The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I was going through the VDB and it struck me that there's quite a lot of children's fiction and TV programmes painting vampires in a belevolent light; think Count Duckula, The Little Vampire, Vlad the Drac etc.

It strikes me as odd that general society sees vampires as evil beings, yet will happily let their children read the books and watch the TV programmes about them.

Was anyone exposed to such characters as a child, and do you think it's influenced your adult tases? Or do you have any opinion on the use of vampires as a friendly children's figure?

well I was allowed to read and watch all things even the vampire, werewolves etc. movies.

To me all it did was open my mind to understand all types of people and speicies whether it be real or not. I do not see them be child freindly just child awareness.. LOL

Like most anything directed towards children, if it were made to scare the sh*t out of them, they wouldn't want to see it and no one would buy it.
As for, "the use of vampires as a friendly children's figure." Most people are led to believe vampires don't exist except in a fictional sense, I don't see why it would hurt to expose children to them in a friendlier way.
Take for example the television series and movies like, The Munsters and The Adams Family, which are highly entertaining for children as well as adults.

My mother loved Dracula, Frankenstein and all the supernatural movies or shows she could get her hands on so I grew up watching them and thats how my interests sprang forth. I don't recall there being any childrens programs featuring such creatures when I was growing up.

My son is only 7 but he watches vampire and other such movies with me and he loves them. Doesn't phase him a bit and horror is the first thing he will pick. I'm the one who gets freaked out lol.

Maledicta,

Like bones said, it's toned down to gain ratings and to sell products, but at the same time, I'd say that since the wider public don't accept vampires as a 'real' phenomena, there would appear to be no harm in having kids be told stories about them, they are after all just fiction.

But as an aside, it is intriguing how often vampires are being redifined as a friendly and often 'misunderstood monster', as opposed to the earliest stories where they would as likely kill or enslave a person, than they would befriend them.

As a child i watched vampire movies and while they were fun to watch, it has had no influence on me at all

lol I used to watch count dracula on sesami street all the time and occassionally see one on scooby doo as a child. I don't think it influenced me much as per they were made out to be funny and freindly. As a child we are innocent and can see them as funny, as adults we begin to understand more about the fictinal undead vampire as per peoples fears come into play due to understanding that some people live that lifestyle.

BlackHawk; perhaps it influenced you a little, you are on a vampire site after all! :-)

What I'm saying is, if you grew up with the idea that vampires were harmless and/or nothing to be scared of, are you more likely to be interested in them as adults?

I forgot about the count on Sesame Street. I think shows such as SS work hard at portraying monsters as friendly sorts so as to take the fear away and also by putting them in this light to show that they are perhaps "not real" but fictional as Stabb posted.

As everyone can agree to some mutual extent that we all basically watched vampire movies and shows when we were kids. Our parents seen nothing wrong with it unless you couldn't sleep and had nightmares.

Consider count chocula and the little muppet guy. Definatly geared toward kids....

I think everyone is exposed to vampires at one time or another as children.

I mean honestly. Count Chocula [sp] the cereal?

Also, vampires seem to make their way into cartoons as well [Scooby Doo and such].

My mom swears up and down that the Count on Sesume Street is responsiable for my dark lifestyle. I was always into all kindas monsters as a kid starting with "platapus". But I had a very unhealthy childhood in general. Monsters are a healthy part of any normal childhood. And besides what would stories be without some kinda bad guy. I think it just so happens that vampires are soooo pop culture that its just whats popular now. U gotta think about what was popular a couple hundred years ago? Trolls and dragons of course, like I said u gotta have some kinda bad guys to have a good story!!

Bones,

I can relate to that position. I watched almost every Hammer horror with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing when I was very young and it had little effect on my interest in vampires.

I was more fascinated by role playing and computer games that depicted the vampire as a heartless killing monster.

I did not realizes I was vampire until i was an teenager. I had no prior experience with it until I met my mentor.

Halloween has always been the favorite holiday of my family, so I was been exposed to vampires, ghotes, etc from a very young age, and used to watch monster mash. I have always havd an intrest in vampires etc and I think that it was from my child hood experiences.

