Summer Task- Vampires, why do they bite?
1) Origins of vampire fiction
The origins of vampire fiction were usually very monster like, looking very creepy and ugly. Vampires has always been known to crave blood to survive. They can'g go out in the sun because first of all they are so pale that people would start to question them but also sun is their big enemy! When they go out in the sun it burns them and if they stay out for too long they can even set on fire and die. They are known to be very old and some even older than the bible such as Dracula because they are eternal but there are a couple things that can either kill or harm them. Sun is one of them as I already said but also staking them which is known to be one of the most common one. You need to put a stake through a vampires heart to kill it.
They are very recognizable for having fangs and long finger nails and also pale skin. Traditionally vampires went for their wife's! They wouldn't bite them but they would have sex with them because vampires are known for being a very sexual creature. Their accent is also very different from the modern because some vampires are even older than the bible so they have been living in an era that was very different from the modern as well.
2) Why are we attracted to vampire fictions?
In my opinion we are attracted to vampire fiction because it doesn't always show the real side of a vampire. For example 'Twilight' they show a group of vampires that are all very handsome and don't drink blood at all! They are against harming humans and in the end one of the main characters from Twilight falls in love with a human girl called Bella that is also a main character in the film and they end up being together and having a baby. The whole film is very romantic and has a lot of sexual tension in it, that's why we are attracted to it because vampire fictions are very human like. They also go against some symbols of a vampire such as the fact that in that particular film they don't burn but sparkle and they never show anything about a vampire being scared if holy water and lastly you cannot kill them with a stake but you have to chop their heads of which goes against origins of vampires.
3) In what ways are vampire fictions symbolic?
In some vampire fictions such as 'Let the right one in' sun actually burns vampires so this is symbolic however, in that movie two people fall in love which on the other hand isn't a symbol of vampires at all. Cross and holy water also scares them away and so does garlic. In other vampire fictions such as 'Vampire Diaries' vampires have hypnotic powers to possibly make a female have sex with them.
4) Particular vampire fictions mentioned in this programme are 'Twilight', 'Being Human', 'The lost boys', 'Buffy the vampire slayer', and 'True blood'
