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Do you prefere the "hollywood" version of vampires- seductive, beautiful, charming etc. Or do you prefere the "traditional" version? smelly, ugly, shroud chomping etc.
And do you think that literarture has changed our perception of them?
Before they were feared beings, and now, they still may be feared, but they're also incredibly "sexy" too.
What are your opinions on the matter?

Crow xXxXxXx

maybe the hollywood version..as they portray the astehical beauty of the vampires:P

Hehe the sexy ones of course,so I can daydream about them:)

lol yes.....the reason I was asking is because I was reading a book about vampire's (the vampire watcher's handbook by constantine gregory) and originally they weren't all sexy and glamourous. Maybe Hollywood felt that "pretty" vampire would stand more of a chance in the movies than the original types.

Of course!

Would you think that if they were ugly the movie would have the same success?

Hollywood is all about money.

Surely a shroud clad, stinking corpse would be more frightening than a britney looking vampire. Thinking about it, the latter is quite scary! rofl

ROFL >:D

i would prefer the hollywood ones they are so sexy

Don't you SEE?

Hollywood is WHY most people like vampires in the first place!

I detest hollywood's version of vampires. But then I guess corrupting the image so well deters people from really knowing what they're like.

Of course anyone would prefer the Hollywood glamorous version of vampires... who doesnt want some some hot , tight, sexy body coming to suck their blood? of course... even the mythological ones have some seductiveness about them, it just depends on which of the legends you have heard,... not all were rotting corpses with a deaths shroud and a widows peak... some were women, who by day were mothers, and wives, but by day flew over the countryside looking for hapless victims... now who would marry a haglike corpse? lol so it depends on the legend... after all... Vlad Tepes, was not reported to be an ugly man.... think about it. ;)

Hollywood is the versionn of vampires that we really know... that is the first image you get, and thats te exact reason why they are so liked.

Don'y you think that if Hollywood had decided to glamourise Egytian "mummies" instead of vampires, that there would be a "Mummy Rave?"

I prefer the vampires in the lost boys.
Why so specific you ask??
Well basically (to me) they were the perfect vampire fun loving, deadly, funny, deadly shape shifting and cool vamps.
To me the Anne Rice characters (bar Lestat he had a bit of "life" in him) are very stuffy.
Hollywood vamps are too glamourous I'd stake em on site just on principal.
(Except hannibal King from Blade 3 he was funny as hell).

No, I didn;t like Lost Boys so much... I think it all went wrong when they where hangng upside down like bats...

I like the true type. The only reason vampires were ugly in the begining was because they were evil being and evil being have to ugly. And the hollywood version is more to the truth.

Each their own I guess :)
(but if we were on the subject of comic vampire's cassidy rules :) )

Most people respond more to something that's pleasing to the eye and that's probably why Hollywood changed their views on vamps. I'd also have to say that I prefer the Hollywood version.

FangyBaby, you just said:

I like the true type. The only reason vampires were ugly in the begining was because they were evil being and evil being have to ugly. And the hollywood version is more to the truth.

Since when did evil beings have to be ugly? The police would have such an easy job is that was the case.

Can't you see? Hollywood just fits your idea of the truth, the truth that Hollywood has made for you.... who knows what the real truth is, as we are all dilluded from what we have been fed.

Well said, Echo.

Newsflash...guys, vampires are suppose to be "hunters" and "killers" and how did Bram Stoker describe "daddy?"

Hollywood and Anne Rice just romanticized the WHOLE deal..though in fairness, it's quite fun.

umm... Nosferatu (1922) is perhaps the ugliest Vampire on movies (the movie is german...) & is still renowned to this day, not just for the movie technique but for the vampire itself...

Good point Yendor, but I was just trying to use the general Hollywood interpretation as a whole :-)

I definately appreciate the hollywood version more. As far as the truth who no's maybe vampires have evolved into sexy beings.

Yes Yendor and not to forget about From Dust till Dawn,they are far away from sexy blahhh.

But everyone has that sexy image nowadays,that's why most people when you talk about vampires they tell you: wow vampires!

Which I doubt if people used to say wow in the beginning of the 20th century.

I agree with Whitetrashdruid, the vaudeville-esque version of vamps which hollywood creates, diverts peoples' attention towards the actors, and in many cases keeps stupid people from "hunting" us (IE: causing disbelief and creating legend, as far as we're concerned).

