Television, Vamp ires and the Bod y: Somatic Pathos Milly W illiamson

Introd uction (1) One of the most striking of mysterious b od ies in America n television d ra ma b elongs to the va mpire. Once consid ered to provoke fea r, the b ody of the television va mp ire ha s stirred sympa thy w ith its pathos- rid d en recog nition of its ow n ( often g la morously d epicted) monstrosity. Ma ny consid er this sympa thetic d epiction of the va mpire on television to b e a rela tively new p henomenon, pointing to the recent success of Buffy the Vamp ire Sla yer and its sp in- off series, Angel. How ever, the symp athetic vamp ire on US television ha s a much long er history, sp anning much of its existence ( see Note 1) . (2) If American television ha s long b een fa scinated b y the figure of the va mpire, it ha s a lso b een p articula rly d rawn to the fig ure of the sympathetic vamp ire w ho suffers a troubled relucta nce at its va mpiric urg es. The sympa thetic va mp ire, so p op ula r on American television, is a crea ture troub led b y its ontolog y; it is a b eing a t odd s w ith its va mpiric bod y a nd the urg es tha t this body g enerates. This chap ter w ill exa mine why it is that such a fig ure ha s b een so p op ula r. What is it about a b eing tha t is in such conflict with its own b od y that ha s fa scina ted view ers for 50 yea rs? I wa nt to explore this q uestion throug h an exa mina tion of the 1960s d a ytime Gothic seria l Da rk Shad ow s. This show wa s immensely pop ula r w ith viewers a t the time primarily b eca use of its sympa thetically portra yed va mpire, Ba rnaba s Collins, w ho, like his small screen rela tions, is tormented b y his va mpiric bod y a nd app etites. (3) Da rk Shadow s w as a d aytime Gothic soap op era tha t origina lly ra n to a sta gg ering 1225 ep isod es, which a ired on ABC b etw een 1966 – 1971. C rea ted b y Dan C urtis, the show b eg ins w ith the story of Victoria Winters, a young g overness in sea rch of her pa st, w ho tra vels to Collinsport to ta ke up a post at the C ollinwood ma nsion. Victoria find s herself in a typ ically Gothic domestic la nd scap e, a la rg e and lab yrinthine house shroud ed in secret and mystery. Here, Victoria is employed b y Elizab eth Stodda rd Collins, a recluse who ha s b een tricked into b elieving tha t she ha s killed her husba nd. Initia lly, Da rk Shad ow s had no sup erna tural elements, but six months into production, elements of the sup ernatura l b egan to b e add ed . For instance, when Victoria is kidnapp ed, she is sa ved b y the ghost of Josette Collins. La ter w e d iscover tha t D avid Collins, Victoria ’s young and troub led cha rg e, ha s a n immortal p hoenix for a mother w ho tries to recla im him b efore b eing consumed b y fla mes. (4) Broad ca st at 4:00p m w eekda ys, Da rk Shadows struck a cord w ith an aud ience mad e up prima rily of housewives and the young . Initially, Da rk Shad ow s wa s not p opula r enoug h with audiences to secure its future w ith the netw ork a nd the show w as d ue to b e ca ncelled. But when the va mpire Ba rnaba s Collins first appea red in the tw o-hund red - and- eleventh episod e, such wa s his app ea l to view ers tha t the fortunes of the fa iling show w ere instantly reversed. Willia m Pa trick Da y comments that ‘Ba rnaba s’s p op ula rity w as extra ord ina ry’ ( 2002: 36) and the a ctor who pla yed him, J ona than Frid, found himself a t the centre of a g rowing fan follow ing , with the show receiving 5,000 ca rd s and letters a w eek from fans. Because of Barnab as, Da rk Sha dow s become a s pop ula r a s its b etter know n contemp ora ry, Sta r Trek, and by 1970 w as a ttra cting a n a udience of over 15 million view s p er ep isod e, five d ays a w eek (M uir 2001: 293) . (5) Cult following s and fa ndoms for television show s a re often consid ered to b e a recent phenomenon; how ever Da rk Shadows b eca me the first highly pop ular Gothic series, the first da ytime soap to go into synd ica tion ( 1975) and p erhap s one of the first cult television show s. Da rk Shad ow s g enera ted one of the ea rliest television fa n cultures – a fa ndom which p ersists toda y. As Ha rry Benshoff notes, there continues to b e a larg e and a ctive fan culture surrounding this show , which sta rted d uring the initial run a nd ‘continued to g row in strength throug hout the follow ing d ecad es’ (1998: 201). There a re a t lea st tw elve Da rk Shad ow s internet w eb sites in op era tion toda y, offering the va st a rray of a ctivities and information associa ted with fa ndom; M PI Vid eo ha ve sold more tha n 600,000 copies of Da rk Shadows vid eo tap es and D VD s; a nd the cable station, the Sci-Fi C ha nnel still airs re- runs of the show in the US. (6) This enduring pop ula rity is wid ely attrib uted to the va mpire Ba rnaba s, w ho is sympathetica lly d ep icted a s one who is caught in circumsta nces b eyond his control. Such a construction of Ba rnab as rend ers him a pa thos- ridd en creature, not unlike the Gothic heroines who surround him in the series. In her a nalysis of Gothic television, Helen Whea tley a ctually includ es Ba rnab as in a list of the show ’s melod ra matic p rotag onists: ‘the orpha ned young w oman on the verg e of self- discovery (Victoria Winters) , the strugg ling matria rch ( Elizab eth Collins Stodda rd), the confused teenag er (Ca rolyn Collins) , even the reluctant vamp ire ( Ba rna ba s). Each of these cha ra cters ca n b e rea d as a melod ra matic fig ure with whom w e a re encourag ed to id entify … a nd their stories a re constructed to elicit viewer symp athy and engag ement’ ( 2006: 155) . W heatley connects the melod rama tic construction of the key female cha ra cters to the domestic sp here, in particula r the Collinwood house, a nd a rg ues convincing ly that Da rk Shad ow s is a ligned w ith the fema le Gothic in this rega rd. Ba rnaba s too is tied to the C ollinw ood estate. His fa ther imp risoned him in his coffin on the Collinwood esta te, w here he lang uished for tw o centuries. When he is finally freed from this incarcera tion, he d oes not flee the place of his imp risonment b ut he ta kes up resid ence of the Old House. Furthermore, a recurring theme in the narra tive is his d eta iled know ledg e of the house a nd its history. This knowled g e hints b oth a t his uncanny rela tionship with the house and at his long internment there. Ba rnaba s is d estined to ha unt the corridors of this house eterna lly, and is thus a s imp risoned b y the d omestic spa ce a nd its fa milial concerns, a s a ny Gothic heroine. How ever, Ba rnaba s a lso threa tens the domestic spa ce (a t lea st initia lly) when he a tta cks two of the show’s young fema le protagonists; he is the source of fear a nd anxiety associa ted to the domestic spa ce, b eca use his a tta cks occur in the b ed rooms of the young women, rend ering this most p riva te of spa ces unsa fe. In this he differs from the melod ramatic heroine, sugg esting tha t the root of his ( eventually revea led) pa thos is located elsewhere. (7) This chap ter will exa mine the source of Ba rna ba s’ pa thos to sugg est tha t it origina tes, not just in his domestic sta tus, but also in his ontolog ical status; it will a rgue tha t Ba rnaba s’ suffering a nd misery as a va mpire is a tta ched to his embod iment a s a vampire. The embod ied cha racter of this p athos constructs the sympa thetic va mp ire as a sp ecific typ e of unw illing victim w hose ap p eal to the a udience is at once simila r to and d ifferent from the app ea l of the traditional melod ra matic heroine, w hose pa thos, a s Helen Whea tley a rg ues, stems from ‘the heroine’s remova l from a p la ce of sa fety to the threa tening loca tion of her husb and ’s or emp loyer’s fa milial mansion…[a ] dang erous domestic spa ce’ (2005: 156) .

