friend, the womanizing poet LordBlz'on. ThenBram Stoker'sDracala 0897) Iaid bare the pride, prejudices, and prudishness of Victorian London. Contempomry vam- pire stories havebeen more open-minded,often present- ing the ghouls as misunder- similar arxiety: 'A big part stood misfits. Beginning in of the vampire myth-and the 1980s,the vampire maybewhyit's so popular becamethe syrnbol of choice now-is that it's a counter- for "issues"-feminism, drug balance to the technological addiction, and AIDS. "Vam- wave we've been riding. pirism basically came out of We'vemadesomany the closet as metapho4,not advances,but there's that pafticularly for gay sex,but shadowpart of the psyche for an act of love that kills," that wants to pullyou back says author Neil Gaiman. and say,'Do we really have Vamps are such versatile control of everything?"' syrnbols now that they can Before we get too philo- express both conservative sophical,we should also note and liberal views. Stephenie that many newvampires are Meyer's Tfu;ilightnov els ar e young male, and smoking steeped in her Mormon hot. Behold the grand new values. C onversely, T?ue subject of vampire fiction: Your blood.Your soul.In the B/oodspeaksin part forgays The Boyfriend. Vampire meantimg they'll settle for and, as Ball puts it, "eight stories give everyone a yourtime and money. years of institutionalized glimpse ofwhatwomen Vampires have risen again- demonization of pretty want-a deep romance of and in astonishing numbers. much anygroup that wasn't the soul. Theyhave always They haunt bookstores, on the bus with Mr. Bush." been written mostly television,and movies.Why And vampires,of course, for women and, lately, by has pop culture thrown open have always embodied more women.The abundanceof its door and invited them in? timeless themes, such as the them now speaks to how " The traditional vampire fear ofdeath, the veneration muchcurrent pop cultwe story with monsters anc. ofyouth, and the conflict skews female in general. victims, chasesand chills, is betweenfaith and reason. Quips Chris Moore, author pure plain fun," says Tlae Just as Stoker's Dracula of the comic vampire novel B/oods executive producer reflected the tensionsofa YouSuck: "The ultimate in Alan Ball. "But they can society being transformed chick lit would be a vampire often reveal the general by scientific and industrial who's a shoe whore. It seems state ofthe cultural psyche." revolutions,Chuck Hogan, like the logical next step." The vampire trope is as old who coauthored TheStrain If that particular fantasy as the dirt in a bloodsucker's with Guillermo del Toro, doesn't work for you, check coffin. But the modern mold believes that our vampire out the following pages.Pop was created by the now-for- outbreak is symptomatic of culture has given all of us a gotten John Wliam Polidori, vampire to sink our teeth whose 1819gotkic novella Thp into. -Jef Jercerywith addi- Vampyreconcerned a super- tional reporting by Christina natural sexualpredator-a AmorosoandDaui.dYi withering ritr (according to literary legend)on Polidori's
24 EntertainmentWeekly 8.7.09 l|amptf,eg AcoMpLErE GUrDE EtepIente me0er Authorof the Twilightseries ;it:ri,, ::ii i:ll i1: It may come as a surprise to learn that Meyer- E:1. : ..:t.. - :::::'.:i reigrring queen of pop culture's vampire coven- has an uneasy relationship with the toothy :i:, iir :, .:.: ii :::lt;:::iti:ii i:tl ijl buggers. Back in 2003, when she was tapping out the first draft of Twilight, she refused to show it to her husband. "I was embarrassed," she said. "It was about vampires." 