The "re-formation" of the vampire "image" start with the romantic authors and of course with Bram Stoker but reach the peak with the Sexy vampires of the latest holywood movies. All the older sources for vampire information (Maleus Maleficarum etc.) mentioning of grotesque corpse-like beings, foul smelling, rotting and in general like the holywood zombies. No glamour and no charming vampires! Just poor tormenting monsters!
If I had to choose I would preffer the holywood and more precise the white wolf approach of the vampires

I know I have said this before...but the German word for vampire is Nosferatu ...which means The Undead...and in the trus sense of the word...Vampires are the walking dead...the person *dies* before they turn...and so...a vampire is NOT of the living and Hollywood seems to leave that out of alot of movies...but at the same time...Vampires have the ability to *mask* their true looks and seduce to get theier blood

there is I think something about the fantasy-like allure about the "hollywood" type vampires, forever locked in a beautiful body to wander the earth. With Anne Rice's vampires they are perceived to be cunning, knowledgeable and some times even kind.

And then there's the mythological "re-animated corpse" type of vampire where they were seen as foul, gangeley creature's who's coffins were raided to be "beheaded" and burned as a sort of exorcism.

I mean, what sounds more attractive? LOL

hollywood makes the vampyres the way they make them rich => the media falsifies things to their advantage or makes dumb people believe what they want them to believe!

hollywood. sexy is good

I prefer the movie vampire there so sexy and desirable in books too.

We are what we are to me all vampires are beautiful for what they are ....

I don't believe in the hollywood version of a vampire, but I love them..

If you're asking simply which we perfer, I perfer the hollywood charming old world mannered vampires.

In Anne Rice's books the vampires epitomized youth, there were no ugly vampires because each was chosen for their beauty and when they were at their most alluring...how desirous is that

i perfer the traditional and its hard to say why but i don't rely care for the hollywood one's

I prefer the traditional vampires to the hollywood vampires.

I like both vampires types!

I prefer the Hollywood type.

I like the Hollywood type, unfortunately.

i like true and real ones..but i would be lying if i said that the hollywood type isnt alluring

it has been said that Bram Stoker was working out his own sexual confusion when he wrote Dracula-that the rampant symbolism through out the bood- red blood, red roses, etc. was his way of dealing with his own sexual confusion...this could explain the growth of the vampire of myth and legend as ugly horrid and rotting into sexy, handsome and sexually appealing

I like the idea of the different vampire clans. The Nosferatu are the ugly scary ones that hide in the shadows, where as the other clans fit into different realms of the human world in their appearance and manorisms.

Ricean vampires! Can't seem to like the more traditional versions. Eh, the stories that I was told as a child....not very pretty. Besides, Ricean vampires are just damned sexy.

I don't really care either way. The Hollywood version of vampires is sexy and beautiful but the traditional version of vampires is realistic and scarier which is what they should be seen as.... so I prefer either.

I prefer the Hollywood and Ricean ones... their life and death is more logical than the old vampires.Is really hard to believe that garlic and crosses really scare vamps...

Nice question. I really prefer the romanticized version of the vampire. And I do think that literature (especially the Vampire Chronicles) has influenced this.

The true vamp is the one that should matter but most prefer the hollywood type I mean who could blame them I myself prefer the traditional myths.

If you think you are a vampire, then you will appreciate yourself and those you are close to more than mythical and media adaptations... however, I suppose in perspective everyone takes a path in how they want to be. So I suppose its more of a case of just "preferring" sometimes.

Myth made them dirty,smelly monsters to scare people and hollywood made them sex symbols to sell movies but if they are out there then I would suspect that they are like everyone else differing in lifestyles and everything if not then they wouldn't blend in and thous would have been hunted to extinction by now.

Anne Rice will be on CNN discussing her conversion

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/

as humns we like what appeals to our sences...so who cant help but to like the hollywood versions, even thought they donbt even come close to the truth..
i myself like the truth and not what some people percieve it to be because they cant handle the real truth that we are just human...

ANNE RICE is a hypocrite...and to even attempt to compare her vampires to the vampires of old is an insult. Vlad Tepesh would be turning in his grave. Everyone seems to love her vampires because she made them out to be sexy and caring and have a sense of compassion...*smacks the lot of those who believe that...HARD*
Her new venture is to attempt the story of christ...Let's see how many sheep will follow her lead . Im sure many of you will because it's anne rice.
I guess if ANNE RICE SAYS jesus was a vampire who changed...would you believe it? Something tells me some of you might.