Pathos and Barnab as (8) Barnab as C ollins is a reluctant vamp ire, and it is this construction tha t lies at the hea rt of his a ttra ction. How ever, Ba rnaba s w as not orig ina lly written to be a sympa thetic va mpire. As one critic points out, ‘Ba rnaba s wa s orig ina lly intend ed to b e a traditional evil va mpire w ho would b e sta ked a fter a few months of thrills a nd p eril for the human cha ra cters’ (D ay 2002: 38) . (9) In ea rly app ea rances, Ba rnaba s is chara cteriz ed a cruel a nd violent. Ba rnab as is a ccid enta lly relea sed from his inca rceration in the Collins family cryp t after the d rifter, W illie Loomis, hea rs tha t the fa mily jew els a re buried with Ba rnaba s in his coffin. Willie op ens the coffin to stea l the jew els, b ut instead sets Ba rnaba s free only to become his first victim a nd his servant. Ba rnaba s introduces himself to Elizab eth Stodda rd C ollins a s a long lost relative from Eng la nd and she allow s Ba rnab a s to move into a nd restore the Old House on the estate. One of his ea rliest a cts is to kidna p the innocent a nd ha rd w orking waitress, Magg ie Eva ns. Ha ving a lread y fed off of and enslaved Willie Loomis, Ba rnaba s a tta cks Ma ggie in her room one nig ht, causing her to suffer from an illness in the morning tha t the loca l doctor d iscovers is ca used b y a n inexplicab le loss of b lood. Later tha t night, M aggie is discovered to b e missing. Ba rnab a s ha s secreted her in the Old House and ha s b ra inwa shed her into b elieving she is his lost love, Josette. When M agg ie escap es, he catches her and locks her in a coffin – a vicious ena ctment of her ea rlier recurring nig htma re, w hich b ega n concurrently with Ba rnaba s’ ap p ea rance at Collinwood. How ever, w hile Da rk Shad ow s formally constructs Magg ie Eva ns a s the melod ra ma tic heroine, a victim of a force of evil ( Ba rnabas) who seeks to misrep resent her, silence and imp rison her, and even b ury her a live (see N ote 2), it is Ba rnaba s who elicits audience sympa thy b eca use it is he who is interp reted a s the melod ra matic p rotag onist; it is he who is consid ered to b e w rongly da mned . (10) Once the show ’s p rod ucer, Da n Curtis, rea lised that Ba rnaba s wa s becoming the centra l cha ra cter, ra ther than killing him off, w e find tha t Ba rnab as’ cha ra cter b egins to slowly cha ng e. Ba rnaba s’ torment at ha ving lost his pa st love J osette is highlighted and this comp lica tes his actions towa rd s M aggie Evans, a s d oes the d iscovery that he too wa s inca rcera ted in a coffin. Then, several months a fter his initia l appea rance, Ba rnaba s b eg s W illie to p revent him from a ttacking Victoria W inters. Two ep isod es later, he enters Victoria’s room a t night only to d iscover that he ha s, for the moment, w on his strugg le with himself, for he cannot atta ck her. This chang e in Ba rnaba s’ cha ra cter is a result of the overw helming view er response to him. As W illiam Patrick D ay comments, ‘[ w]ha t cha ng ed him wa s the response of the audience to his a pp ea ra nce in the d ra ma ’ ( 2002: 38) a nd so, just as the fortunes of the show w ere b ound up with Ba rnab a s’ pop ula rity, the develop ment of his cha ra cter wa s also. (11) Ba rnaba s’ treatment a t the ha nd s of the p rod uction tea m is rep roduced over three d ecad es la ter in relation to the va mp ire Sp ike in Buffy the Va mp ire Sla yer ( see N ote 3) It is now a w ell know n fa ct of BtVS fa ndom tha t the series creator, Joss W hedon, orig ina lly w rote Spike’s cha ra cter to b e killed off. But Sp ike w a s sa ved d ue to his popula rity w ith the view ers and, like Ba rnaba s b efore him, b eca me centra l to the show ( see N ote 4) Sp ike’s ‘unexp ected’ app ea l ma y ha ve been ca refully pla nned, how ever, in a n effort to rep roduce the sa me intense view er involvement w ith a show and a cha ra cter, w hich his pred ecessor, Ba rnaba s C ollins, had created. In a ny ca se, it is significa nt tha t ea ch of these va mpires popula rity w ith aud iences led to the d evelop ment, not of the initia lly d ep icted malevolence, but to a more overt exp ression of sub merg ed and/or intertextually cod ed sympathetic qua lities, tha t even ea rly television a ud iences knew how to interp ret ( for a n a ccount of the symp athetic va mp ire’s intertextua lity and for fa ns’ intertextua l read ing of the va mp ire, see Willia mson 2005). (12) Ba rnaba s is soon p rovid ed w ith a sympathetic ba ck- story that exp lains his p redica ment and which contributes enormously to his sympathetic app ea l. In ep isod e 365 Victoria W inters is transp orted back to the year 1795 b y mea ns of a séance. In this a nd sub seq uent ep isod es Victoria meets the Collins a ncestors, includ ing the still- huma n Ba rnaba s. The follow ing 95 ep isod es ta ke p la ce in 1795 w here w e lea rn tha t Ba rnab as wa s tra nsformed into a va mpire ag ainst his w ill. Sa ra h Gw enllia n-Jones and R ob erta Pea rson ha ve commented on the flexib ility of non- realist serial d ra ma s w hich are not constra ined b y a linea r na rra tive. They sugg est that such a series is ab le, ‘over a p eriod of time to estab lish multiple b ack stories, pa ra llel histories that ma y be p eriod ically revisited, cha ra cters a nd p eop les w ho app ea r for the duration of a n ep isode or tw o and d isap pea r ag ain into other “lives” and possible futures’ (2004: xii) . Da rk Shadows, a Gothic soap op era, provid es us w ith an ea rly televisual exa mple of such na rrative comp lexity. The seria l conta ins convoluted a nd overlapping p lotlines, unexp lained events and insinuations about Ba rna ba s and his pa st. In ep isod es 980 – 1060 Ba rnaba s is even a ble to enter a p arallel time throug h one of the rooms in the Collinw ood ea st wing. In this p a rallel history, Ba rnaba s is not a va mp ire, but a human who wa s ma rried and who d ies quietly in his sleep a s an old man. These ep isod es b ring Ba rnaba s face to fa ce w ith his ow n abjection b y p resenting him with a non-abject version of himself, a human who is not ma rked with a g uilty (va mpiric) body. Audiences p erhap s und erstood the pa thos emb edd ed in Ba rnaba s’ unfolding chara cter construction, b eca use the figure of the va mpire ha s long inhab ited serialised fiction, and in this inca rnation, the va mpire is trad itiona lly a figure of pa thos (see N ote 5). F rom the time of ‘Va rney the Vamp ire’, our sympathy with the va mpire d evelop s out of its unfold ing story of suffering . Tha t the sympathetic vamp ire find s its wa y onto television then, is p erhap s not surp rising, b eca use of the seria lised nature of television itself. As many commenta tors ha ve noted, television d ra ma’s p rima ry ap peal is not action or sp ecta cle, ‘b ut on the view ers’ relationship w ith the cha ra cters… its structure is in effect a ll mid dle’ ( Da y 2002: 39) . Furthermore, Ba rna ba s Collins’ ba ck-story can b e b est und erstood throug h feminist a ccounts of the role of the flashba ck in melod rama. Feminist film schola rs ha ve noted the p red ominant use of the fla shba ck in melod ra ma (and film noir) ( Cook 1980; Ha ywa rd 2000; Turmin 1989, W heatley, 2005). Flashba cks a re seen to p rovid e ‘a n expla na tion of the p resent through the p ast’ ( Ha ywa rd 2000: 136) a nd function b y ‘answ ering a n enig ma’ ( 134). But the fla shba ck is consid ered to b e hig hly g end ered b ecause it is not the female p rotagonists who tend to exp lore their own p syche, but ma le ‘exp ert’ cha ra cters (such a s ana lyst, doctor or d etective). How ever, Helen Whea tley d emonstrates a reversal of the g end ering of the fla shba ck in Gothic ada pta tions mad e for television throug h the use of a fema le narrationa l voice, ra ther tha n a male one. F or Whea tley, the fla shba ck from this p ersp ective ca n be read a s a ‘sign of streng th or resista nce’ (2005: 162) b eca use ‘med ia tion of memory or imag ina tion is almost a lwa ys a ssocia ted solely with the fema le heroine’ ( 162) w hose “w ill to view” ‘alig ns the female Gothic heroine w ith the ( female) television view er’. ( 162) The use of a flashba ck to reveal the p resent da y inca rnation of Ba rnab as Collins similarly alig ns his p light to that of the view er, but w ith sig nificant differences. Imp orta ntly, the view er tra vels ba ck in time, not w ith Ba rnaba s himself, but w ith Victoria Winters. Thus, w hile it is a female protag onist who d rives the na rra tive, Ba rnaba s, unlike the heroine of Gothic television ad aptations, does not mediate his ow n story. This structuring lend s a certa in cred ulity to a narrative form tha t is consid ered to b e hig hly subjective (Ha yward: 135) , sugg esting tha t the purpose of this fla shb ack is less about und ersta nding Ba rnaba s’ p syche and more about und erstanding (or even establishing) his innocence. As Haywa rd has noted, the flashba ck of melod rama ha s a ‘red emp tive quality’ missing from other g enres a nd forms ( 138). Ba rnaba s’ la ck of agency in the fla shba ck establishes him as a victim of circumsta nces outsid e of his control b oth in the events themselves and in their retelling, for the function of this fla shba ck is not to empower Ba rnaba s, b ut to d emonstra te to the viewer tha t which he does not und erstand himself – his innocence. (13) When the series tra vels b ack to 1795, it is revealed tha t Ba rna ba s is the victim of a curse, which is inflicted on him b y a w itch, Ang elique, who is ma dly jea lous of his roma nce with J osette DuPres. Althoug h he tries to tell Ang elique of his eng ag ement to J osette in a gentlemanly ma nner (a sign tha t he is a ‘d ecent’ ma n), Ang elique’s passion so uncontrolled that she curses him and b rings a bout his va mpiric tra nsformation. It is Ang eliq ue who b ecomes the source of evil ra ther tha n Ba rnaba s, in line p erhap s w ith g end ered socia l assump tions ab out the links b etw een the scorned woman a nd monstrosity (a lthoug h, interesting ly, this seria lised melod ra ma, like others, is unab le to susta in ca teg ories of good and evil, and Ang elique eventually ha s her own moment of symp athy) . When Ba rnaba s discovers that he is a vamp ire, he is app alled b y w ha t he ha s b ecome and struggles ( unsuccessfully) with his va mpiric urg es. To Ba rnaba s’ horror, his b eloved J osette leap s to her dea th from W idow’s Hill a fter ha ving a vision of herself a s a vampire, the memory of which torments Ba rnaba s throughout the centuries. This d raw n out fla shba ck functions to explain wha t Ba rna ba s is, not to Ba rnabas himself, who is cond emned to misund erstand himself a s evil, b ut to the view ers, who now ha ve more know ledg e ab out the innocence of this va mpire tha n he does of himself. Christine Gled hill notes tha t, ‘[ s] uch signs, thoug h not part of the cha ra cters’ consciousness, a re a va ilab le to the aud ience who is thereb y p ossessed of more know ledg e tha n the melod rama ’s strugg ling victim’ ( 1991: 226). W hen the story returns to the p resent, Ba rnaba s is shown to b e a troubled crea ture trying to find a cure for his curse w ith the help of Doctor J ulia Hoffman who ( like memb ers of the a udience) ha s fa llen in love w ith him. Ba rna ba s’ tra nsforma tion into a figure of symp athy is simultaneous w ith his d epiction a s a fig ure of pa thos. He is a vamp ire aga inst his w ill, a nd for vamp ire fans, the attra ction of the sympa thetic va mpire rests on this initia l non- comp licity in his vampiric tra nsformation. Ba rnab as’ struggle ag ainst his va mpiric urg es compound s the pa thos of his p redica ment, a s d oes his eventua l sea rch for a cure. Ba rnaba s is a lso feminised b y his pred ica ment b ecause of its close resona nce w ith the Gothic heroine. (14) The Gothic heroine’s p red icament is also often tha t of one whose innocence is misrecognised b y those a round her or the world at la rg e. In a land ma rk a ccount of melod rama, Peter Brookes comments tha t both melod ra ma a nd the Gothic a re concerned with ‘innocence buried alive a nd unab le to voice its cla im to recognition’ ( 1995: 20). Ba rnaba s, like the melod rama tic heroine, is secretly innocent, b ut in Ba rnaba s’ ca se, his innocence is b orne out of the wa y tha t he ha s had the circumsta nces of his va mpirism thrust upon him, even a s society misrecognises tha t innocence for g uilt ( beca use the va mp ire bod y is a sign of villainy). C hristine Gledhill a rg ues tha t melod ra ma is a, ‘d ra ma of misrecognition’, in which the p rotag onists true id entity or chara cter is misrep resented or unknown. F or Gled hill, the clima x of melod ra ma is the eventual recog nition of true id entities, ‘till then thw arted b y delib erate d ecep tions, hid d en secrets, b inding vow s a nd loyalties’ (1991: 211). Ba rnab a s’ situa tion here differs somew ha t from the melod ra matic heroine in that he can never voice his claim to innocence beca use he inhabits an ‘evil’ bod y a nd thus he b elieves himself to b e guilty. So, wherea s the heroine of melod ra ma is often the victim of physica l or sexua l abuse, Ba rnaba s sees himself a s (and ind eed is – althoug h unwillingly) its cause. In one of the ea rly fla shba ck episod es, Ba rnaba s is so app alled b y his va mp iric urg e for huma n blood that he decid es to end his existence. He a sks his d evoted serva nt Ben, to stake him throug h the hea rt, but this a ction is p revented b y a magic sp ell. Ba rnaba s thus d oes not even control the circumstances of his existence a nd is cond emned to a n unwa nted immorta lity. (15) Concealed innocence that is misrecognised a s evil is the melod ra matic core of the relucta nt va mp ire, and none more so than Ba rnaba s Collins. Barnaba s C ollins is d oomed to haunt his estate in the agony of w ha t he ha s b ecome; he suffers terribly w hile he tries to find a cure for his curse; he is at odd s with his va mpiric emb odiment a nd strugg les aga inst his urg e to feed on human b lood, yet, at the sa me time, he is an outca st, a figure b eyond the p ale, and his va mpirism is a terrib le secret that he must endure. This sympa thetic va mp ire, then, is not only melod ra matic b ecause he is pathos- filled, but b ecause this pathos is p erformed through the b od y. Barnaba s is, by a ccid ent, guilty; the pa thos of this situation stems from the fa ct that he is ca ught in the g rip of something b eyond his control – his ow n va mpirised and va mp iric b od y.

