What's with all the damn vampires?

[Vic333]

I think vampires/zombies will be old hat here any day now. It looks like there is an attempt to revive sword and sandle adventures next.

[BenG]

Hopefully they'll catch the white nose syndrome and we'll be rid of them.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Someone on another site suggested that it's all a plot by the vampires... sparkly vampires = cool, by the end of the decade all the girls go looking for cool sparkly vampires... no need to go out for dinner, arrives at the door for a pleasant evening/dinner in, much less work...

There was a Supernatural episode about something like that, where vamps were pretending to be like Edward, so they could get victims easier.

[teadonkey]

I actually really enjoyed reading the Sookie Stackhouse series. I've never watched TrueBlood, but I read all of those books.

I don't necessarily think it's weird that more people are reading paranormal based stories. Life sucks for a lot of people right now. Why read sad books when you can read about things you know don't exist? It's the draw of fantasy.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by teadonkey

I actually really enjoyed reading the Sookie Stackhouse series. I've never watched TrueBlood, but I read all of those books.

I don't necessarily think it's weird that more people are reading paranormal based stories. Life sucks for a lot of people right now. Why read sad books when you can read about things you know don't exist? It's the draw of fantasy.

Thank you.

I'm growing very weary of all the negative, overly competetive, only ONE way is the way to go attitudes on here.

As the old saying goes, "if you have nothing positive to say, then say nothing." should be applied a lot more on this forum.

If you can't praise one product, book genre, etc. without putting down everything else that competes with it, why don't you find a forum for that particular thing and then you all can be happy together praising it together rather then trying to convert everyone else on here with relentless negativity against everything else.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

I'm growing very weary of all the negative, overly competetive, only ONE way is the way to go attitudes on here...

If you look a little closer at the comments, you'll see that there are a number of people who clearly like fantasy novels and vampires. This is a discussion about what it is about vampires that has lately increased their popularity. (It's mostly the "sparkly vampires" that are getting badmouthed.)

Try not to take it personally. And if you can't stand people talking negatively about your chosen genre, for heaven sake, don't pick up any science fiction!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

And if you can't stand people talking negatively about your chosen genre, for heaven sake, don't pick up any science fiction!

Agreed!
A Science Fiction story isn't worth picking up if it doesn't offend *somebody* somewhere.

(As Heinlein, said: "Pick a side!")

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

The only sci-fi books I got into were Star Trek TOS books, once I outgrew those, I haven't had the slightest interest in reading sci-fi.

You don't outgrow Star Trek books as they are not for kids only.

[Jack Silkstone]

I don't think you outgrow any books. You're tastes and level of comprehension just improve as you grow older.

I am the first to admit that the Hungry Caterpillar is still in my bookshelf.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You don't outgrow Star Trek books as they are not for kids only.

I totally agree, since I wasn't a kid when I read them. However, while I still have my favorites on my bookshelf, I haven't bought a new one in years. I've moved on in my reading interests.

[CazMar]

It's interesting how a lot of the themes of stories from several thousand years ago (Odyssey, Jason & the Argonauts) contain the the themes of scary monsters, witches, heroes overcoming danger from supernatural forces etc and recur through so much fiction. This must some deep seated human theme - perhaps from nightmares? We are so much better educated and understand how our world works, but we still read and watch movies about scary monsters, witches etc etc! If Homer were around these days he'd probably be working for Steven Spielberg.

[Dimwit]

We've always needed our myths and monsters. It's our entertainment. It's also a direct reflection on the pop culture issues of the day. Vampires really took hold when a STD was devestating the populace. Syphilis was rampant (sex can KILL!) and Dracula hit the zeitgest rather well.
Moving forward, the visual media had a field day mining all the old literature and re-energized the field once again. It petered out and fallow for a few years until anoter STD hit the scenes. AIDS was a bitch (sex can KILL!) and the renaissance followed. This time all the media jumped on board and the field expanded and didn't quite die off like before, but most of the new books tried to find different tropes versus the Stoker original.
Then Meyer hit gold by going for the tween market. Worked well. This time though, there's no pop culture zeitgest behind it. All the bandwagon jumpers we're seeing now are just in it for the money and it's killing the market. There's good material out there but it getting swamped by the crap. This will pass but it's a pain until it does.
My biggest beef is the overwhelming amount of titles stuck in the SF&F genre which I don't think belongs and it really pisses me off how many good titles of non vampire/werewolf/fantasy tropes aren't being published because of this crap.

Ahhhhh, patience. This too shall pass.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Surely what's ruined zombies for us has been their exhaustion as a metaphor and, ultimately, their second life as a meme. Dawn of the Dead was a high point of Zombie Exegesis but also signaled the dawn of the obvious. "Shot after shot of zombies looking lost and hungry in a shopping mall -- what could that possibly mean?"