For those who say and believe that anne rice's vampires are not unholy or are compassionate...these are her words on cnn...Her vampires represented her lack of faith, They represent darkness and evil.
But Im willing to bet those of you that used her to glorify vampires as "good" im sure you'll go along with the rest of the sheep.

For those who say and believe that anne rice's vampires are not unholy or are compassionate...these are her words on cnn...Her vampires represented her lack of faith, They represent darkness and evil.
But Im willing to bet those of you that used her to glorify vampires as "good" im sure you'll go along with the rest of the sheep.

anne rice has stated she wants johnny depp to portray jesus if they make her movie about jesus

WTF....kill that bitch and kill her now!!!!

I prefer both, as the two have their pros and cons.


Riceans have that certain romantic allure to them that as a vampire, I quite enjoy even though I am a bit of a recluse...... and with the mythological side of things, I like the concept of how the vampire can change into a bat and I would sleep all day and stay up all hours, but I cannot, as I have school to contend with, and other such matters.


The cons of each are quite apparent- the Ricean ponders and searches for their place in the world, while the mythological vampire is a monster that doesn't give a damn about anything but the ever so divine taste of blood.



Just my thoughts.

Altough holywood can be entertaining sometimes with movies like blade and underworld, their perception of vampires are way off. The smelly theory is way off to, I have never met one that was smelly.

i like the romance an mystery of the vampire

Very interesting thread.
Maybe that's why "The Addiction" is probably one my favorite vampire movies of all time.
It's so..."it could happen to you"...But, I'd be lying if i didn't also say that Bram Stoker's Dracula is my favorite of them all. Like it was already said, beauty is atractive, and makes money, but what I like most about Bram Stoker's Dracula is the part where the "monster" is showned, and loved anyway.
I like movies where the vulnerability of the vampire is represented also in the form of the doubts and the dealing with the new condition, and not just the glamour of it, like the old "I wish my life back" and all that.(yes, that sadness is also very appealing).
And becides liking to be enchanted by the concept, i also like the other part, where things are not all just party and feed and "watch out for sun light", but also the fragile and doubtfull creatures that feel or regret not feeling anymore, and are rejected by their uglyness.
I tend to pay more attention to that, than to the all mighty powerful vampire that has already won the "game".

hey vlad, newsflash....you HAVEN'T met one.

I do like the sexy movie version of a vampire but in all honesty would just love to know the truth about them. Tired of not knowing myth from truth.

i prefer a sexy beautiful version of anything over an ugly smelly dirty version...

Well I would have to say that I am in the middle...I like how Hollywood tells about Vampires, even though there ideas about them may be wrong. But I also like the traditional Vampires, because they are usually more powerful than the Hollywood ones...

I perfer the seductive, beautiful, charming vampires....

I like both types of Vampires- depends on what mood I am in- I like horror, I like romance. I appreciate beautiful things and being charmed~ so the Anne Rice characters appeal to me. I live in a dream world most of the time as a writer- I know none of it is reality but it is fun to me to escape reality. Fantastical things are intriguing- add beautiful, sexy, and powerful to mix- Rock on! I dig it I am sure because simply- I am a human woman with human feelings- put something hot and powerful in front of me- and I'm all about it :)

At the same time it is cool to watch the gore. Because there is also fascination in chilly things- it is exciting.

hollywood for this one---who wants to look like a nighthag...

..as long as something bleed makes no diffrence to me..

truthfuly i'd go with the hollywood one..cause i think they are beautiful...

My ideas are that Hollywood vampires are more scarier cause they can blend in more with humans.....it's the idea that any person could be a vampire...anyone..O_o

A vampire is a vampire yummy

I appreciate the hollywood version more.

Some true vampires would have something in common with Anne Rice's vampires. Others may be arrogent, rich, or shy, or maybe ever hide in plain sight. Could be any of these possiblties and more

I would like the holywood, version, vampires, but of course there is no such in all reality

..i like..

In reference to DanielsDarkFairy's post... that is very true--- the Hollywood version could be much scarier. Because people are drawn to them without all the knowledge of why, and with being so attracted to them and inviting them in- they leave themselves to be a vulnerable snack.

y would a vampire have 2 look different from a human...b/c if a human is bittin then s/he dosent mutate into a deformed being...the only change the vampire effect does is change ur thurst, ur flexibility, and agility...so i belive the hollywood version is more accurate then wat we were r called b4

i think i like ann rice's vampires but that is just me

I like the Hollywood vampires, who wouldn't want to look at beautiful people....but i htink that the beautiful, refined, seductive, vampires are as scary if not more than the traditional ones because they can blend into human life so that they're not notced. They have this ultimate secret that can't be detected. They hide behind the perfect mask.