Barnab as and Body Genres (16) It is wid ely a ccep ted tha t the vamp ire’s mea ning s a re body meaning s, ind eed horror is und erstood a s a ‘b od y g enre’ b eca use of the wa y tha t it is consid ered to p rovoke a b odily resp onse in the audience – most notab ly, the rea ction of tremb ling w ith terror ( Ca rroll 1990; Clover 1992; W illiams 1984, 1991). Linda W illiams sugg ests tha t in the ca se of bod y g enres, p rincip ally horror and p ornog rap hy, there is ‘the p erception that the b od y of the spectator is caught up in a n almost involunta ry mimicry of the emotion or sensa tion on the screen’ (Willia ms 1991: 4); shudd ering w ith org asm, or shudd ering with fea r. The va mp ire is a ctua lly consid ered to p rovoke b oth of these responses; it therefore fuses the meaning s of these body g enres. For this reason, the va mpire ( includ ing the sympa thetica lly d ep icted one) has mea ning s along sid e of the connotations of pa thos, (b ut w hich continue to b e connected to it). F or insta nce, the va mp ire ha s often b een seen a s a figure of fea r and this fea r is often und erstood a s symbolic of the fea r of the embod ied otherness of the fema le, the homosexual, the foreigner, or the p erson of colour (C lover 1992; Creed 1993; D ijkstra 1986; Doerksen 1997; D yer 1988; Geld er 1994; Moretti 1988; W eiss 1992; Wood 1984) . How ever, it ha s b een noted more recently tha t this embod ied otherness p rovokes empathy more often tha n it p rod uces fea r of the ab ject bod y (C reed 1993; D yer 1988; Senf 1987; Willia mson 2005). The va mp ire ha s a lso been seen a s a sexual symbol, for w hile it is not pornog rap hic a s such, the sexua l orga sm of pornog raphy is inherent in the vamp ire’s a ct of b iting. R icha rd D yer arg ues that a lthoug h one d oes not have to read the vampire’s b ite a s a sexua l imag e, ‘a n aw ful lot sugg ests tha t you should’ ( 1988: 55) . F or Dyer, the b ite is pa rt of the rep ertoire of sexua l acts, a nd one that is ana log ous ‘to other forms of ora l sex, all of which ( fella tio, cunnilingus, rimming) importa ntly involve conta ct not only with orifices but w ith bodily fluid s a s w ell’ ( 1988: 55). Beca use the va mpire acq uires meaning from b oth of these body g enres, the va mp ire is a figure satura ted with ontologica l mea nings a nd these a re linked overtly to issues of otherness, sexuality a nd sexual id entity. This b ecomes imp ortant when consid ering the nature of the emp athy or aud ience involvement that the symp athetic vamp ire Ba rnab as elicits. (17) Ba rnaba s certa inly p rovoked a sexual response a mong st a numb er of his fans. Henry Benshoff comments that some Da rk Shad ow s fans sent ‘nud e p hotog ra phs of themselves to va mpire sta r J onathan F rid (Ba rnaba s Collins)’ ( 1998: 206) , at lea st one of which had ‘“Bite me, Ba rnaba s” w ritten on it (Da y 2002: 36). Dyer has noted tha t althoug h the va mpire ha s b een used to a rticulate a numb er of cultura l concerns, ‘the sexual symbolism of the vamp ire does seem the most ob vious’ (1988: 54). It is p erhap s for this reason tha t film a nd cultural critics ha ve most frequently discussed the sexual imag ery of the vampire (Astle 1980; Bentley 1972; C ra ft 1990; Cra nny-F rancis 1988; F ra yling 1991; F ry 1988; Griffin 1988; Jones 1929; Pirie 1977; R icha rd son 1959; Roth 1988; Senf 1987; Twitchell 1985; Zimmerma n 1984). (18) How ever, while the va mpire ha s b een seen a s a symbol of fea r and of sex, the sympa thetic va mpire is, as I ha ve a rgued above, a melod ra matic symb ol, that is – a symb ol of pa thos. As a melod ra ma tic symbol the sympa thetic va mpire is also a b od y symbol. This is significa ntly tied to the form of melod ra ma b ecause, like horror a nd pornog raphy, it is also a bod y g enre. Linda W illia ms ha s a rg ued persua sively tha t melod rama is a s much a body g enre a s horror or pornog raphy, b ecause it too fea tures ‘b odily excess’ (4) . For W illiams, these three bod y g enres sha re certa in elements to d o w ith the structure and function of excess a nd fanta sy that ma y seem g ra tuitous in compa rison to cla ssica l na rratives. However, ra ther tha n seeing excess a s g ra tuitous, W illiams sug g est that w e consid er ‘excess’ to b e organised a s a system w hich add resses ‘persistent p roblems in our culture’ ( 9). Wherea s pornog raphy a nd horror disp la y sp ecta cles of bodily excess, ‘in p ornog rap hy’s portra yal of orga sm, in horror’s portra ya l of violence and terror’ ( 4); melod ra ma p ortra ys its bod ily excess a s overwhelming pathos, most notably in the d ispla y of weep ing; the pathos is sa id to b e sha red b y the view er w ho is exp ected to respond a s physically as a ud iences for the other b ody g enres, b ut in this insta nce, b y dissolving into tears (19) I w ould like to sugg est how ever, that the sympa thetic va mp ire does not only p rovoke the overwhelming pa thos of melod ra ma , but also the va mpire embod ies it. Accord ing to C hristine Gledhill, it is p rima rily throug h the bod y tha t melod ra ma p roduces mea ning. She sugg ests tha t it is the p hysica l emb od iment of cha ra cters within melod ra ma tha t revea ls tha t w hich word s ca nnot ( 1991: 210). It is for this rea son tha t melod ra matic id entities involve excess ( of exp ression, emotion, a nd gesture). W e sha ll see b elow how va mpirism is the excess to w hich Ba rnaba s’ body is sub jected.

Barnab as and Somatic Meaning (20) It is not only Lind a Willia ms w ho find s simila rities b etw een horror and melod rama . Peter Brookes comments up on the relationship betw een melod ra ma a nd the Gothic, not only in terms of ‘the subjects tha t w ere tra ded ba ck a nd forth b etw een the tw o g enres’ ( 1995: 19) but crucia lly, in a sha red concern with ‘the viola tion a nd spolia tion of the spa ce of innocence’ ( 30). Gothic melod rama ha s the ab ility to force to the surfa ce w hat a re often submerg ed injustices, throug h the portra ya l of a misund erstood a nd w rong ly da mned p rotag onist articula ted throug h the p ersecution of the p rotagonist and the eventual recog nition of innocence. (21) F or Brooks, the body is an imp orta nt a sp ect of melod ra ma beca use the p ossession of a fla w ed bod y can come to overtly sug gest persecuted innocence. It is b ecause melod rama strives to a rticula te incomp rehensible w rongs, and to d ep ict innocence misrecognised a s wickedness, tha t it d ep loys ‘soma tic meaning – mea ning ena cted on the body itself’ ( 1995: xi). In commenting up on w hy melod ra ma ha s a tend ency to d ep loy non-verb al signs, Brooks sugg est that ‘whoever is denied the capa city to talk w ill convert affect into soma tic form, sp ea k by wa y of the exp ressionist body’ (1995: xi) . M elod ra ma thus ha s a tend ency to use extreme p hysica l cond itions ( “muteness”, “b lind ness”, “pa ralysis”) to ‘rep resent extreme moral a nd emotiona l cond itions’ (56) . Word s, on the other ha nd: appea r to b e not wholly ad eq uate to the rep resenta tion of meaning s, and the melod ra ma tic messag e must b e formula ted through other registers of the sig n (56) . Therefore, the bod y b ecomes a central site of significa tion in melod ra ma, w here the possession of a p hysical flaw ca n evoke misrecognised innocence and victim- hood. It is Barnab as’ vamp irism tha t is his bod ily ‘fla w’ so tha t it is his b ody itself that comes to sta nd for misrecognised innocence (which the world sees a s wicked ness). His entire unwanted ontolog ical status is a n excessive somatic condition tha t ha s meaning s b eyond the surfa ce ones tha t connect the va mp iric bod y to evil. Through Ba rnaba s’ unwa nted va mpiric bod y then, submerg ed injustices a nd anxieties a re exp ressed, a nd b rought to the surfa ce. This imp lies the opposite of sa nctioned meanings a bout the bod y and the self; for w ha t is formally a sig n of evil is revealed in fa ct to b e a sig n of virtue. This is hidd en from the va mp ire itself w ho loa thes w ha t he ha s b ecome a nd thus is unab le to recog nise his ow n guiltlessness. Brooks comments tha t ‘guiltlessness, in its p urist melod ra matic form [is] unab le to a ssert its nature as innocence’ (1995: 50). Instead, it is the view er w ho read s the cod ed sig ns of innocence in the va mpire’s unwanted ontolog y, thus und ersta nding more ab out the mea ning of his strugg le tha n he d oes himself, and potentia lly id entifying w ith his plig ht. (22) Accord ing to Brooks, virtue and innocence in melod ra ma a re often construed a s ‘app arently fallen’ (31) so tha t they ca nnot fully articula te themselves. It is impossible for the va mp ire to a rticulate its innocence b eca use its b od y is seen not just a s ‘fa llen’ b ut a s evil. For Brooks innocence is: [e] xp ulsed from its na tural terrain, its identity p ut into question through d eceiving sig ns, it must wand er a fflicted until it can find a nd estab lish the true signs in p roof it its nature (30). The reluctant vampire embod ies this melod ramatic impulse a s fully a s any fictiona l figure. It’s unwa nted va mp irism is the violation it ha s suffered, it is exp elled from huma nity, is misrecog nised a s evil b y a world to w hich it does not b elong a nd its innocence a nd virtue a re obfuscated b y its very ontology, until w e the view ers come to und erstand the va mp ire’s p redica ment ( and therefore innocence), even if the w orld at la rg e does not. Sympa thetica lly constructed va mp irism, para doxica lly, ha s b ecome a n extreme p hysical sign of one of melod ra ma’s core imp ulses – the strug gle for innocence to b e acknow ledg ed a nd virtue to b e recognised. (23) The question remains about w hy it is that the d ep iction of misrecognised innocence, enacted through the b od y of a relucta nt va mpire, ha s such an enormous a pp eal to the a ud iences of Gothic melod ra ma s such a s Da rk Shad ow s. M ost theorists of the Gothic a nd of melod ra ma sugg est that they a rticula te socia l contrad ictions and dilemma s (Gledhill 1991; Willia ms 1991) . Linda W illiams remind s us how ever, tha t w hile such forms do ad d ress cultural p roblems, they do not rea lly ha ve the ability to “solve” them (10). This may p a rtly exp lain why it is that a udiences and fa ns of the sympa thetic va mp ire are reg ula rly disapp ointed if the vampire p rotag onist is ‘cured’ of his or her affliction ( for a discussion of vampire fa ns comments ab out their desire for va mp ires to rema in victims of their ontolog y, Willia mson, 2005). W illiam Patrick Da y comments that Ba rnaba s lost his a pp eal after he wa s returned to his human form, for ‘the aud ience’s rea l secret wa s tha t they could never rea lly want Ba rnaba s to b e cured, for then he would b e merely a n ord ina ry ma n’ (2002: 39). W hat is of interest to fans of sympathetic vamp ires such as Ba rnaba s is their ability to g ive exp ression to socia lly una cknow ledg ed dilemmas a nd injustices rather tha n an a ttemp t to offer a cla ssical na rra tive resolution; it is the ab ility to ‘sp ea k the unsp ea kab le’ (Punter 1980: 417) tha t gives Gothic melod ra ma its force. F or his a ud ience, it is Ba rnaba s’ ab ility to suffer b eca use of his ontological p red icament – being misrecognised a s a symbol of evil – that p rovid es the point of empa thy and thus his app ea l, a nd the view ing p lea sure is constructed around what only the a udience is fully a llow ed to see, tha t he is not rea lly g uilty.

