquerading as a Vampire Movie. I think we watched of 35 movies that summer. Good Times...If we ever get a chance in person, ask me about the "land shark story." LOL!!!!
I think what I like best about Vampires is the inherent tragedy, coupled with a sweeping view of time and history. Not to mention seduction and sex. I like the rush of fear and desire, and over reaching time and age. At least in my fiction. :)
So there you go me babbling about Vampires.
twilight2000 asking about Vampires!So I've always had an interest and fascination with vampires, and in some ways am a bit of a purist in my own little mind. I like the genteel vampire, the smooth talking, terribly wise vampire. The mindless blood drinkers (or messy ones) just never fit the bill for me. There are also rules : blood transfusions DON'T cure Vampirisim damn it!
I started with TV movies and the Discovery Channel's myth series (Dracula and Tuberculosis.)
Then I got into Anne Rice in Middle School. While I like the first three, after that they sort of start to suck. (Ha, no pun intended.) I also like the series' by Chelsea Quinn Yarboro, Laura K Hamilton, and the DarkAngel series by Meredith Ann Pierce - even if it's not very vampire-y at all by the end. Ironically by the time I got around to reading it, I found out that I HATED Dracula by Bram Stoker - it was too much a preachy Christian piece, and sparely written and that didn't make it any easier to swallow. There were many others, who's tittles I've since forgotten. An interesting series required the vampires to sleep in the sunlight reflected through special stained glass - cool idea but I can't remember the name and author, pity. There's also Poppy Z Brite's Lost Souls and one where the vampire has a stinger under his tongue, no fangs. Interesting take on the Vampire myth. So many books, lost to my hazy memories.
Then came the role playing game "Vampire the Masquerade". I started in the traditional table top for about a month before I discovered this new cool thing, the Camarilla - then I got into live action role playing and I was totally sold. The thing I liked about the Masquerade was that it covered all of the various (European) vampire myths in a reasonable, semi-logical way. And that, I just loved...being able to pretend to be one, and in a way write my own Vampire Stories. (Embarrassingly I must admit I co-wrote most of a novel in White Wolf's World of Darkness, and it taught me that I could write, but don't want to, not really anyway. My co-author wrote the main character, and I wrote everyone else and the plot.)
There are so few good Vampire movies, but for posterity the few I liked are: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, Tale of a Vampire, Lost Boys and The Hunger. Middling Good Movies (cheesy bits or bad rule execution) : Near Dark, Fright Night and From Dusk 'til Dawn which I loved, but I don't really consider a Vampire film. Nosferatu would probably be on the list, but tragically I have never seen it.
I also like the occasional 'bad vampire movie' (my personal favorite: Love at First Bite with the immortal quote : Come back black chicken, come back!) Some friends and I used to play a game where we would go to the video store, and pick out a vampire movie none of us had seen. Then we all had to vote from the cover alone: Bad Vampire Movie, Good Vampire Movie, or Porn Masquerading as a Vampire Movie. We saw some terrible films, and got very good at picking out what they would be. There were some funny gems, and a couple of good ones, but it was usually Porn Masquerading as a Vampire Movie. I think we watched of 35 movies that summer. Good Times...If we ever get a chance in person, ask me about the "land shark story." LOL!!!!
I think what I like best about Vampires is the inherent tragedy, coupled with a sweeping view of time and history. Not to mention seduction and sex. I like the rush of fear and desire, and over reaching time and age. At least in my fiction. :)
So there you go me babbling about Vampires.