I like both. Even if Anne Rice was having faith troubles, I think she did a really good job at making her characters. I agree that the Hollywood ones should be scarier. Why can't there ever be an in between with Vampires?...lol

i read dracuolar then interview and enjoyed interview more as it gives the life of the vampire, pasions, romance etc

it'll depend on weather it has more of a realistic touch all the cg animation crap is retarted

hmm.. i like both, i mean hollywood ones are hott and sexy, yet tradtional is what drew me in to likuin vampires

i personally prefer anne rice's but i can't say that i don't like hollywood vampires

While Anne's vampires are definately more beautiful than the traditional vampire, they are just as evil as any out there. Is not evil portrayed as ugliness? Good discussion topic btw.

i think that u dont have to look bad to be evil take lestat from Queen of the Damed in writng anne made him seam very sexy but he was evil nontheles

I like a combination of the two....beautiful, sexy, seductive in initial appearance....but horrific and terrifying underneath all that glamour. It shows how evil can be cold and beautiful, but also ugly and terrifying at the same time.

I prefer Hollywood vamps... I need entertainment.

I detest the Anne Rice version. I prefer Brian Lumley's. (The Necroscope series, for those of you not in the know.)

I think the hollywood version is cooler but not really realistic

I'm kinda in the middle on this. I do love the hollywood vampires but the mythlogical one's seem so raw, they're our worst fears essentially. I think a mix of the two would be good. what does everyone else think?

I would definatly have to go with the traditional vampires of folklore and legend. If for no other reason then the simple fact that without them there would have been no "creature of the night" for people like Anne Rice, Bram Stoker and the writers of hollywood films to tell their tales about.

Well I would have to say that the "Ricean" vamp might be "sexy" and alluring but not all that scary. When I think of vampire I think that of Nosfaratu the original vampire more like the one Stoker meant the world to fear. I see the "hollywood" vamps as a selling point now for the younger gothic crowds and what they would like to portray themselves as "the children of the night". The hollywood moguls have seen the rise in clothing, music and all other genre forms of the "vampire" scene from the youth buying like mad to immulate what they have seen. I myself would more than likely go towards the lycathrope ideals. How many of you all get whimsical at the thought of "that" hot vampire guy in the tight leather pants and the ren stylized shirt? No one ever notices the pure unadultrated animal power of the lycan characters. No one ever wants to sit and brood and be a werewolf. So I say let us lift our heads to the moon and howl our admiration to the "TRUE " children of the night. Even Stoker called the wolves the children of the night.

I lean towards the Hollywood styled vampire, yet when I write, I use all sorts of mixes for my vampires. Some qualities are used in some stories while others are used in a different tale, thus keeping my work from having one set pattern. Inconsistency works for me.

Hollywood wins out.. Its the sexual sense of allure that attracts most.. Its what helped such things become accepted and along qwith white wolf, drew more interest of modren society.

I myself prefer a little of each, that way you have the gore of hollywood and the romance both wrapped up in one, what more could a girly want...???
Eternally,
Heart

so long as hollywood keeps the vissual perception going and the old world beliefs hold strong to urban story telling

then i feel safe not to found or anouyed by humans

as a fantisy thing though both hold good pionts

Some points: the mythical vampire, until the advent of Christian translation, was NOT an "ugly, smelly, shroud covered" figure. It was a primal, soulless, oft-times feral but ALWAYS seductive and sensual creature...creeping up in the night and claiming willing victims.

As for Anne Rice....*chokes*
She accomplished in a far too short a time the total nuetering of the vampire. Turned a primal, seductive, powerful and compelling force into a bunch of pansy boys more interested in homoerotic dalliances than reaching their potential. Most disapointing.

Dweller

Anne Rice. Hmmmm......

Bi-sexual Vampires who have chosen to addopt. Tonight on Jerry Springer.

i think they've been made so beautiful and yet ugly that the mystery has captivated a general populus.

goth and vampirism is in style!! noooo!! :)

From "The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead" by J. Gordon Melton.