Barnab as and Troubling Bod ies (24) Schola rs d o not ag ree on w hat it is tha t is the ‘unsp ea ka ble’ hidd en dilemma that Ba rnaba s gives exp ression to. F or Willia m Pa trick Day, the a ud ience wa nt wha t Ba rnab as wants, ‘to b e free, to be loved , to b e pa rt of a fa mily’ ( 200: 39). How ever, one must consid er how the sp ecifica lly soma tic d ep ictions of self-loathing and suffering , of otherness and outsid erd om, connected with audiences in the mid to late 1960s and ind eed tod ay. Jonatha n F rid, (the a ctor who played Ba rnaba s) comments thus on the p opula rity of Ba rna ba s, ‘[ h] e ha tes wha t he is a nd he is in terrib le agony. J ust like the kid s toda y, he’s confused, lost, screw ed up a nd sea rching for something ’ ( Quoted in Muir 2001: 294; origina lly Anon 1970: 107) . How this resonates w ith different memb ers of the a ud ience w ill clea rly va ry in a numb er of (socia lly constructed) w ays. How ever, W heatley ha s a rg ued persua sively tha t Gothic television add resses a fema le aud ience a nd she sugg ests tha t ‘certain view ing p ositions a re record ed into Da rk Shad ow s’ ( 2006: 151). So w hile Ba rnab a s’ ‘agony’ about his embodied status ca n undoub tedly ha ve a va riety of different meaning s, I wa nt to consid er viewing positions g enerated b y the melod ra matica lly constructed b od y at the centre of the dilemmas p osed b y Ba rnaba s; to consid er the pa rticula r somatic force of this rep resentation. I want to arg ue that throug h the relucta nt va mp ire, Da rk Shad ow s constructs gay a nd lesb ian view ing p ositions a long sid e the heterosexua l fema le ones. It ha s b een sug g ested tha t the secret of Ba rnaba s’ va mp irism is a meta phor for secret sexuality, in pa rticula r homosexua lity ( Benshoff, 1997). If this is so, then it is w orth consid ering the amb ig uities tha t structure this embod ied metap hor; a b odily self loa thing exists simulta neously w ith an enormous g la mour a nd a ttra ctiveness, and acting on unwa nted urg es p roduces, not d isgust, but sympa thy. Of course, there a re ma ny wa ys that one might read this troubling embod iment for there a re ma ny wa ys that bod ies can b e troub ling , both culturally and to the self. How ever, I want to pursue the q uestion of sexua lity here b eca use the amb ig uities and amb iva lences which structure the vamp ire a s a bod y metap hor d o seem, in the ca se of Da rk Shad ow s, to ha ve p a rticula r resonance for g ay a nd lesb ia n id entities, includ ing the a mb ivalences b etw een culturally constructed notions of lesbia n and g ay id entities and ones constructed by a nd for the self. (25) Dark Shad ow s is, on the surfa ce, a show la cking in sexual content, but its hidd en p resence is continua lly hinted a t thoug h the roma ntic entanglements of Ba rnab as. Angeliq ue loves him w ith a palpab le sa vag ery, w hile Julia Hoffman’s feeling a re a lso p ow erfully intense, b ut Ba rnaba s is unab le to love either of these women in return. Alterna tively, while Ba rnaba s ha s loved and lost Josette, he loves Magg ie Eva ns in a n inapp rop riate manner, a nd ha s d evelop ed deep unreq uited feeling s for Victoria. It seems then, tha t nobod y loves the right p erson in Da rk Shad ow s, a nd a t this centre of this confusion is Ba rnaba s C ollins. There is much here to sugg est tha t the ‘unsp eakable’ at the hea rt of Ba rnaba s’ enta ng lements a nd at his feelings a bout his bod ily urg es is the ‘secret’ of homosexua lity. Ba rnaba s, a nd the cha ra cters a round him, (a s is often the exp erience for lesbia ns and g ays outsid e of the ga y scene), d esire p eop le tha t they cannot ha ve ( for a fuller discussion of the p lea sures of the va mpire’s sexual omnipotence for lesb ia n/ga y read ers, see Dyer, 1988); they ha ve unrequited p a ssions either b eca use they ca nnot risk exposure or b ecause the one w ho is loved w ill not recip roca te. This is just one of the many w ays tha t Ba rnab a s’ va mpirism ca n b e read a s a meta phor for homosexuality. (26) R icha rd D yer rea ds the va mp ire in general a s a meta phor for homosexuality, commenting on the pa rticula r simila rities b etw een the va mpire imag e, social imag es of the lesbian/ga y, and lesb ian/ ga y id entities. For D yer, va mpirism is, like homosexua lity, a secret. He arg ues that this ‘a nalog y’ w ith homosexuality w orks in tw o contradictory wa ys: [on] the one ha nd, the p oint ab out sexual orientation is tha t it doesn’t show , you ca n’t tell w ho is and who isn’t just b y looking; but on the other ha nd, there is also a wid esp read d iscourse tha t there a re tell- tale signs ab out who ‘is’. The vamp ire myth rep roduces this doub le view in its very structures of susp ense ( 1988: 58) . This double structure op erates in relation to Ba rnaba s Collins. N one of the human p rota gonists initia lly know for certa in that he is a vamp ire, but some susp ect that he is b ecause of certain sig ns ( he is never seen in da ylig ht, he ha s the inexp licable d evotion of W illie Loomis). But va mpirism is also seen a s something b eyond ones control; ‘[v] amp irism is p rivate a nd secret, a nd ma y therefore b e the terrible rea lity of the inner self, b ut in a nother sense it is b eyond the self beca use is it b eyond the individua l’s w ill a nd control’ ( 1988: 61). D yer sugg ests tha t this is d oub led edg ed b eca use much of the apology for homosexuality, w hether b y ga ys, lesb ia ns, or others, is a ‘mix of dista ste for homosexua lity with a recognition that it ca nnot b e resisted – “I d on’t know w hy I do these d isgusting thing s, b ut I can’t stop myself” ( 1988: 62). And eq ua lly, the victim is so mesmerised b y the va mpire tha t ‘s/ he ha s no responsib ility for surrend ering to her/ his kiss’ ( 1988: 61) . Ba rnaba s from this p ersp ective is a n ena ctment of wha t Ha rry M. Benshoff calls the ‘monstrous queer’ ( 1997: 274), a demoniz ation of lesb ia n and ga y id entities. D yer, how ever, exp lores both the ‘positive and the nega tive wa y in w hich thinking and feeling about b eing ga y/ lesbia n ha s b een expressed, b y w riters and rea d ers, in va mpiric imag ery’ ( 1988: 53). F or D yer, the structure of susp ense in the va mpire tale offer sp ecial lesbia n/ga y reading p lea sures b eca use it is constructed a round the g rad ua l discovery of the secret of vamp irism – will or won’t the other cha ra cters find out that s/ he is a vamp ire? (27) Dyer a rg ues that: [m]uch of the susp ense of a life lived in the closet is, precisely, w ill they find out? An ob vious way to read