Vampires : The Symbolism Of Horror In Dracula By Bram Stoker

    In the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, there is much evidence of foreshadowing and parallels to other myths.  Dracula was not the first story featuring a vampire myth, nor was it the last.  Some would even argue that it was not the best.  However, it was the most original, using foreshadowing and mood to create horrific imagery, mythical parallels to draw upon a source of superstition, and original narrative elements that make this story unique.

Humans for centuries have been drawn to vampires. From sitting around the fire in the time before the industrial revolution, to sitting around the table and in modern times watching it on the big screen. The folk tales of the undead that hunt at night, sucking the blood of the innocent has haunted and intrigued the human psyche for as long folklore has been in existence. Being afraid of what is being told to them, yet being unable to pull away. The pull and push affect that these mystical monsters have on the human aura is undeniable. Modern day vampires have a cult like following. When the Twilight series came out, the people where divided between team Jacob and team Edward. Teenage girls would swoon over these monsters, dangerous yet alluring.

Representations of the vampire archetype have changed over time. This is because people have different context of vampires due to different eras. The Bram Stoker’s original vampire text “Dracula” is about two men going on a business trip to meet Dracula. He was very welcoming but after a day the two man saw Dracula for who he was really was a vampire. It reflects the context of 1897 by the humans saw the vampire as a demon from the devil. The humans saw the Vampire was a demon because they were evil. In 2008 Catherine Hardwick released “Twilight”. This film is about a family of vampire called the Cullen’s trying to live a normal human live. The Cullen's didn’t feed from humans blood they feeded of animal blood The kids go to a school in a small town called Forks, Washington. The similarities between the archetypes in both text are that the vampire in Twilight and Dracula feeded on blood, don’t go in the sun and wear clothes what are hide most of their body’s. However, the main difference are, In the Cullen's talk to human and live close to him, go to school to with them, whereas Dracula doesn't.

 The most famous vampire is Dracula who derived from the book Dracula written  by Bram Stoker on May 26, 1897 (http://www.livescience.com/24374-vampires-real-history.html) To create this legendary character he combined old european folk tales with his own creative thoughts and turned his character Dracula into a world renowned legend. “It's a novel that used a mythological creature to tap into the fears of a generation and was so successful that the same exact mythological creature has been doing the same exact thing ever since.” The vampires that are popular today are much different from Dracula but they all owe something to Stoker's

When we think of Vampires, majority think of blood thirsty creatures with no other intention in life, or should I say in death, than to kill and feed upon any and all humans without reasoning. For over a century the " cinematic vampire " was known as the carriers of disease (Meehan 90). They live in the darkness, wore capes, turned into bats, and resided in old historic castles. We think of them having no purpose except for being foul, violent, and fearless. "Interview with the Vampire (1976), brought a new direction in vampire fiction, and established Anne Rice as the foremost, and the most ambitious, writer on vampire themes in the world (Wolf

Ever since my middle school friend introduced me to Twilight, I have been obsessed with vampires. With my obsession came a need to share my interest with other people. After my friends got sick of listening to my constant chatter about vampires, I turned to my mom to talk about my interest. When I told my mom about modern day vampires, she laughed and told me that the creatures I was talking about were not vampires. She said that vampires are bloodthirsty evil beings that are not handsome and certainly not sparkly. Through my conversation with my mother, I found out that the views of vampires have changed greatly throughout generations. I found that cultural and societal changes that occur throughout history has changed our image and perspectives of vampires.

This is the main aim of this investigation - to identify and discuss the factors which influenced the constantly changing literary and cultural depiction of vampires. What turned the symbol of threat and horror into a mysterious outsider?

“The last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade (and counting) of the twenty-first could be dubbed the teen vampire era” (Foster 17). Once Dracula had became popular and everyone read it the thought and mysterious and creepiness of vampires people enjoyed. So more books and movies released with modernized vampires. For Example Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (2005) was a popular book and movie that modernized vampires and werewolves and people liked it. Some modern changes that were made were, when vampires went into the light they sparkled instead of just turning into dust, they were not really shapeshifters but could climb, run fast..etc, and did not have the hypnotic power against humans.

