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Vampire myths have existed in countless numbers of cultures under many different names and guises. This we know to be true. But not until the last fifty years have vampires existed as commonly as they do now in book and film.

In what ways have you perceived these myths to have affected cinematic and literary vampires?
How do you think this has affected our views of vampirisim regarding everything from consumerism to subculture, to our own personal ideas of vampirism?
How do you feel we as a modern people differ in opinion and belief regarding vampires from even just a 150 years ago?

All thoughts welcome.
Thank you for reading.

I believe that as a modern society that we are no longer fearful of unexplained things and are more apt to investigate such things. I for one would embrace vampirism if the myths are true.

not sure how to answer that, i think its just that we are more open minded about things now then people were years ago. people dont live according to superstitions either, like they used to.

im not sure that even answered the questions or not. sorry

I think hollywoods play on vampires have reached a new level, for at the start they were pure evil in aspects and lifeless, yet now hollywood has made them a sub culture that much like us has to endure such things in life as we do. Given them love and emotions and not out to destroy the world and slaughter of humans.

Also i think our culture is intrigued with myths of the yester years, exploring the possibilities and how the myth was started. The fear of wise tales no longer well to a extent linger in the minds of bed time stories to scare kids in doing only good.

People back then use to fear the thought of vampires, today, hollywood has perceived it as a myth and no one cares to look for the truth anymore.

i think we are open minded now ... more than before, and also people is looking for the occult more than before too... and some have found interesting the mystery that surrounds vampires ... their way of living and all that stuff..

Definately as said above that vampires are now viewed as sexy, attractive, desirable, not inherantly evil creatures. Whereas 150 years ago, the mere mention of a vampire would have had peasants rousing with torches and pitchforks and digging up all the available garlic they could find.

Meh, its added some interesting things too both literature and the television, and some quite boring stuff.

Its probably messed it up as whats usually percieved as a vampire is not quite what could actually be true.

I'm guessing most people don't believe in them as much as they were believed in in the past with the developement of new technology which can see the truth, rather then what people thought to be vampires.

I think one major impact vampire myths have had on society is that it helped to create the gothic genre. Think about it, vampires are perceived to be dark creatures, mostly wearing black or blood red, if you're looking at a nosferatu they're horribly disfigured, and on and on.

Goths wear black (and other darker colors but mostly black), people think of them as dark, and a lot wear makeup and use black to, maybe not disfigure, but alter their face (think of the crow, white face with black eyeliner).

I feel that there are more open minded people today then there were 150 yrs ago, grant it there are still those who are Skeptical yet they are few .
different lifestlyes and beliefs are more welcomed or accepted than they were then, so I feel we have improved over the yrs some :)

Fictional vampires have come a very long way in a short period of time. It really wasn't all that long ago when vampires in books and movies were still considered monsters. Now, sometimes they're still the bad guys, but more often than not, they're glamorized and made attractive and appealing. In my opinion, it is this new glamorized version of the vampire that spawned the vampiric lifestyle. After all, who would want to categorize themselves with the vampire lore of yesteryears?

I just feel we have evovled more over the past 150 yrs and are more accepting to different things then it used to be

Society as a whole is more educated than 150 years ago. Then, if people looked at a dead body decomposing, they would see fingernails and hair growing, teeth looking longer then ever, a full looking stomach and blood dripping out of the mouth. We now know that the flesh surrounding nails, hair and teeth dehydrates and retracts, making it look like growth. Gases fill the corpse as it decomposes, making it look well fed. Juices of leek out, making it look like it might have feasted on blood. Now at days, with modern elmbalming, we never see that. Vampires were blamed for unexplained things in the past. Current movies make it fun to think about an watch vampires, but to ignorant societies, they were frightful. Probably are to some societies to this day.

I honestly just think that modern society has trivialized the concept or vampires. Its taken a real fear and belief of a multitued of cultures and turned it into a carnival show. Vampires went from something to be feared and hated and reveared as something to be kept away, to something more akin to buffy the vampire slayer? Its one of the reasons i like this place, at least here ther is a level of respect not found in the general world.

i think that the modern concept of the vampyre is definitely based upon Ho'Wood's interpretation of such. what we have as belief and modern myth today closely parallels what was written in the past, with definite cinematic improvements.

it's sad to see how mass media can control belief systems.

I would agree that today's society is more open minded on different subjects including alot to do with the paranormal... however i also agree that the openness is limited to what is already believed based on the media image of said subjects, on the idea of vampires they are truely only a bunch of blood sucking demons that must drink blood to survive, and are from an 'evil' background, and unfortunatly this is true for alot of people who follow what they are told and do not do their own research and make their own decisions...

that was the exact point that i was skirting around..thank you.

So many well worded responses. Thank you. I find it interesting the progression of 'Vampire' from monster to the often more 'humanized' version we see today in modern lit. and cinema. From characters such as Dracula in novel and Nosferatu on screen to characters such as Lestat in Anne Rice's novels and Blade in the comics/movies - there has been much change in the way society perceives Vampires and their mythos.

What do you think brought about such changes in perception and concept?

Again, thank you for any and all responses.