1n2007,as T\nilightpropelled her from a surprise YA best- seller to a multigenerational superstar, she admitted to EW that shehad never read Bram Stoker'sDracu/o.Reading other people'svampire madeher too sheexplained. . :.. r" lt stories "neurotic," As a Mormon, Meyer doesn't watch R-rated movies, so that eliminated a whole other swatch of the canon. (She has seen bits of Interuiew With the Vampire and The Lost Boys on late- night TV Her respectivereviews: "Yuck!" and "Creepy!") Before the movie adaptation of Tlailightpremiered last fall, EW caught up with Meyer on the book tour for her first adult novel, TheHosf. A well-reviewed sci-fi romance that has been on best-sellerlists for nearly 60 weeks,the book offeredMeyer a chanceto move on from Edward. Her voraciousfans weren't as ready to let go. As they continue to swarm T\tsilight conven- tions, and Robert Pattinson is routinely attacked on the street ry:::_;it by ponytailed neck nibblers, Meyer has taken a vo'w of media .l+f1 silence.Last year she told EW that her great wish was to ::::::::i::lil reclaim sometime to write somethingnew. "Look, I'm not just 'f.;.,.;,:r.1 : ,::r|5f.i:::i,::, a vampire girl," she said emphatically."I can do other worlds." ;lrjr:r:::::::rrr:::ri -Karen Valby,with additionalreporting by GregoryKirschling
o g- lllustrations by SEAN MCCABE 8.7.09Entertainment Weekly 25 FheI'Jafura/ Hrsfory of the Vampircbv AnthonyMdsters. h; 4 ,.;: It wasthe first bookwhere tiiey r1 eqtiatedserial killers with .. e' rrampiresand werewolves. What are your thoughts on the = Twilightphenomenon? I StephilnieMeyi:r has come nnd = shelstaken the qenre that I sortof - pioneered.Her original audience z wds11- and 12-year-olds, soshe- genre. veryrightly-sanitized the .9 Shetook out a lot of the sexand ffit4 =t violence,cspecially for the first >i book.My rerldershipis bothmale Bi a g; andfemale, but lwlfghf is very iF mucha girls'book.I ask people, t Why hasthis reallycaptured :x you?What i heardfrom all ages z< is that it wasvory rornantlc zF thdt =-3 hewas willirrg to waitfor herand iri LAURELLK, that therr:was no sex.They like the ideathat waslike VampireHair: The Kindest Cuts f= you Once go Blacula,you'll never go backula! ;= ;> HR oi Christopher William Kiefer Tomcruise Eddie tuGary Leein Dracular Marshallin Sutherlandin in/nteryrew Murphyin oldmanin 6C Princeof Blacula TheLostBoys Withthe Vampire Bramstoker,s Darkness 7972 1987 Vampire ln Erooklyn Dreua 1966 t994 1995 1992 q= t? 26 EntertainmentWeekly 8.7.09 lnm&iret AcoMpLErE GurDE :-ijr,:::, 1 ::i .'.:::i:i:;: SOOKIESTACKHOUSE ANDMEby firwtpine frwi8 When I begantrying to imaginethe novel I wanted to write, I knew only two things about this novel The protagonistwould be a worhan who was dating a vampire,and the bookwould beboth funny and bloody. In 1998,there were hot that many strong women charactersin the science-fictionfield, and I was constructingmy heroine from new material. Sookie took shape slowly. She's a very modern womarl in many ways. I knew it would never occur to her to many in order to be supporbed.I also knew that any sanewoman (and Socikie is uery sane) would only date a vampire if other dating options were closed. It took me a long time to pick a disability that would preclude conventional dating. My choices ranged frbm the practical to the absurd. I settled on telepathy becausbit seemedone of the worst things that could befall anyone. The next most important figure was her new suitor; avampire. I thought of many names for him, rangrng from Eurotrash to ridiculous. It seemed funniest to me to give him an absolutely prosaic name: Bill. If it made me laugh, it might make other people laugh too I had to put Sookie in a position to meet a lot of new people, so I made her abarmaid in a small-townbar. Thatway, people/ werewolves/vampires could wander in and out. That also meant children wouldn't be in danger when trouble came irito Merlotte's, as it was sure to do. Since everyone in a series [as to have secrets, Sookie'sboss had to have a secret too, and that was the easiest part of the setup. If Bill was going to bb a vampire, Sam Merlotte would be a shape-shifter. Since Sookie had a boss, I thought Bill should have one too; no free-range vampires in my world! I decided Bill's boss would be Bill's opposite in most ways. Blond, tall, imperious, and in some ways surprisingly liberated, Eric almost leaped into the stoly. These characters grew to populate the world of Sooliie Stackhouse, telepath and barmaid. Though she has no suppr- powers, and she's terriffingly human, Sookie has become my very own heroine, in every senseofthe word. 8.7.09EntertainmentWeekly 27 llaolpife8 A coMPLETEGurDE