the va mpire is self-opp ressively… But there a re other ways. One is to id entity with the va mpire, d esp ite the na rrative position, a nd enjoy the ig nora nce of the ma in cha ra cter( s). Wha t fools these morta ls b e. The structure whereb y w e the read er know more tha n the protag onist…is d elicious, and turns what is p erilous in a closeted lesbian/g ay life ( know ing something dread ful ab out us they don’t) into something fla ttering, for it ma kes one sup erior ( 1988: 59) . In the ca se of Ba rnab as Collins, the ‘secret’ of vampirism is constructed sympathetica lly in the text as w ell a s in the view er’s read ing s of it. The first huma n p rotagonist w ho comes to know the ‘truth’ of Ba rnab a s’ vamp irism is Dr. Julia Hoffma n. Yet ra ther than being ‘disg usted ’ or ‘frightened ’ by Ba rnabas’ vamp irism, D r. Hoffman instead feels sympa thy for him a nd fa lls in love with him. She ag rees to cure Ba rnaba s of his va mp irism, a nd this might b e und erstood a s a heterosexist read ing of the monstrous q ueer. How ever, this read ing is comp lica ted in a numb er of wa ys. Imp ortantly, D r. Hoffma n does not ‘cure’ Ba rna ba s, and the a ud ience is left w ith the question of w hether she ever really thought she wa s ab le to cure him. C erta inly Ba rnaba s himself q uestions w hether or not D r. Hoffma n ever intend ed to cure him and is enrag ed w hen the ‘cure’ ba ckfires. F urthermore, there is the question of the unstab le g end er ca tegories inhabited b y these tw o protag onists, which comp lica tes the rea ding of Hoffman’s feeling s for Ba rnaba s a s simply tha t of a stra ig ht w oman’s heterosexua l d esire for a man. Ba rnaba s’ ow n feminisation ha s been discussed in relation to his melod ramatic sta tus a nd this feminisation p ermits a d eg ree of gend er sliding. Ind eed, some critics ha ve a rg ued that the va mp ire is alwa ys a t lea st p a rtia lly cod ed a s feminine ( Ca se, 1991; Moretti, 1988)). Thus Hoffman’s feeling s for Ba rnaba s could b e interp reted a s a symbolic exp ression of lesb ia n d esire. In add ition, D r. Julia Hoffman’s gend er is not fixed to socia lly constructed id ea s of femininity. The fact tha t she has ( wha t wa s certa inly in the mid 60s consid ered to b e) a male occupa tion a s a d octor ma rks her out from the other female protag onists in the show w ho occup y more tra ditional female roles. Also, the a ctress w ho pla ys Hoffman is Grayson Hall. She is old er than Ba rnaba s’ other love interests (looking of a simila r ag e to Ba rnaba s) and does not sha re their typica lly p retty, youthful feminine looks, instead she is strong and ra ther striking looking . Hoffman might b e consid ered to b e a man in d ra g, in which ca se her/his d esire for Ba rnaba s is a n exp ression of ga y ma le d esire. (28) Both rea ding s a re possible, a nd this means tha t Ba rnaba s’ ‘secret’ and Hoffma n’s love for him mig ht ha ve a pa rticula r resona nce for g ay and lesb ia n view ers. Ind eed , Ha rry M. Benshoff has a rg ued tha t Ba rnaba s Collins ha s ha d a d eep resona nce for g ays a nd lesb ia ns beca use they read his secrecy ab out his va mpirism and his ‘troubled roma ntic entanglements’ in ‘exp licitly homosexual terms’ ( 1997: 209). He comments tha t Hoffman’s unrequited love for Ba rnaba s ca n b e rea d as a n exp ression of the homosexual exp erience and sugg ests tha t Grayson Hall’s ‘ma nnish manner’ mad e her cha ra cter ‘rip e for much ca mp reapp rop ria tion, including the imp ersona tion of her b y ga y male Da rk Shad ow s fa ns’ ( 1998: 210). Benshoff’s resea rch into Da rk Shad ow s a nd its fa ndom d emonstra tes that there wa s a la rg e ga y follow ing for the show w hen it w a s orig inally aired a nd the show continues to b e ‘tied to the ga y community in many sugg estive w ays’, (209). Benshoff a rg ues that: Ba rnaba s Collins’s vamp irism b ecomes a n apt meta phor for homosexuality. Ba rnaba s is p lag ued by his unna tural appetites a nd much of his cha racterization comes from his reluctance, b ut concomita nt b urning need, to indulg e himself’ ( 209) .

In Benshoff’s w riting s on Da rk Shadow’s fand om ( 1993, 1998), he read s fan engag ement w ith this fig ure in a positive manner b eca use the show encourag ed an a ctive ga y and lesbia n sub culture. But in Monsters in the C loset (1997) Benshoff read s Ba rnaba s Collins more opp ressively, for he a rgues tha t ‘monster d rag is still b ut another form of the closet’s opp ressive function… the monster movie is a ”sa fe” but demoniz ing pla ce in w hich queerness hid es’ ( 1997: 273). For Benshoff, the social construct of the monster q ueer, ‘ha s b een a nd continues to be the monsterization of homosexua lity in mainstream US culture’ (274). (29) There a re certainly a mb ivalences in the vampire a s homosexua l; in pa rticula r, Barnab as’ attempts to resist va mp irising others ca n b e read a s a n attempt to erad icate the overt sexual ma rkers of vamp irism as homosexua lity, rep resenting the notion tha t homosexua lity is only accep tab le if it is not p ub licly a cted out, or a cted up on a t all; so long as one is resisting one’s ‘urg es’, the va mpire/ homosexua l is d eemed accep tab le. How ever, I a m sug g esting that the sympathy with Ba rnaba s only stems pa rtia lly ( or ra ther initia lly) from his ‘relucta nce’. A d eep er sympa thy w ith Barnab as stems from the wa y that his va mpirism is also, a s I ha ve a rgued , a meta phor for his innocence misrecognised and it is worth rememb ering that view ers lost interest in Ba rnaba s once he wa s ‘cured ’ of vampirism. Ba rnab as is not ‘g uilty’ of va mpirism, he simp ly is a vampire, a nd the pa thos of his situa tion is not that he is a vamp ire, b ut tha t he so woefully misrecog nises its meaning in the world, a nd trag ica lly loa thes himself a s a consequence, (and w hy should n’t he, for he is interna lising society’s view of him, a view that the view ers know ha ve misrecognised him a s g uilty) . This sugg ests another wa y of interp reting a udiences’ reluctance for Ba rnaba s to b e ‘cured’. View ers did not want J ulia Hoffman to find a cure for Ba rnaba s b ecause the p oint of identifica tion a nd symp athy is precisely his va mp irism. Once Ba rnaba s ha s b een returned to his human state he no long er inhabits a self in w hich w e ca n find echoes of ourselves. Ba rnaba s a s a vamp ire how ever, a cts out our ow n inab ility to b e hea rd, our ow n inability to put forward the ca se of our innocence, our inability to a rticula te our own exp eriences of the injustices tha t w e cannot fully na me.