But I also starting watching the horror movies at a young age too.

Maybe it is just a balance of good and evil, we see most things as mostly good when we are young and learn as we grow that anthing can also be evil.

I grew up watching reruns of the Hammer films and anything with vampires or werewolves in it. As children we have little to no control over our environment and in these movies we see beings that not only have control over the physical forms they can change into, but also other beings and occasionally even the elements.

I always felt the Count on Seaseme Street was the most intelligent and coolest figure on the show. I know he was my mom's favorite.

My first vampire movie was a mexican movie called El Vampiro, since then I found out that it is a classic in vampire literature. In latin counties, Santo, el enmascarado de plata, fights against vampires often.
Those movies are aimed at younger audiences.
As a teenager loved the Hammer studio films.
And Dark Shadows on tv.

I remember growing up as a child, my brother and I used to always watch Vampire, Dracula, and Frankenstein movies but we always knew they were fictional and can depect as being scary but if I was never brought up watching these fictional movies I would have been scared when I got older to know more about them. As children are produced everyday its easier to let them witness movies like this so to see what kind of effect it would have on them later in life, I mean it wouldn't hurt in my opinion.

mbk oh yes good old count chocula and scooby doo. as i was growing up yes i loved the cartoons that had vampires in them and even sesame street had its own vampire . but i loved reading and watching the vampire movies and books and my parents saw nothing wrong with it. did it influence me or anything no. i think for awhile as a kid it the cooncept of a vampire fasinated me in some way..the whole dark mystering of the creature at night....... do i think its wrong portraying cutesy vampirer versions to kids no its all in fun . why cant kis have there own versions to . after all its just a fictional character.......

I was allowed or exposed such characters to a point. My mother is very religious, so she was always trying to stick things in our brains while we watch such shows. I think that as others mentioned, most don't believe in vampires or take them seriously. So with that they don't think of them as being real, instead nothing more than a fantasy, just as they would think of puff the magic dragon.

I never thought about it. I think that the parents are being more lenient(SP?) with there kids. So they are able to watch more than they should.

well my parents never restricted me seeing vampire movies and reading books about them.i think it all depends in the mindset of the parents how they take it.

I think that it's a good idea to be able to help children fear vampires, monsters and boogeymen less. I think portraying them as docile cartoon characters will help children fear less what might be lurking in the dark.

the closest thing i cam to as a vampire on tv was the count from seseme street, in books we goose bumps, and i LOVED them. i yhink as a kid i found so little about them i became intreged in them. when i first thought about it, it was "i never had anything as a child to do with vampires" but if you sit back and think, you do

I feel we al have been exposed to vampires monsters etc while growing up whether it be comdey ot cartoon or just good scary movies LOL

i think if they think theyre so bad and evil why not show the kids. get them off it stop looking. if they dont want us to believe in them why make us think we can fins them and in some cases befriend them.

I grew up with a series of childrens books called "little Dracula" It was a very sweet book about the doings of a vampire family.

I was also a fan of the darker stories of evil beings as my friends older brother used to tell us.

Fictional vampire stories are harmless to children. But if we take the "scary" stories then they could cause nightmares, but friendly kids stories are entertaining.

Me growing up with the stories did not draw me to the fictional vampire, I was drawn to the darker side of mankind and the great legends.

when i was growing up the first vampire movie i saw was lost boys and from that point on i have been fascinated by them

+the TV shows and all that refers to children nowadays.. is very unbalanced.. all is made to catch the eye .. and to atract.. I don't want to say that this is not good.. but children are very weakminded.. and all the things he sees affects him... even though not directly or at the moment.. I liked very much all kinds of evil characters when I was young.. that's where is my passion for vampires...:)

i was a very shelterd child until my father died,
he kept me from seeing alot of things,
but my son will not know if this lfie untill he see it on his own,
i will teach him to be open minded and embrace himself, but the vampyric life is non of which i wish upon my child,
Just bc I am a mother and a worry, lol..