olutertce Authorof theseries TheVampire Chronicles Whenand how did youenvision your first vam- pire?It's sucha mystery what makesyou write aboutsomething I thought,Whatwould itbe like to interviewa vampire?To get him to tell you what it's like to be who he is?What's interested me throughoutmy careeris the first-person voiceof the mysteriousone. I neverdreamed Lestat would be the hero, or in a seriesofbooks. What was the first vampirebook or moviethat influencedyou? A black-and-white film caI\edDracula's Daughter, with Gloria Holden. I saw it when I was a little girl at the neighborhood theater.I think it influencedeverything I subsequentlywrote. I never really read any vampire literature, but in our family, we had a collection of short stories from the library and we read one called "Dress of White Silk." It was a first-person vampire story from the point of view of a little-girl vampire. It had quite Why do peoplefind vampiresso appealing?I think people are an influenceon me. intrigued by what they would do if they were offered the - Whot your favorite vampire thatt not your own? I would say opportunity to be a vampire, Would they be willing to drink Bill Compton on True Blood. I think Bill is terrific. I haven't human blood in order to immortal? = be Maybe they would. I read Miss Harris' Sookie Stackhousebooks, but I really am Whafs uniqueabout your vision of vampires?Their glamour. 3 loving the HBO series. Bill is a very romantic vampire. I love What I thought to do with Louis and Lestat was make them z E his suffering his selfloathing and his struggle to be good. very beautiful and very seductive and very appealing. I g And I think Stephen Moyer plays it beautifully. thought to myself, Why should this supernatural being be F What vampire clichdshould be retired? The vampire bullying repulsive? Why should he be feral like Dracula? What if he o 3 helpless humans. It's always the same: The vampires gleefirlly was more like a dark angel?It was kind of a radical idea. And o descendon some bikers and smash them to pieces.I think a now, 30 years later, no one would even question vampires s self-respecting immortal isn't going to bully humans endlessly. being beautiful and magnetic. :6 o t_{ z $ onlyone that is matriarchal. What vampire clichddo you s E P.C.CAST When and how did you envision think needsto be retired? : Castand her daughter, Kristin, your first vampire? Themales being in charge.lt's i write the Houseof lVrghtseries ln 2005,my agentsaid, "Hey, l'd a clichethat s diedoff alrnost I likeyr:u to writea seriesset in u conrplertelyin the romanceworld. F WhoSyour favorite vampire vampirefinishing school." I was l-ets killit off in thevampire that'snot yourown? intriguedby the idea,especially world,too. ll' Oh,my God,Spike [from Bufil,, becauseI was teaching high Who's the scariest vampire in z the VampireSlayerl. Please. school.My dadis a biologist,so film or literature? 6 Spikeis my boyfriend. Inmv I sat downwith him,and he and I Lestat,for Anne sure. Ricedevel- r heart,Spike is my boyfriend. brainstormedan ideafor a physi- opedhim so fully. 3 Andwhy is that? ologicalbasis of vampires. Why do peopleflnd vampiresso Becausehe is thdt perfect mix of What was the first vampire appealing? really boyand sex appeal. you? bad book that influenced It s the allureof beingimmortal I Whafs uniqueabout your lnterview With the Vampire. andbeautiful. I mean, look at the a visionof vampires? 1976.I was16. lt scaredthe TrueEload vampires! Thank you, z I thinkmy vampire world is the beiesusout of me. CharlaineHarris. 