Conclusion (30) Ang lo- America n culture does not like to ad mit vamp ires b ecause they sugg est an improp er body, and they symb olise sexuality that is consid ered to b e d eviant; vora cious female sexua lity, homosexua lity, male ma sochism a nd other cultura lly rep ressed forms of sexuality inhere in the figure of the va mpire. And yet the va mp ire exists in abund ant imag es in pop ula r culture, and in doing so poses a threat to the stability of the notion of a ‘p rop er’ b ody, how ever tempora rily. Our plea sures a s view ers stem from a recog nition tha t there is a momenta ry disma ntling of these bod y d iscourses, which a re ultima tely discourses of p ow er. (31) Gothic theorist Da vid Punter reminds us of w hy it is tha t monsters ha ve such long evity in the imagina tion, for it is b eca use they ena ct:

‘those complica ted, often confused moments in w hich the rhetoric and p ractice of pow er seem for a moment to shimmer b efore our eyes, w hen the unca nny seep s in a nd bounda ries w hich ha d once seemed stab le app ea r permeab le. Throug h these mists, w e see sha p es of the terrifying; but these shap es a re a lso rea ssuring , b ecause they p romise us that p rison is not forever; the monster comes to rescue us, even if that rescue imp lies our dea th’ (1998) .

The television va mpire, a s a melod ra ma tic symbol, is a soma tic symbol. It is a lso a n ambig uous symbol of the ‘imp rop er’ b od y and its ‘imp rop er’ d esires; it is a mb iguous b eca use it a cts out the existence of the ‘imp rop er’ b od y in a sympa thetic ma nner, a nd a t the sa me time remind s us tha t it is b eyond the pale, outca st and self- loathing. Our sympathy with the va mp ire is bound up with pa thos for the self, and so it must b e ting ed w ith a recog nition of inhab iting a bod y (a nd embod ying d esires) that a re a lso b eyond the pa le, a bod y tha t cultura l discourses a ttemp t to evict a cross the ontologica l bord er. But b ord ers are notoriously difficult to pa trol, and the vampire keep s confounding those b ord er b y turning up in most unexpected pla ces, includ ing daytime TV.

Note 1: In 1954 a g la morous fema le va mpire, Va mp ira, b eca me the very first television horror host, introducing KABC TV’s show ing of la te nig ht horror movies. Vamp ira (M aila N urmi) d elighted la te nig ht view ers with her sense of ma cab re humour, d elivering lines such a s “I hop e you w ere lucky enough to ha ve ha d a horrible w eek”. She also went on to app ea r in the film, Plan Nine from Outer Spa ce, which generated a cult fan follow ing . (for a fuller account of Va mpira’s appeal, see W atson, 1991). The first television adap ta tion of Dra cula follow ed in 1956 with The M atinee Theatre’s version of Dra cula (N BC) in w hich John Carradine b ring s to his p erforma nce of the va mp ire some of the p athos of his ea rlier film rend ition (House of Dracula , Universa l, 1945). Since then, the vamp ire has b een the monster w ith the most frequent appea rances on American horror television ( see Muir, 2001), app ea ring in every horror series since One Step Beyond (ABC , 1958- 61). Two exa mples a re the series Boris Ka rloff’s Thriller (N BC 1960- 1962), w hich aired an ep isod e in 1960 that once aga in fea tured J ohn Ca rrad ine a s the va mpire, and The Night Gallery (N BC 1970-1973) , hosted b y horror deniz en of the sma ll screen, Rod Serling , w hich ha d at lea st six ep isod es featuring va mpires. The sympathetic a nd relucta nt va mpire first app ea red in serialised d ra ma on America n television in the 1960s w ith the Gothic soap op era, Dark Shad ow s (1966 – 71; 1991) Ba rnaba s C ollins wa s introd uced into this Gothic soap op era a s the mysterious dista nt relation to the Collins fa mily who turns out to b e a va mp ire, sea rching for a cure. The cult success of the show, a nd of Ba rnaba s in pa rticula r, was such tha t Da rk Sha dow s spaw ned two movies, House of Dark Shad ow s (M GM 1970) a nd The N ight of Da rk Shad ow s (MGM 1971), a nd its p roducer, Da n C urtis wa s p ersuad ed to resurrect Da rk Shad ow s in 1991. In 1970 The Curse of Dra cula wa s shown on the antholog y series, Cliffhangers ( 1979). D ra cula in this na rrative ha s been transformed into a p rofessor of Ea st Europ ea n history tea ching nig ht school in Sa n Fra ncisco. The Professor va mp ire is pla yed w ith consid erab le sorrow, and he tells one of his w ould-b e hunters tha t “there a re ma ny addictions…b ut the most potent is the a ddiction to life”. A sympa thetic D ra cula returns to the small screen in 1974, (pla yed b y Ja ck Palance in a film p roduced a nd directed b y Dan C urtis) whose pa thos- rid d en d ep iction d raw s the comment from critics a t the time, Ga ry Gerani and Paul Schulmanand, that D ra cula is ‘coming across more like a love- sta rved Ba rnaba s Collins… than Bra m Stoker’s cla ssic vamp ire’ ( 1977: 180). How ever, it is p recisely this app ea l tha t rend ers the va mp ire a n end uring chara cter on the sma ll screen. An overtly symp athetic vamp ire returns to the sma ll screen in 1992 in the television series F orever Knight ( 1992 – 96) . Nick Knig ht is the consummate va mp ire in sea rch of forg iveness and red emp tion, and is clea rly the d irect a ncestor of the va mpire Ang el in Buffy the Va mp ire Sla yer a nd Angel. Knight is a 760 yea r old vamp ire d etective w ho is trying to b ecome huma n aga in. He is tortured b y his pa st a nd b y his bodily vamp iric urg es to the extent that he refuses to d rink human blood, instead surviving on cow’s blood which he keep s in the fridg e. The short lived television serial Kind red : The Emb ra ced ( 1996) also p resents a sympa thetic va mp ire. This serial b lend s the soap op era and gangster g enres a nd features va mp ires who a re memb ers of different clans, one of w hom, the va mp ire p rince, J ulian Luna, is on a n ep ic sea rch for red emp tion. Note 2: The w riters of Da rk Shad ow s even p rovid e her with the support of a child ghost w ho help s her escap e Barnaba s’ clutches. Accord ing to Peter Brooks a child is often introduced to the heroine ‘a s the b ea rer of the sig n of innocence’ The M elod ra ma tic Ima gination (1995), Yale University Press, p p. 34. Note 3: In fa ct, it ca n b e a rg ued that Buffy the Va mp ire Sla yer is g rea tly ind eb ted to Da rk Shadows in its hyb rid Gothic form, its p lund ering of themes from Gothic litera ture, and the manner in which the d ieg etic world pa rallels the p resent da y non-d ieg etic w orld of the times in which the shows a re set. BtVS a lso sha res Da rk Shadow s ab solute accep tance of the superna tura l events that occur in the ord ina ry w orld . For a further discussion of these pa rallels see Whea tley, H. ( 2006) Gothic Television, pp. 147 – 160. Note 4: For a full a ccount of this see Ha vens, (2003) . Ha vens sugg est tha t ‘J oss liked w ha t he saw enough to ma ke la st-minute cha ng es that sa ved … [one] of the show’s most p op ular chara cters’ ( Ha vens, 2003: 43) . Note 5: The most popular vampire of the 19th century was not Dracula, but the ambiguous and torn ‘Varney the Vampire’, a tale that ran to 108 instalments before being published as a book in 1847. Bibliog raphy