My parents would let me watch anything as a child. They really didn't care. I remember staying with my grandmother as a small child and she would have me stay up late with her to watch Tales from the Crypt. I miss those days.

My parents pretty much let me watch & read whatever I wanted. And I loved Count Chocula cereal.

I don't think that the adults who are letting their children view & read these are even thinking that it might turn their child to a lifestyle that will be totally different then one they had hoped for in their child. That's not to say that watching these shows will convince a child to choose that lifestyle. I think society does that. And peer pressure.

I did not ever get introduced but i dont think they would change a state of mind.

I am not sure of the cartoon based or child oriented vampires, other than the one from sesame street. lol. But my family has always been really interested in horror movies and things of that nature, and even as a young child I was watching the vampire movies. I don't know, maybe it has influenced my interest in horror movies, vampires, and other things of that nature.

On the reverse end, from what Stabb related...Is the fact that when we were kids ourselves, some if not most of us wanted to be dracula or a vampire as a costum for All Hallow's. Admit it, you know you want to.

As kids, when we wanted to be this so called "monster", even though the adults would not subject their children to the mannerisms of said "monsters", they did condone it since the child just wanted to have fun being dressed up. I think this puts a bit of a contradiction on things...Maybe contradiction is not the right term, but you get what I mean.

I was allowed to read anything. Of course, being born on halloween, I had a huge letdown when I was 5 and was told all these people were not really celebrating my birthday...

i find that most people mistake the darkness for being evil and that is where i believe the misconception comes into play on how society lables evil with anything dealing with the dark and anyone who associates with it.

I think that the usage of cartoon characters is to show that there are "no such things as monsters," or that things that go bump in the night are probably more afraid of you than you are of them. I do agree that most people think that Dracula and the Wolfman are evil, but when you put them in a cartoon or on a cereal box it takes the evilness out of them and gives them a more "human" quality.
The usage of such icons possibly did influence my love of vampires...I remember watching movies like "The Lost Boys" as a kid and being scared, and my dad suggested that my fear was out of ignorance. He got me books about vampires and other such figures so that I would have a logical approach to my fears.

as a kid i seen the old horror movies on a weekend show called Sir Graves Ghastly who was a vampire host, Elvira is sorta that theme. . .friendly vamps such as Grandpa Munster, Count Chocula cereal, the Count from Seseme St. . . . .There was the supernatural soap Dark Shadows with there vamp Barnubus Collins. . . . .vamps have been in our childhood alot. . .

Often the child vampire is in opposition to their ancestors

And Duckula is a veggie!

There's a long history of using creatures --- coyotes, pigs, bears --- in cartoons. Transmogrification, only in reverse. Why not vampires? I was more afraid of what I read in FAiry Tales, but that literature only backed up the fear created with the old films.

The important aspect here was the fear. Cause I couldn't stop watching those movies or reading those stories. I hungrily sought them out. As a child, I liked the fear, whereas now, not so much. Is that childhood fear a titillation, a pre-pubescent adrenalin surge that will be later be addressed with sex?

But many like the ravening monsters in video games. Is that because you can control the monsters?

when i was younger i remember my mother reading this book to me that i was horrified of i remember as a child the stories were so scary and when i got older i finally asked her what book it was and to my suprise she laughed and said that was the bible,it's funny how kids minds are and how they perceive things differently compared to the adult mind.

The only vampire cartoon i remember really as a child was watching Sesame Street. But things have gotten different throughout the years. But then some time back The Littlest Vampire came out and I loved that movie.

I used to watch the adult horror movies as a very young child. I never got nightmares, I never got scared. I do think that is why my tastes run along the grisly ones :)

It initially comes down to desensitization.Some parents think it best to introduce such things to children in hopes of keeping them open minded and un afraid of most things as a child.The side effects are well people like us who come on this site.Things tend to semi back fire when it was meant for a good purpose.