28 EntertainmentWeekly 8.7.09 directorChris Weitz of hisstar. "Plus he I I Lestat photographslike nothlnA everseen,' WithoutLestat, there would benoTwilight. l've UntilAnneRice introduced the character in 5 I Billand Eric her1976 novel, lnterview With the Vampire, FROMTRUEBLOOD theundead had all the sex appeal of Bela Evenin the world of Lugosiin plasticfangs. But her handsome HBO,it allcomes down to choosingbetween a blondcreation-Tom Cruise dyed his hair to brunetand a blond. playthe rolein the1994 movie-was a new Whiledark-haired sortof bloodsucker,Foppishly charming, endearingly tortured, Bill(Stephen Moyer) exudesgenteel 7l andalways trendy no matter what the century he became Southernvalues, Eric As bythe thetemplate for all culturally relevant vampires since. (AlexanderSkarsgArd) dreamy Boreanaz thrillswith bad-boy on Buffy Vampire mystique.Their battle S/ayerand ina for controlof Sookie spin-off of his 2 lChristopher Lugosi'sportrayal of 4lEdward (AnnaPaquin) has not veryown, was Lee'sDracula Draculain the 1931 film Cullen onlyfueled season 2 sortof likea vamD Hewas an evil Sith lord adaptationof Stoker's FROMTYY'I.'6HT of the hit seriesbut Fonzie:effortlessly in the Star Warssaga novelremains the one To BellaSwan (and alsopolarized fans cool,with meticulously andthreatened James bywhich all others are authorStephenie Meyer), intotwo camps- coiffedhair and a Bondas Scaramanga, judged.Unfortunately, EdwardCullen-with his witha bonfireblazing fondnessfor black but Leewill alwaysbe Lugosi,who campaigned alabasterskin, unkempt in each. leather.Sexual tension remembered-especiallyhardfor therole. hair,and lanky frame- betweenhim and by coweringbeauties in becameso associated is the undeadideal. 6 lAsa Vaida Buffy(Sarah Michelle theirgauzy negligees- withthe charming Butadd songwriting FROM1960',S Gellar)simmered, but for hissuave, silent, countthat the life skills,piano-playing BLACKSUNDAY unfortunatelyfor the andreally, really quicklydrained out of prowess,and 100 years "Lookinto my eyes... couple,their horizontal thirstyCount Dracula hiscareer. of wisdompackaged Embraceme. You mambounlocked froma stringof intoa L7-year-old's willdie!" warns the Angel'sdark side and Hammerhorror films physique,and the two beautifuland deadly transformedhim into in the1950s,'60s, womenmay nave a Asa(Barbara Steele) onehelluva mean and'70s, point.Robert Pattinson in ltalianhorror ex-boyfriendisee: mastersthe tousled o maestroMario Bava's unleashlnOdlmons) I 3 | BelaLugosi's hairand tortured gaze culthit. Five decades Dracula everyTwilight fan later,Steele's villain- 8 | Mr.Ba{low fr Withhis billowing exDects.Even men essremains one of FROMSALEUrS lor I blackcape and heavily agree."He becomes the mostscarily Inthe 1979 miniseries accenteddelivery this perfectcreature," seductivevamDs in basedon Stephen I ("1never drink...wine"), saysNew Moon film history. King'snovel, the z 30 EntertainmentWeekly 8.7.09 More Vampires Are - Coming BOOKS A PracticalGuide to Vampires by LisaTrutkoff Trumbauer(Aug.11) tV ls for...Vampire: A Vampirelsland Storyby Adele Griffin(Sept.3) Night Pleasures by SherrilynKenyon (Sept.15) The VanAlen Legacy: A BIueBloods Novel by Melissade la Cruz (Oct.6) Temptedby P.C.and KristinCast (Oct.27) = How to Bea Vampire F 2 byAmy Gray (Nov.10) F bat-fangedMr. Barlow schoolmateJack (ReggieNalder) didn't Force,a BlueBlood-or MOVIES F say much.Instead, ancientvampire-who The Vampire's he let his assistant, mustcycle through Assr'stant(Oct. 23) Mr. Straker(James lifetimesbonded to R Mason),do the talking someonewho isn't TheTwilight Saga: NewMoon(Nov 20) ci while he terrifiesa her;and Silver Bloods, sleepyMaine town- whoprey on their not to mentionmillions Bluercousins. Fans beenregarded as crossedoceans of TV of TV viewers. camefor the romance especiallysensitive time..."he tells the The VampireDiaries o (Sept.l0) butstayed for the and accurate-largely reincarnationof his z 9 lSchuyler slow-buildfamily and becausethe director long-deadbeloved, VanAlen murdermysteries. emphasizedromance playedby Winona DVD FROMMELISSA almostas muchas Ryder.lt's as heart- DarkShadows: DELA CRUZ'SBLUE 1OlGary horror.Oldman reveals breakinga perfor- TheHaunting of (Sept.L5) BLOODSSERIES Oldman's Dracula the vampirefor what manceas you'relikely Collinwood Teenvamp Schuyler FrancisFord Coppola's he reallyis: a guy to find in a movie TheHunger, likesto toy with things 1992adaptation of who's still hungup on that alsofeatures Season2 (Oct.13) - way beyondher years: Stoker'snovel has long his late wife. "l have KeanuReeves. 