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Prior to the 1970s, I believe, most vampire stories and novels were simply retellings of Stoker's work. In the last 20 years, there has been a proliferation of vampire fiction. Why do you think this is?

because vampires are sercetly taking over our puny human world and are influencing more versions of the same thing to either explain moree of themselfs or to throw us of the trail
beware of your next hickie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is possibly that the Vampire, although originally and dark creature, was given a more human aspect. So rather then the horrible monster.....Vampires have become the tragic victems, romantic heroes, or even the relucant saviors. And I don't care who you are, it makes good story telling. Even Superman's arch-villian, Lex Luthor, has progressed from 2-deminsional bad-guy in the twenties, to the multi-facated socio-path we all hate.

i think its because of the rise in vampire movies hitting the main stream. public media is poision.

well, after Bram's Drac..
every vampire story came flooding down to history..
that's prolly it

Good question, but I believe Anne Rice began producing before 1984.

I think the popularity has exploded more than the differant story lines.

It seems to me, even in the 70s the general public still actually feared the occult and vampires. Remember dungeons and dragons were going to turn you kids into Satanists?

I think the popularity in the vampire industry comes from those who rebelled in their youth using goth and vampires. I'm no exception. We now have the purse strings and Hollywood knows it. IMHO

Yse, and not only that but the fact that Bram Stoker's Dracula is the second most popular book to buy in the world so this has immortalised Vampires forever.

All fear what they cannot truly comprehend.

I also feel with the old lore-- such as the ring finger used after being wed causing pressure on the 'love vein' as it were-- attributes to it.

The neck being a sensual and fragile area on the body (2 accidens, I should know, right?), teeth being a piercing object, etc, etc. It lends itself to being a romantic yet scary aspect of humanity-- not as harsh as cannibalism, nor as mushy sensual as a kiss on the inner wrist *shivers*. That part I actually -love-, but I'm mushy at heart.

Did I even answer the queston? Bah, I don't even think I did. *laughs*

Agreed wraith....

Romantics united in a new common dark erotic form to whorship.....

It's the new black!

Uhm... y'all beat me to it... hehehe, agreed with everyone=)

I agree with HAWK2K all the way=)

You said it Morey hunny... couldn't of done it any better myself

*mwuah* honey! >:)

Did you say... Prada? lol

I agree with HAWK2K also.

Plus I think that people are facinated by what they fear, and that it is the fear, that brings them back for more. For some, it is like Anne Rice's novels, where vampires are considered romantic and magnetic. Other's its the threat of the unknown, of powers and abilities they cannot possess.

Well that was my two cents............

well, ask your self. why do you like vampires? or have an intrest in them. the answer may lie there.

I believe writers began to see the immense possibilities of witting of vampyr, and took notice to the blurring of traditional boundaries between good and evil, thus allowing a new ambivalence to the vampire who was misunderstood and is even a romantic figure. Monsters in innumerable quantities haunt the pages of horror novels, but none is more popular than the vampire. Why? Probably the versatility of the vampire. Most other monsters have severe limitations in how they can be portrayed. By its very nature, it will be difficult to portray in meaningful relationships with people to interact with humanity. In the majority of cases the monster's role will be that of the one-dimensional evil character menacing the protagonists, but vanquished in the end. Other fictional creatures of horror suffer from similar problems.

The vampire, on the other hand, has almost endless potential for variety in its interactions with people and can vary from the evil one-dimensional monster. Like humanity the average person is struggling to retain what little humanity they have left, as is the vampire struggling for what little humanity he has left to him as a vampire. I feel they give us hope, if such evil may well have heart then why not us?

Also the fact that almost every culture has a version of the vampire myth suggests that the archetype addresses some deeply rooted fears and/or yearnings. There are many factors operating here that formulates vampyr to be so popular: Humanities attraction to the dark side of our own natures; the fascination with what is forbidden; the desire for eternal youth and immortality; the centrality of blood in a religious sense. Add to these the sexual seductiveness and power that have come to be a part of the vampire image and you have a potent combination! I believe this concluding factor explains much of the popularity of the vampire today, as sex sells and what is more sexual then that of vampyr, for do we not all desire to be sexually attractive?

The vampire figure has survived in literature and popular culture I believe for another reason. It is a versatile archetype, and can be shaped and re-shaped to fit any individual or artists own vision. So while we still encounter fictional vampires who are spawns of Satan (as Stoker presented Dracula), we also have vampires who are more ambivalent or even basically good. It is this endless variety and, above all, the ability to be human with all the strengths and weaknesses that inherent in humanity, thus which makes the vampire of fiction so popular.

I believe it is because some mortals find vampires entrancing. Dark and mysterious and this fascinates them, whose who can write book and direct films do so to entertain there fantasies.

to answer anothers "question" yess anne rice wrote her first book before 1984..lol
it was "interview with the vampire" and that was 1976 ...but her books werent very popular until the mid to late eighties for some damn reason...lol

Basically when Vampires became even more humane in the media and in novels, society began to see the similarities between the beasts and man, and this sparked the whole "taboo" aspect of vampires. They embody everything that is considered sinful or desireable in mankind.

debauchery...the forbidden fruit,immortality for just one small price....
until these concepts became more mainstream again....they were pusehed down and hidden away....it seems to happen in cycles....there was a large upsurge of occult interest just prior tor the turn of the last century also.
and just after the upsurge....a crackdown by the so called moral majority...

yeah the stuff written on vamps are just retellings cause thses days they have nothing else to write vampires about. they go on what they know already

well now that the underworld is spreading i think more adn more are slowly letting us know what is going on or what has happened so we will be informed when they take over the country then the world!!!!!

i agree with wraith as well

It's become more of a "trend" in some areas, a more acceptable trend, meaning that it's becoming "cool" to say "Hey I'm a Vampire" or "I drink blood" .. mainly because Hollywood, and many authors have glamorized Vampirism, and turned it into a whole money making machine. While there are the underlaying deeply embedded people in the "culture" so to speak, it's becoming no different then "Flower Power", bell bottom pants and disco, a fad to so many of the younger generation. Like any other fad, there will always be it's true die-hard’s (uh no pun intended) and then the band-wagon jumpers. Hollywood has a way of doing that to things in our society.

People have become fascinated with them and decided to put them into their own form, the way the want them to be. The way they dream them to be.

I think that, as society evolves, it becomes more "tolerant" of things that are not the norm. People are fascinated with immortality. To live forever, you would never be in need of religion again. This also scares people. Think about it. The only reason people have churches is to prepare them to die, and to explain what happens in the afterlife. Vampires bypass this. They are above your basic religion, and in a way have more freedom to do what the rest of us want to do but restrain ourselves for fear of the consequences. Vampires fascinate us. And hollywood knows, anything that fascinates the masses, makes lots of money.

wow this is an interesting topic...i don't know what to say, i gotta think here.

when we read these stories we become part of that world and expirience all the things the characters go through (if your really into and like the book) and as time goes on the world just gets worst and worst and we begin to realize we dont want to live in a world with such hurt and problems that cannot be resolved. therefore we loose our selves in all these books/movies/videogames to leave our current world and escape into the story where thier are answers and problems do get resolved and happily ever after does exists for that moment of you reading/watching/playing you are no longer on earth. i know i can take things off my mind just by playing War Craft stratagizing my game play and thinking what i will do next.

I am not to sure Why this is but hay i am on that band wagon so i cant complain and i do enjoy A good vamp novel anyday