If anyone has watched Sesame Street...we have ALL been exposed as kids to a vampire figure...remember "The Count"?

divinemisscat -

Or Scooby Doo movies. ;]

I have seen several Scooby Doo episodes with Vampires.

well i watched vampire movies when i was growing up i see no harm in it.i also watched horror movies growing up as well lol.but realy it depends on the childs state of mind and how it affects there thinking and behavier after watching that kind of movies.we realy need to watch there behavier because children are easyly inflonced by what they see.

morbidcuriousity -

Vampires have been in a lot of their shows and movies. ;]

Boy you sure wouldn't want to have a vamp kid around. As it is you are wanting them to hurry up and grow up so they won't be so annoying and needy. hahaha......and to have one that is eternally that way, would suck hardcore.

They even named a cereal after vampires remember count chocula. My kids watched sesame street with count dracula. I also as a teenager, watched Dark Shadows. I know I like vampire stories. I suppose, maybe that is part of why I've always been drawn to them. Good question, I had to think about it.

I have children and i want them exposed to everything.. There are certain things that are still to scarey for them but a lot of stuff i don't want them to fear so i show them and explain it.. Cartoons and things like that make it a little easier...

aloneibleed -


Saying you want them exposed to everything I'm sure is an over-statement?

i think its up to the parents if they want their kids to be around this.. its the parents that make the children..

my first vampire story.. Bunicula .. a bunny Vampire. hehe Scoobies gang taught me, just like the Blood Hound Gang, that ghost are performers, usually with a motive.. to take over land.

Vampires are a stretched genre, here at the Rave is the potential to redraft the vampire for future fans. Any other writers here, ready to write the next big vampire break away story? I hope so personally, I have my sights set on a variation to ghost stories.

I never was really exposed to kiddy vampires.

But like when I was little I used to watch Dusk til Dawn and this other vampire movie.

It hasn't really effected me as an older person.

-Juggalette givin MMFWCL

my family really didnt care to see what i was watching as a child i grew up on adams family and dracula movies

i always watched scarry movies and also read horro books i like that stuff my mom never cared what i watched as a child

I was not allowed to watch such things as a kid, being raised as a Christian.

Now, I love all things Occult....so yeah, it affected me I am sure.

It Is Called The Desensitizing Of America,
If You Expose People To Things Early In Childhood Then They Are Not As Shocking Later.
T.V. And Movies Have Shown Us Things That Would Not Have Been Allowed Years Ago.
Just look at what they say on t.v. nowadays

i think more children should be exposed IN THE RIGHT WAY to vampyres,fae,etc.but they should not be exposed to fake crap,like some movies.they should be well educated.

My mom's a paranormalist and a paranormal freak.

I was raised around it all and it's 'the norm' for me.

I have a daughter and when she gets old enough I'll let her watch things like that with me and her father or by herself if she's brave enough.

The first movie I remember seeing was a zombie movie and I was 3.

xxNIGHTMARExx -



Wouldn't it be of the World .. not just America?

hmmm no and no....

vampires are hidden in day to day life, from the count on sesame street, to the rambelings of psy vampires. as a child you were exposed to vampires with out realising

I remember watching the count on sesame street when I was a kid...then I discovered those old vampire movies.

I think I turned out just fine from being exposed at an early age to vampires *reaches for his pills* :)

I just loved Count Duckular.

I think it is harmless. Today we try and put a stop to anything that isnt policly correct. I say let the cartoons be. What harm can they be.

Well it's the same thing with bears, isn't it? Kids have soft cuddly plus bears to take to bed with them, but you wouldn't give a real bear a cuddle.

I read above about count chocula and boo berry ghost....frank-n-berry is still my favorite. I remember all the same vampire children characters, as well. I think the most influence for me came from my mother and grandmothers enjoyment in vampire movies and books. Neither of them were witch's or even describable as Gothic. I can remember watching Fright Night on Halloween when I was like 7.

My mother-in-law freaks out when I let my daughter watch Sabrina the teenage witch. "It opens the door....." Oh kiss my ass, LOL!

i don't remember any kid vampires when i was little. i don't think there was such a frenzy for such things back then, not that it was that long ago.

ps: i don't think it's a bad thing that kids today are starting to identify with vampires from an earlier age. it means that they won't see them as fiends when they get older.