Shaun of the Dead was an even more obvious turn despite the flick's many merits. After that, Romero found a wedge of new territory (zombies' second sentience) but didn't manage to slow the shambling class's death by metaphor.

The living dead are now the fallback for spoofs, as post-Scorcese Italian mobsters became before them. Expect a zombie romcom in the next few years.

Vampires have gotten wearisome because the Twilight books sanitized them. Even the Showtime version of True Blood has gone that route as of its fourth season: Sensitive vampires who initiate gentle sex while whispering slogans from perfume ads.

But active fangs are more like an S&M prop. Real vampires either do it rough or kill whichever prospective partner seems to want it that way.

Less gauze-obscured narratives reveal the hilt-deep ugliness of blood urges.

By the way: The worst written of TB's most embarrassing episodes are all by creator Allan Ball. That should tell you something about the show's purple histrionics.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Dimwit

We've always needed our myths and monsters. It's our entertainment. It's also a direct reflection on the pop culture issues of the day. Vampires really took hold when a STD was devestating the populace. Syphilis was rampant (sex can KILL!) and Dracula hit the zeitgest rather well.
Moving forward, the visual media had a field day mining all the old literature and re-energized the field once again. It petered out and fallow for a few years until anoter STD hit the scenes. AIDS was a bitch (sex can KILL!) and the renaissance followed. This time all the media jumped on board and the field expanded and didn't quite die off like before, but most of the new books tried to find different tropes versus the Stoker original.
Then Meyer hit gold by going for the tween market. Worked well. This time though, there's no pop culture zeitgest behind it. All the bandwagon jumpers we're seeing now are just in it for the money and it's killing the market. There's good material out there but it getting swamped by the crap. This will pass but it's a pain until it does.
My biggest beef is the overwhelming amount of titles stuck in the SF&F genre which I don't think belongs and it really pisses me off how many good titles of non vampire/werewolf/fantasy tropes aren't being published because of this crap.

Ahhhhh, patience. This too shall pass.

Good overall summary, but you missed the BUFFY influence.
The reason Twilight saw daylight at all was because Whedon greased the way and there was a strong and healthy urban fantasy genre in place.

Three points to consider:
1- Buffy started out as a straight Dracula spoof. Valley girl vs vamps, very Hollywood high concept. It was only when Whedon was faced with adapting it to TV that Buffy became a serious property, mining the territory between horror and fantasy in a modern setting.

2- Urban fantasy is no fad; it is a substantial adult genre in its own right. Most B&M stores I know properly stock it separate from SF and fantasy, some also distinguish it from outright horror. Don't expect it to go away once the zombie and sparkly vamp tropes play out. On the contrary, the tweens weaned on Meyer will be moving on to the more mature adult fare of Tanya Huff, CE Murphy, Anne Rice, and yes, Laurell Hamilton. Essentially, Twilight (and its young-adult focused followers) is the "starter drug" drawing a new generation of teens into reading just as Harry Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings did in their time. This is good. Fantasy didn't go away after the flood of elf trilogies in the 70's and 80's that followed LoTR, and Urban Fantasy will likewise endure its recent increased visibility.

3- Lost in the griping over vamps and zombies is that the real new trope among publishers is a move to increase availability of young adult fiction across all genres. Yes, a lot of this increased content will be substandard (Sturgeon's Law!), but a substantial fraction will be of enduring value. Combine this trend with the mainstreaming of ebook readers and its clear that reading as entertainment is going to see a strong influx of younger readers. And these readers will sooner or later expand their horizons to encompass more mature content, be it urban fantasy, classic fantasy, sf, mysteries, thrillers, romance, etc.

Its okay to joke about glitter vamps and the like, but lets not forget that anything that gets young people hooked on reading is a Good.Thing.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Dimwit

Then Meyer hit gold by going for the tween market.

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Vampires have gotten wearisome because the Twilight books sanitized them.

Vampires haven't become "sanitized;" the original threat of STDs (and a lack of understanding about disease and death) that spawned them has been replaced by a purely social trope, the Social Outcast-slash-Bad Boy who must be brought into the popular social circles, or used as a vehicle to escape the selfsame social circles.

This, as has become obvious, was a perfect vehicle to catch the eye of YA, a traditionally socially-troubled group that struggles to find their place in the world as they mature. And as love is often seen as a reward for finding that place and maturity, the romantic angle of vampires, the prospect of "taming the Bad Boy" and surviving the unhealthy love (back to STDs, which are now considered "conquered" or at least "under control" by New World youth), was icing on the cake.

This suggests that this trope can be transferred to other characters/caricatures, something less fantasy and more grounded in the elements of life that will become important to YA as they mature into collegiates, workers and spouses. (With the current economy as it is, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Drifter, the Unrealistic Entrepreneur or the Con Man capturing the interests of maturing YA down the line.)