Anon ( 1970), ‘Turned on Vamp ire’, N ew sweek, Ap ril 20: 107. Astle, R. ( 1980), ‘D ra cula a s Totemic Monster: La ca n, F reud, Oed ipus and History’, Sub- stance, 25, pp. 98 – 105. Bad ley, L. ( 1996), W riting Horror and the Bod y: the fiction of Step hen King, Clive Ba rker, a nd Anne R ice, W estport, C onnecticut & London: Greenw ood Press. Benshoff, H. M. ( 1997), Monsters in the Closet: Homosexua lity and the Horror F ilm, M anchester and N ew York: Manchester University Press. Benshoff, H. M. ( 1998), ‘Secrets, C losets, a nd Corridors Throug h Time: Neg otia ting Sexua lity and Gend er Through Da rk Sha dow s’, in C. Ha rris, and A. Alexand er ( ed s.) Theorizing Fa nd om: Fa ns, Sub culture a nd Id entity, C resskill, N.J .: Ha mp ton Press. Bentley, C. ([ 1972] 1988), ‘The Monster in the Bed room: Sexua l Symb olism in Bra m Stoker’s Dra cula ’ in M. Ca rter, ed., Dra cula: The Vampire a nd the C ritics, Ann Arbor: UM I Press. Brooks, P. ([ 1976] 1995), The M elod ra matic Ima gina tion: Ba lza c, Henry Ja mes, M elod ra ma and the Mod e of Excess, York: York University Press, 2nd Edition. Carroll, N . (1990) , The Philosophy of Horror: Or Pa radoxes of the Hea rt, London: Routledg e. Case, S. ( 1991), ‘Tra cking the Va mpire’, Differences, 3, pp . 1- 20. Castlema n, H & Pod razik, W . J. ( 1982), Watching TV: four d ecad es of American television, N ew York: M cGra w- Hill. Clover, C . J. ( 1992), M en, W omen and C hainsaw s: gend er in the mod ern horror film, Princeton, N ew J ersey: Princeton University Press. Cra ft, C. ( 1990), ‘“Kiss M e w ith Those R ed Lip s”: Gend er a nd Inversion in Bram Stoker’s Dra cula’, in E. Showa lter ( ed.) Sp ea king of Gend er, Lond on: R outledg e. Cra nny-F rancis, A. ( 1988), ‘Sexual Politics and Politica l R ep ression in Bra m Stoker’s Dra cula ’ in C. Bloom, B. Docherty, J. Gibb a nd K. Sha nd (ed s.) Nineteenth-C entury Susp ense: F rom Poe to Conan Doyle, Lond on: Ma cmilla n Press. Creed , B. ( 1993), The Monstrous-F eminine: Film, F eminism, Psychoa nalysis, London: Routledg e. Cook, P. (1980) , ‘D uplicity in Mild red Pierce’ in E. A. Kapla n, ( ed .), Women in F ilm Noir, London: BF I. Day, W. P. ( 2002), Va mpire Legend s in Contempora ry American Culture: wha t b ecomes a legend most, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. Dijkstra, B. ( 1986), Id ols of Perversity: Fantasies of F eminine Evil in Fin-d e-Siècle C ulture, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Doerksen, T. A. (1997), ‘D ea dly Kisses: Va mpirism, Colonialism a nd the Gend ering of Horror’, in Ja mes C raig Holte, ( ed .), The Fa ntastic Vampire: Stud ies in the child ren of the Night: Selected Essa ys from the Eighteenth Interna tiona l C onference on the Fa nta stic in the Arts, Westport. Dyer, R . ( 1988) , ‘Child ren of the N ig ht: Va mpirism a s Homosexua lity, Homosexua lity a s Vamp irism’, in S. R ad stone, ( ed.), Sw eet Dreams: Sexua lity, Gend er and Pop ular F iction, Lond on: Law rence a nd W isha rt. Flynn, J. F. ( 1992), C inema tic Va mpires: The Living Dead on Film and Television, from the Devil’s Ca stle ( 1896) to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), J efferson, North C a rolina and London: M cFa rlane & Compa ny. Fra yling, C . (1991) , Va mp yres: Lord Byron to Count Dra cula, London: Faber a nd Fab er. Fry, C . L. ( 1988), ‘F ictiona l Conventions a nd Sexuality in Dra cula ’, in M. Ca rter, ( ed.), Dra cula: The Va mp ire and the C ritics, Ann Arbor: UM I Press. Geld er, K. ( 1994), R eading the Va mp ire, Lond on: R outledg e. Gerani, G. and Schulma n, P. H. ( 1977), Fantastic Television, N ew York: Ha rmony Books Gled hill, C. ( 1991), ‘Signs of M elod ra ma ’, in C. Gled hill, ( ed.), Sta rd om: The Ind ustry of Desire, London: Routledg e, pp . 207 – 236. Griffin, G. B. ( 1988) ‘“Your Girls Tha t You All Love Are M ine”; D ra cula and the Victoria n Ma le Sexual Imagina tion’, in M. Ca rter, ( ed.) , Dra cula: The Va mp ire and the C ritics, Ann Arbor: UM I Press. Gw enllia n-Jones, S., a nd Pea rson, R. ( eds.) ( 2004), C ult Television, Minneap olis and London: University of M innesota Press. Haw es, W illia m ( 1986), America n Television Dra ma: the exp erimental yea rs, Alab ama: The University of Alab a ma Press. Jones, E. ([ 1929] 1991), ‘On the Vamp ire’, in Christopher F ra yling, (ed .), Vamp yres, London: Fab er &Fab er. Ka minsky, S. M., a nd Ma ha n, J. H. (1985), American Television Genres, Chica go: N elson-Ha ll. Moretti, F. ( 1988), Signs Ta ken for Wonders: Essa ys in the Sociology of Litera ry F orm, Lond on: Verso. Muir, John K. ( 2001), Terror Television: American series 1970- 1999, Jefferson, North Ca rolina & London: M cF arland & Co. Pirie, D. ( 1977), The Va mpire C inema , Leicester: Ga llery Press. Punter, D . ( 1996), The Litera ture of Terror: A History of Gothic Fiction from 1765 to the Present da y, Second Edition, Lond on: Longman. Richa rd son, M. ([ 1959] 1991), ‘The Psychoa nalysis of Count D ra cula ’ in C. F rayling , (ed.), Va mp yres, London: F aber &Fab er. Roth, P. A. ( 1988), ‘Sudd enly Sexual W omen in Bram Stoker’s Dra cula ’, in M . L. Ca rter, ( ed.) , Dra cula: The Va mpire and the C ritics, Ann Arbor: UM I Press. Senf, C . A. ( 1987), ‘Blood, Eroticism, a nd the Vamp ire in Tw entieth- Century Pop ula r Litera ture’, in G. Hopp ensta nd and R . B. Browne, (ed s.) , The Gothic W orld of Stephen King La nd scap e of N ightma res, Bow ling Green, Ohio: Bow ling Green Sta te University Press. Turmin, M. (1989) , Fla shba cks in F ilm: Memory a nd History, London and N ew York: R outledg e Tw itchell, J. ( 1985), Dread ful Plea sures: An Ana tomy of Mod ern Horror, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Watson, Elena. M . (1991) , Television Horror M ovie Hosts: 68 va mp ires, mad scientists a nd other d eniz ens of the late- night airw aves exa mined and interview ed, J efferson, N orth Ca rolina & Lond on: M cF arla nd & C o. Weiss, A. (1992) , Va mp ires and Violets: Lesb ians in the C inema , Lond on: J onathan C ap e. Whea tley, H. ( 2005), ‘Haunted houses, hidd en rooms: w omen, domesticity a nd the fema le Gothic ada ptation on television’, in J . Big na ll a nd S. La cey, ( ed s.) , Pop ula r Television Dra ma: critica l persp ectives, Ma nchester: Manchester University Press. Whea tley, H. ( 2006), Gothic Television, Manchester: Ma nchester University Press. Willia ms, L. ( 1984), ‘When the Woma n Looks’, in M . A. D oa ne, P. Mellenca mp & L. Willia ms, ( ed s.) , R e- visions: Essa ys in F eminist F ilm Criticism, Los Ang eles: The America n Film Institute Monog rap h Series, University Pub lica tions of America . Willia ms, Linda ( 1991), ‘Film Bodies: Gend er, Genre and Excess’, Film Qua rterly, Vol. 44: 4 ( Summer), pp . 2 – 13. Willia mson, M. ( 2005) The Lure of the Vamp ire: gend er, fiction and fa ndom from Bra m Stoker to Buffy, Lond on: Wa llflow er. Wood , R. ( 1984) ‘An Introd uction to the American Horror F ilm’ in B. Grant, ( ed.) , Planks of R ea son: Essa ys on the Horror F ilm, M etuchen: The Sca recrow Press. Wrig ht, Gene ( 1986), Horrorshow s: the A to Z of horror in film, TV, rad io a nd thea tre, N ew ton Ab bot & Lond on: Da vid & C ha rles. Zimmerma n, J . ( 1984), ‘Da ughters of da rkness: the lesb ia n on film’, in B. Gra nt, ( ed.) , Planks of R ea son: Essa ys on the Horror Film, Metuchen: The Sca recrow Press.