As stated above, the early fictional literature and film portrayals of vampires made them fear-inducing creatures; henceforth, they grew more sophisticated, attractive and humane with time. Claudia from the movie Interview with the Vampire, for example, wants to grow up into a woman, but her body remains that of a six- year- old. Louis, cares for her tenderly and dotingly, horrified that Lestat has turned a child into a vampire and becoming increasingly repulsed by what he perceives as Lestat's total lack of compassion for the humans he victimized (Jordan, Interview with the vampire). Vampires have transformed into the ones that have compassion and desire to become like a human.

Vampires have transitioned from being blood-thirsty and ruthless supernatural creatures into compassionate, humane and sympathetic beings. This has to do with a drastic change with the morality of vampires. Stoker’s Dracula can be described as “carnal” and “egotistical,” whereas current vampires of this era are “beautiful” and “happy beyond measure” (Clasen, 392). In an article by Quinlan (2017) he states that modern vampires are “looking for love” and they are expressing a romantic need to find a soulmate (para. 9). A good example of this is in the series Vampire Diaries.

If someone said the word vampires, what immediately comes to mind is the “classic “ image of one with fangs and a cape that feed on innocent lives. Although you can have your classic vampires in books and movies, not all are portrayed like that. As Foster explains in How To Read Literature Like A Professor, usually in literature, the portrayal of a vampire is used to signify the evil and pure, and when the sinister succeeds he takes that purity and vitality away from the victim. A Thousand Splendid Suns, a novel by Khaled Hosseini, follows the journey of two women who are married to the same man, and how he exhibits those traits of a vampire and attempts to take that vivacity away from them.

Vampires are known as mythical beings with white pale glittery skin that drain the essence of life known as blood. As unbelievable as it sounds they actually did exist centuries ago. They weren’t anything like the vampires we see in movies, shows, books, and video games today. A vampire or something analogous to it can be found in most culture and folklores going back to the beginning of time, but it is a mistake to think they have familiar attributes of Count Dracula. The term “vampire” appeared in literature since the 18th century. Vampires might be viewed as either blood-sucking creatures or sexy ones, but they represent much more than that. Vampires represent fear and contempt of people with different beliefs.

For years, the vampire has been a mysterious creature. We have all been infatuated with the appeal of immortality and distinctiveness that vampires possess. Many writers have visualized what vampires are supposed to look like and how they act. The common description of a vampire is terror, violence, viciousness, and fear. Nina Auerbach, writes that “There is no such creature as ‘The Vampire’; there are only vampires” (Saler 218). This statement recognizes that vampires differ tremendously in behavior, motivation, and culture. Because vampires are a fictional character, depending on the writer, the vampire will be different, even if they are all influenced by one image.

In the past it was different though, vampires weren’t sparkly. They were portrayed as grotesque both internally, evil and with no moral code and externally, with their fangs, long fingernails that are like claws, pale skin that is only flushed after drinking blood yet people still wrote stories about them. It didn’t hurt though that they had a penchant for attacking beautiful women. “Perhaps the vampire is so compelling precisely because he is so repellent.”- Alan Ryan

The old vampire trend, so very 2000s or so very 1890s? In 1897, Bram Stoker took central European folk tales and turned them into one of the most famous horror books of all time. Stoker 's Dracula isn 't young and sparkly-hot; he 's creepy, old, and likes turning into bats and clouds of mist. Just like today, vampires in 1897 stood in for a lot of contemporary fears and anxieties. This is a novel that took a pretty obscure folk tale creep and skyrocketed him into fame and everlasting pop-cultural stardom. It 's a novel that used a mythological creature to tap into the fears of a generation, and was so successful that the same exact mythological creature has been doing the same exact thing ever since. Almost every vampire book or movie in