Let's face it, folks. We all thought the vampire craze would die out, but it hasn't. As a matter of fact, there are more vampire items out there now than ever before.
Are vampires real? I guess anything's possible. Personally, I believe that all legends and fairy tales have their beginnings in truth. Many become distorted over the centuries. Vampire legends often relate vampires to evil or demons because of the drinking of blood. Since blood and a pumping heart are needed to keep us alive and vampires only come out at night, I can easily see where that fear came from.
The legend developed even more with Vlad the Impaler, and if you ever read his gory history you'd know why. The definition of a vampire is often modeled after Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' written in 1897. I've read the book and I can say it is scary. Certainly a well-written book.
Many think Stephanie Meyers is responsible for the current vampire craze. I think it goes back farther than that. Our earth works in synchronicity - 2 or more events related. As we approached the new century, many developed an interest in the Occult, Wiccanism, Dragons - things we were taught as taboo, things our parents and grand parents saw through superstitious eyes and/or fear as taught to them.
Many authors began to break through this web of no-no's by writing about legend beings. JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis are two of them. JK Rowling opened the door wider with the 'Harry Potter' series. Many across the world saw her books as evil without even reading them. The rest of us saw the series for what it was - an ingenious new take on witches and wizards.
Other books followed about legendary creatures. One of my favorites is the 'Fablehaven' series, written in the 21st century. The series is for children by Brandon Mull. His satyrs were quite the characters.
These all (plus many more) made us ready for Meyers' new take on vampires. Have I read the books? You betcha. Do I think she's a great writer or a bad writer? I think she writes better than I do, but I give her credit for starting a whole new type of vampire that appeals so much to pre-teen girls through older women. The books aren't just the romance of Edward and Bella, there are some scary scenes.
I was reading one of those scenes one night while I sat near a window. I heard a tap-tap-tapping and looked out, only to see the small shadow of a bat. Yes, I screamed. Who wouldn't? My son and daughter-in-law came running to see what happened. They looked out the window and saw:
Their precious gray kitten Wedge standing up with front paws out trying to figure out how to get back in (he had snuck out their window). After that, I read the book when someone was around. Hey - you never know.
Did you know there is a book club - TwilightMoms?
http://www.twilightmoms.com/
The Twilight series movies, which I really enjoy has also pushed the whole interest in vampires.
This has resulted in even more vampire items anyone could purchase. Oh, you didn't know about these? Well, let's take a look at some:
Vampire Blood drinks (not real blood of course, but from the True Blood series)
Vampire Journals here's a tasty one:
How about a a piece of jewelry? You can purchase those at e-bay and etsy.
(vampire bite necklace)A vampire blood amulet maybe?
There's many more items to choose from, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, and the Vampire Diaries too.
Actually, many of the clothes and jewelry are quite sensuous - if you have the figure to wear them. I've seen some really gorgeous capes.
Hey, let's look at what all this interest in vampire items is doing. It's a simple case of people spending money on collectibles or items of interest, and that helps our economy.
So why not snuggle down with your Honeybun in your comfy vamp clothes and jewelry, drink some True Blood drink straight from the bottle, share your thoughts in your journal and watch or read some vampire stories. Could turn out to be a most interesting evening. Uh, watch the biting though.
LHR
14 comments:
I love scary stories, ghost stories and such but horror stories and vampires are way over the top for little old me. I guess I don't like having nightmares! You write way better than Stephanie Meyers!
The Desert Rocks, thank you so much for that compliment. I'm not much on horror either. I'd never make a good vampire because I can't stand the sight of blood.
What an interesting post! I am a big fan of Harry Potter and can never understand why people hate something they have never read. I also enjoyed The Fablehaven series and saw Brandon Mull speak at a Barnes and Noble last year (my co-author rode the bus with him as kids). It was very exciting to meet him!
Thanks for sharing!
~Jess
http://thesecretdmsfilesoffairdaymorrow.blogpsot.com
Jess, thank you for your comment! I'm jealous - you got to hear him speak! Honestly, that's great. Nice to meet you.
I loved the Harry Potter books and movies, also enjoyed the Twilight books but was disappointed by the first film (the only one I’ve seen). I haven’t read the ‘Fablehaven’ series but will be sure to rectify that. Excellent post Donna, I read every word even though I’m a little short of time these days.
Barbara, you are such a sweetheart and it is an honor to know you. Your choice to save childrens books is what I so admire about you, besides how kind you are. Thank you for your comments. And you'll love Fablehaven.
You write SO MUCH better than the Twilight author... Than again, I despise those stories and I don't like that the author is basically copying off of True Blood. But even if she was an all star author, you are MUCH better.
And as you know, I love anything vampire related - the cute and funny, the romantic and the dark and gory.
Angie, thank you for your comment. You are sweet. And I do know you like anything vampirish.
Well, my ex is a vampire. True story. She wasn't when I was with her. She joined one of those vampire covens out in Utah after we broke up. Go figure.
utah has vampire covens?! I never knew! Thank you for your comment.
So does Florida. There was a nasty case back in the nineties involving a double murder. Naturally, these aren't "real" vampires, but people who believe that they are and act the part.
That is awful! What is up with people? It is a crazy world.
OoooOOooo I like that vampire journal >:)
tee-hee!
Twilight is actually not a bad series if you read it for what it is, which a lot of people don't. They read it expecting one thing and get another. I enjoyed it as a fun read (own all the books in fact, LOL!) and have seen all but the newest movie (missed it thanks to fund issues) though I will remedy that when it comes out on netflix ;)
I twilight also illustrates one of the gerat things about vampires and taht is that they can be anything. if you like your vampires to sparkle - boom, there they are. if you like violent vampires, or historical vampires, or modern vampires; happy, sad, melancholy, rock stars, it's all there, and so that makes for, in my opinion, the most felxible genre out there because a vampire book could be a historical novel, a romance novel, or even a chick lit and as long and still fall into the vampire category. It's like a vampire for every mood ;)
Thank you for your comment, Joleene. A vampire for every mood would work well for me because I'm a Cancer and very moody.
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