"...evidence of the vampire's sexual nature - particularly in the folklore of Gypsies and their neighbors, the Southern Slavs. For example, corpses dug up as suspected vampires occasionally were reported to have an erection. Gypsies thought of the vampire as a sexual entity. The male vampire was believed to have such an intense sexual drive that his sexual need alone was sufficient enough to bring him back from the grave. His first act was a return to his widow, whom he engaged in sexual intercourse. Nightly visits could ensue and and continue over a period of time, with the wife becoming exhausted and emaciated... In some cases the campire would return to a woman with whom he had been in love, but with whom he had never consumated that love. The woman would then be invited to return with him to the grave where they could share their love through eternity...

"The folklore of Russia also described the vampire as a sexual being. Among the ways in which it made itself known was to appear in a village as a handsome young stranger...

"The langsuyar of Malaysia was also a sexual being. A female vampire, she was often pictured as a desirable young woman who could marry and bear children." [TVB: EotU; Sexuality and the Vampire; pp. 615 - 617]

When it comes to historical vampires, there seems to be, in some cultures, a "hollywood-ization" of these types as well. Still, can't say I like Annie very much, but I'll take Lestat any day... or even better, Edward... (Twilight by Stephenie Meyer) the lore in that book is similar to many hollywood types, only now vamps must stay out of sunlight because they are highly reflective. Another speculation is born.

The Cap'n

p.s.: It is rumored that Bram was inspired by the Slavic vampire lore, but it is not confirmed wholely.

i prefer the hollywood vampires. they are seductive. exactly the same type i like....

what's wrong with BOTH?

vampire culture has had to change and evolve in order to survive like anything else....

in the 'old world' we had 'pretty' vampires who used seduction and beauty to get what was wanted and also used the opposite, the "ugly" and "scary" vampire roles to do the same.........

in this brave 'new' world we have TV and radio, GLOBAL communication. 24/7 and every culture had had to adapt to it's presence........

so now we have both

Whether you believe or not, the theory is still sound on both fronts.........

what say you?

I think I am going to go with the good looking trendy ones.

Can't stand Rice and not much of a fan of Hollywood either.

But vampire attracts, and I find usually its that tingle of fear people have of oooooooo a vampire.

Having vampire tats on show and not on a small scale I find alot of attention and usually the eyes give away the combination of hope and fear that I may actualy be a real vampire

*grins*

and that look ladies and gentlemen can lead to all sorts of fun.....

*grin* I'm sure it can. I'd like to take a moment here, and dissucss the term "ricean". Anne's vampire seem to be in a league of their own, the aristocratic vampires. Yeah. So how come Dracula isn't in their league? how come Dracula isn't on the same level as they are? As far as I can remember, he was the worlds first glimpse of a new breed of vampire, when the book came out in 1897, ( right date?) the aristocratic vamp. What are your views on this?

Crow xXxXxXx

As interesting a take as Anne Rice had on vampires I don't feel she added anything new to the genre.

Sure, her telling of the origination of vampirism was unique, but her vampires didn't display any traits not already found in countless literature from all over the globe.

They make a fun read but I definitely don't think they should be used as the litmus for what a vampire should be in books or movies.

they can be both suductive and mean...mainly the females are suductive tho.....i love a girl that has a lil fiest to her....like a vampire....anyways.....vampires are sweet

Well Spoken Fenrir.. Wolves are the only true Children of the Night

i go for the old legend, not dirty smelly or not nobles. But creature of the night who share form and experience.

Okay this question is difficult for me to answer. I have to say that if we were to meet a vampire in today's society, do you think that they would be ugly and smelly or do you think they would look just like a normal human being? As the times change so do we. I wonder if it is possible that if over the years vampires havent evolved as us and that the legendary vampires (like nosforato) are ugly because of the time era they were in. I mean they would have the ability to have make up and designer clothes just as we do in todays times would they not? I don't know just something I thought was kind of an interesting thought.

I think most of use prefer the Rice version of vampires and the modern day portrayal to the old day idea of what a vampire was. The ancient story of vampires from every country was scary, unromantis and nothing you would want to encounter or experience. The present day portrayal is romantic, attractive, sexy and with the way screen vampires look who wouldn't want to get bit and become immortal. I don't think they are scary at all anymore and this had actually turn me of to seeing more vampire movies. It has taken something away atleast for me..

hollywood be damned, but who wouldn't want to be sexy...