I watched vampire movies and cartoons as a kid but never had much interest in it until I went to vampire rave party ( not anything to do with VR) and it was so much like the underground party in the movie , Blade. It was so awesome and that was my beginning of vampires.

gusion, i saw those vampire movies as well but i never saw any movies where the main characters, the vampires, were kids. did you?

Also I want to add, Thank you to all the people here on VR that has taught me so much more about vampires.

they make vampires funny for kids shows so they will watch them they have to sell it all ya know

Actually to think back, No I haven't either that I can recall.

poison, yeah they make vampires funny for kids, but that's advertisement. i'm just glad that vampires aren't introduced as evil beings because then kids are always going to think of them as evil. at least this way they have a better introduction.

Yes I do very much agree with you there on the introduction to vampires.

I think that including childrens cinema in the whole Vampire culture is a way to keep kids interested and watching said television or movie. I mean, kids today don't want the cute little bunny walking through the park handing out candy...they want the man in all black stalking through the woods at night and flying off in the shape of a bat. It might be a trumped up version of what we accept as reality but I think it's a step in the right direction.

Then again, it could just be a blatant slap in the face from all the "normal" people out there and just an attempt to make fun of something they don't like or don't understand.

I remember Transylvania PetShop, all about a vampire... And Mona The Vampire, that was good too

CherryAdvocate -


Not technically true ... if it were a trained baby bear someone might.

yeah i have experienced this and it hasn't changed my tastes because i was always the "weird" child seeing as to how i eat raw meats, lick my cuts clean/dry, and can smell blood. so if anything would effect me now would be the shock of me being one of the few real vampires on earth.

I was aloud to watch Count Duckula as a child but I don't think it really changed my tastes for vampire fictions, but then again I was aloud to watch Interview with the vampire and Dracula as a child too.

I don't recall there being too much in the way of children's movies, programs or literature when it came to vampires when I was growing up.

One of the first "child friendly" vampires that comes to mind is The Count from Sesame Street. I also remember Judd Hirsch in a Halloween special back in 1979 called "The Halloween That Almost Wasn't".

Today, there is a wonderful series of Halloween books by Jill Thompson, where there are three vampire characters, Max, Ruby and Orson. There are also DVD's out the based on the books. I saw the cartoons on TV and the vampires are quite amusing.

Jill Thompson

When I was growing up there was a series called "Dark Shadows." I'm sure a lot of you have watched it. I watched it for years. My Mom loved it also. So did my sister who was like 2, or 3. I think it may have helped spark my already existing interest in the Occult and things that go bump in the night! My kids were brought up with lots of Vampire movies and such. They loved them also.

My parents are actually Christain Fanatics.. No lie... They tried shoving it down my throat too early though so I was quick to reject it. My favorite toy was dirt. My "favorite activity" was biblestudy. Good "wholesome" fun stuff...... Yea right.. Enough said on that one.

LordOfNoctemAeternus - Check out The Little Vampire, the movie of the books by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg. The vampires in that are all children :-)

When I was seven years old, I started watching Buffy the Vampire slayer and as most know, she killed vampires but she also loved and later befriended vampires. That show had a way of making vampires look scary while yet showing them in a light which made a child be able to understand there pain. I mean cereal commercials use a vampire to sell to little kids, Vampires can be kid friendly, you just have to put them in the right light.

I wonder who first decided to use the vampire image as a child-friendly character?

I think it was the cereal, I mean count chocula has been around for along time.

As a child I always watch the house of frightenstien and thought that was a great show and my mom loved watching it with me. The vampires shown in that were very child friendly so was the werewolf. I grew up in a pretty open minded family though who totally believed in the occult and all things supernatural so I was never stopped from being interested in vampires or anything.

i've seen that show, they were pretty kid friendly.

It's not too hard to believe everyone is exposed to them at some point or another.

I was exposed to vampires very early on in my life by watching Sesame Street's THE COUNT hahaha 1 2 3 hahaha and then by reading books

What books?

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