8.7.O9EntertainmentWeekly 31 lampife8 AcoMPLETE GUIDE intothe most gifted Dance)and their andbeautifully tattooed mutualopenness to rebelthat the coed themale-skewed Tulsavampyre finish- m6nagei trois. ingschool House of Hello,Asher (book 11, Nighthas ever seen. CeruleanSins)l Battlingevil that rangesfrom your stan- dardMean Girl to a seductivefallen angel, aswell as higher-than- Hogwartshormone 11| KlausKinski's levels,she's learned Dracula thepower of freewill Vampireshaven't always andfriendshio-and beensex symbols. In thejoy of havinga gay Nosferatuthe Vampyre, manin her circle, WernerHerzog's1979 14lDavid reworkingof F.W.Mur- 13 lJean-Claude FROMr987'S nau'sL922silent film, FROMLAURELL K. THELOST BOYS Kinskiradiated pathos HAMILTON'SAIV'IA The'80swere a natural andself-loathing as a BLAKE,VAMPIRE fit for vampires-after rodentlikeCount Dracula HUNTERSERIES all,what's more Dunk (a starkcontrast to Technically,the rockthan refusing to Murnau'scharacter, who Masterof the Cityof die?As David, Kiefer wasmerely a walking St.Louis-who still Sutherlandsported a cadaver).Kinski amped rocksa lace-trimmed platinumBilly ldol upthe creep factor by shirtand leather pants mulletand black new- shavinghis head and aftercenturies and waveovercoat-Derfect spacklinghimself in L7novels-first black- attirefor terrorizing 15lMiriam wattageof DavidBowie white makeuo.Critics mailedAnita Blake beachparties, dangling Blaylockand (whoalso played a vam- stillregard him as the intodating him by fromrailway bridges, or Sarah Roberts pire,natch), and a killer I mosthuman rendering threateningto kill her menacingCoreys on the FROM1983'5 songby Bauhauscalled zz of Stoker's creation. werewolfboyfriend. boardwalk.His vamp- THE HUNGER "BelaLugosi's Dead," Butultimately theirs gangleader flashed a TonyScott's directorial helpedthe picture build 12lZoey Redbird isa relationship stylejust attainable debutdidn't win many a fan base.The steamy FROM €t P.C.AND basedon hisrespect enoughto inspire ravesfrom critics,but face-suckingscene KRISTINCAST'S HOUSE for herfree will (Anita parent-upsettingtrends. the appealof actresses betweenthe two ls OFN'GHTSERIES resistedhim until a Seewhat happens CatherineDeneuve womenis a clnematic ?T Throughfive YA best- heavilyearmarked whenyou watch too (Miriam)and Susan momentas immortal sellers,teenage hero- bathtubscene in the muchMTV? You start Sarandon(Sarah), when asthe vampires they =-;fi ineZoey has matured sixth book,The Killing drinkingblood! combinedwith the star playon screen. E3 ;g z oi PI c;? th =a cio z! @-9 P< :; Fg n= zn => iz ?9 TheVampire Diaries premieres on TheCW on SeDt.10 Whodo you think is the hottest vamoire of alltime? Vote at EW.COM/SEXWAMPIRES Honorable Mentions Howcould we neglect thesefanged friends? GRAI{DPAMUNSTER Hiscenturies-old comic instinctssupplied constantpunchlines. couNTvoN couNT SesameStreefs residentghoul thirsts onlyfor numbers. 171Eti 6 FROM2OO8'S TET z THERIGHT ONE IN o Inthe Swedish sleeoer F ELVIRA hit,Lina Leandersson Thebeehived blood- F z playsEli, a vampirein suckerhas a knackfor 3 the bodyof a l2-year- B-filmbroadcasting. z oldgirl. As she befriends a neighborhoodboy, :. Elipoignantly battles a zo foeworse than angry r4 mobsor cross-wielding += 19lSelene 2OlCaleb 16 lBlade hunters:the loneliness FROMTHE andMae -z H6 FROMETADETRILOGY of beingundead in a UNDERWORLDTRILOGY FROM1987',S ,FORGETTING 2t Bladeis a complex livingworld. Mostof thevampires NEARDARK >E SARAHMARSHAH phine packing gang. Mandi Bierly, Clark Collis, .>u blackleather coat, chop- Seyrig)looks like Selene,embodied by a biker sockymoves, and Dietrichand kills like pale.pouty, eerily still Trve magazinefilm Jef JenseryB ethJohns on, := signaturedouble-edged Dracula.With her flaw- KateBeckinsale, has criticRichard Corliss JefLabrecEte,Adam swordwith anacid- lessstyle and timeless beenpumping silver recentlycalled Near Markouitz,Chrb Nashawaty, u? WhitneyPastorek, Josh blade, beauty-whoneeds bulletsinto archenemy Dark"the all-time .-o etchedtitanium RottenbergNicole Sperling, you've Snipes'mostindelible Botoxwhen Lycansfor centuries, teenagevampire love ChristineSpines, Tirn Stacb performancesingle- gotthe blood of 800 withstyle. Who cares if story."(Though we Ken -> 8.7,09EntertainmentWeekly 33