I think movies coming from certain writers such as Anne Rice...Deemed romantic in nature shed a more realistic view as to the perception of a century vampire would be.

Rather than a monster like that of Dracula, romanitizing brings out more clarity on todays generation in the long run.

I still have yet to see a movie or book relating to the customery vampire of old, like that of the old german vampires. Not like Nosferatu, but much older than that. These types of vampire are never written about.

The perception from times passed changes distinctly with how each era precipitates the myth. Such as in the early 1900's, the Nosferatu was born in silent film. Now, as we are in the mellinium, Anne Rice took over the Scene with a fashion statement, where the vampire was highly embraced and well respected within the "subculture".

I think, regardless which era the myth stems from, the fear or the romance stems from social interpretation. It is what we claim it to be. But whether you fear it, or love it...It has become somewhat of a social mark. A wishing to become that which is unattainable.

The myths have given us the foundation to mesh our modern world and tastes into something intriguing. Where once we had nothing but a monster... vampires in many cases these days are more regarded as superheroes (at least most of the leading roles). Vampires evolve depending on what's 'in'. Just look at Lestat's character :)

In a more psychological aspect, the fear I was conversing about in the earlier post seems to digress with movie turned reality for some in society...A sort of superhero mind set, as mentioned by the post above mine, or supervillan in this case.

It is movies such as these which help society cope with fears of war, evolution even death. As we are more aware of these things, the past fears that lingure from history dissapates.

The youth of the world are deeply drawn into this culture of sorts, as a sociological view, their fundamentals are the ways of uniquety. Unorthodox styles and behavioral patterns. Many of whom live alone, call upon this circumstance to cope with that same fear. This is what they choose as their own reality.

i hope i say this right lol

i think today we are a little more open minded,, we see it in tv and the books,, and most of socity will accept it that fair,, but most can not accept that people who life a vampire life style,, that dose not do with the movies,, they cant handle because they need some to tell them how to act and to feel about something,, then to develope there own opions in matters,,

now me how hs this affected me,, i have more instreasting materials to read and watch,, and i am a little more open minded to things

I think that our culture now adays has changed it has explination to sickness and illnesses of old that were considered omens or curses

I believe that society has almost to the point of "ruined" the vampire....Do any of you think ancients are as sexy as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise or Stewart Townsend?? I'm not saying that they weren't, but...Immortality, having to drink blood for survival?? NO. Just my opinion..

Ruined? Yep, total opinion. I much rather attractive than grotesque.

Hmm, whos to say they were grotesque back in the day? Could have looked like you and I...Never mind, looking like me...What a sickly thought.

The progression of the vampire from monster to hero has always interested me. Of the monsters of yesteryear, the vampire has made the most progress into this type of acceptence.

What factors came into play for such a progression to occur? And more importantly, why the vampire?

Would it be the human attributes that make the vampire easier to accept? Sexuality is such a driving force behind human nature; perhaps this has helped society to view the vampire as something more acceptable since vampires are often perceived as erotic, sexual beings.

Another thought/question; what occured to create this transformation of the vampire from a mindless, blood drinking monster, to a seductive, sexual being with intellect?

Again, thank you for your thoughts, opinions, and words. I appreciate it.

I think a lot of people have a twisted version of a vampire. I think people keep making them to be more and more evil and they aren't.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the sexual implications for the human factor of what the term "vampire" denotes.

There is so much in the psycho realm to conclude any concept aside from the speculative points of view to be sure.

Such as the minds of the youth...Mayhaps they deem it nessessary, as I had stated in a previous post, to wonder into this realm to figure themselves out, or to reach out to something without being outcasted by it. Too bad this concept seems to work the other way around...Since no matter what, most youth are deemed outcasts by other means.

But why the vampire?

Why has the vampire affected society moreso than say, werewolves, zombies (strictly historical voodoo accounts vs. splatter flicks of modern cinema), and various other mythical/legendary creatures/beings? No other creature that I can readily think of has seeped into everything from commericalism, to film, to subculture.

That's one question I'd love to see some input on.

Thanks for reading. :)

its largely because the vampire offers humanity a way to anthropormorphize our most desired traits of violence and pure animal instict, while at the same time retaining a "beautiful" human like form that has all these powers, few weaknesses lives forever and can do what they want when they want.

Vampires appeal to the darker aspects of our humanity thus creating an attraction to what we are taught to abhor within ourselves. We always want what we cannot have; to be allowed, and even more, to be expected to be the anti of what society expects of us is a heady temptation.

I agree with your thought.

I quite like how it has become a movie myth to be honest. It means that in general the fear has completely gone. Of the people who know a little of my nature rl, none of them think I am particularly kooky or dangerous. They just happily accept it as a lifestyle choice. I doubt I would have had the same regard for my lifestyle even 50 years ago; I would probably have ended up in a mental institution:P

As far as I'm concerned its good literature....but it is very much 'myth'.

I personally believe that with all the different sides that society and Hollywood give us on vampires it makes us more apt to investigate further.... It is human nature to want to learn more, investigate, fantasize, wonder, and dream about things we don't understand or know.

the human race distorts things so badly it's sick