The Creator Who Started the Trend of Vampire

Bram Stoker’s Dracula Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a classic example of Gothic writing. Gothic writing was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the early centuries, Gothic writing would frighten the audience and it was also used as a style of architecture. Dracula, which was first published in 1897, would definitely cause a shock as there was a supernatural being, roaming around sucking people’s blood by the neck. Gothic literature usually includes vampires, monsters or some type of ancient mystical creature.

Stoker was not the first writer to make use of the vampire legend. Throughout the 19th century vampires appeared in a number of works, including Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla (1872), which Stoker read as a young man. But it is Stoker's version of the vampire legend that has had the most enduring popular appeal and the greatest influence on modern writers and filmmakers. In his book Vampires Unearthed, Martin Riccardo tells the story of a survey taken by Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum to determine the world's "most hated person." Dracula ranked fifth.

The way writing styles have shifted has left the characteristics of an vampire open to change, comparing the Victorian and gothic style writing into today's writing. Overall Dracula has been a massive inspiration to how we see vampires today with the pale skin, dark hair, red lips and drinking blood. Dracula brought the concept of a vampire to life through the definition in his writing style and details in the description of an vampire. There were several living and written inspirations for his vampires in the story. Although todays vampire may have changed into a more human and less dangerous idea the same basis on what we think of vampires today is all originated from

Mainly focused on the fictional portrait of vampire culture. Blood fetishists, practice blood drinking and/or bloodletting individually or at organized events. Sanguinarians or Real Vam... ... middle of paper ... ...une, 2013). The highly developed and charming vampire we have come to know through fiction emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries through poetry and novels, such as, ‘The Vampire (1748) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, Lenore (1773) by Gottfried August Bürger and The Special Horseman (1810) by Percy Bysshe Shelley.’ From this literature, we moved on to the silent films of the early 20th century and the Hammer vampire flicks of the 1970s, all of which created the passionate and alluring image of the vampire. In modern times we have seen an appearance of vampire fandom starting with Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Blade.

(Abraham Stoker) In 1897, Stoker published his masterpiece, Dracula. While the book garnered success after its release, its popularity has continued to grow for more than a century. (Abraham Stoker) Mystery, and suspense is thrown directly at your face when you read this novel. Stoker sets the tone for the creepiness of Dracula by saying, “It is strange that as yet I have not seen The Count eat or drink”(Stoker, 35). As human we are accustom to seeing each other consume food and d... ... middle of paper ... ...tely influenced the writing of the time through reflections of exploitation of women and a certain darkness in ones self, also explains of mystery and suspense.

Coppola realized the complexity of Dracula's character and hoped to combine all of the irresistible qualities that have made him legendary. Coppola however, became too attached to the loving seductive nature of Dracula and neglected the monster's horror. Stoker's original novel centers on the fear Dracula creates and the omnipotent nature of his existence. Dracula only directly appears in the novel a few places. The majority of his existence occurs on a sub textual level, which starkly contrasts the most recent film version.

The vampire literature as a whole has changed genres since its beginning. The new vampire seems to owe its origins to Ann Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire”, whereas the old vampire began with Stoker’s “Dracula.” A few centuries ago, the archetype of the vampire in literature would be Dracula. There were some stories about vampires before Dracula and many right after, but the image and personality of Dracula has become the archetype of the vampire as a monster, and has become what every writer bases the vampire on. The old vampire is drastically different from the one that is hugely popular today, especially considering what the archetype of the vampire is now and what it was 100 years

Vampires and Vampirism Missing Works Cited The vampire of today is most commonly associated with the type that was created by Bram Stoker when Dracula was published in 1897 (Florescu and McNally 221). This popular cultural icon is described by Stoker in his novel: "The teeth were strong and white, and the canine teeth protruded over the lower lip when the mouth was closed. The [vampire's] hands were large and powerful, the nails black and pointed like a bird's talons" (qtd. in Florescu and McNally 227). However popular, the vampire-as-monster theme has not always been the primary way of employing this motif.

Here are some testimonial lines taken from Christopher Frayling’s book Vampyres: Lord Byron to Count Dracula. In this book, Frayling writes:” Polidori transformed the vampire from a character in folklore into the form that is recognized today- an aristocratic fiend who preys among high society” (Frayling ) In this respect, Senf also writes:”Polidori’s work anticipates some of the ways that other writers will use the vampire as a social metaphor in realistic fiction” (Senf: 39). Based on the previous findings, it seems fair to suggest that Polidori’ s The Vampyre is not just a story of a monstrous figure of the vampire from folklore tradition waiting to be destroyed by a wooden stake through the heart, it is rather that kind of nineteenth century vampire whose literary presence is highly loaded with metaphorical connotations. For instance, Lord Ruthven’s presence in the story is but an attempt made by Polidori to tackle issues related to moral standards like vice and virtue. For a deeper understanding, we will rely on Jeremy L. Keffer’s research conducted to explore the ways in which thos... ... middle of paper ... ... victim.

Dracula is a famous figure, a tale that has been told for hundreds of years. Countless generations have heard about this dreadful and mysterious vampire; however, with so many versions of his story, I believe we have come to the point where we don’t actually know why the most called “first vampire” was created to begin with. What if the legend of this vampire was created as a way to make people fear the new? Dracula is different from what was considered normal back to the nineteenth century, which makes the audience imagine if the whole story was meant to teach other people that they should fear and hate those who they do not yet understand or comprehend. People create all sort of stories and fairytales just so they can find an excuse to act the way they act towards someone who is somehow different from them.