The Vamps

It had to come at some point this month. I could not let four weeks go by without paying homage to the most important of the horror archetypes. More interesting than Frankenstein's Monster and more symbolic than the werewolf, vampires have been around forever. They began their mythological ride as zombies - yep, they simply rose from the dead and ate people - and now - thanks in no small part to Hammer Horror and Christopher Lee - they are the coolest, suavest, sexiest of the archetypes.

Television: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
DUH! Buffy wasn't the first vampire show nor was it the last. But it did something no other vampire show did: it was Emmy-worthy, even if the stupid Emmys never gave it the recognition it deserved. Television critics for all of the major entertainment players sang Buffy's praises and right they should have (and still do). Joss Whedon gave the world a blonde, ditsy monster hunter who revolutionized vampire fiction and women's roles on the telly. He put the traditional victim of the slasher film into the role of the slasher. And along the way he threw in more pop culture references than even I could get. The stories were interesting (Okay, we'll ignore Season 5 when the show jumped the shark) and the effects were pretty cool for the fledgling WB and UPN budgets. In addition, the character development was fantastic with minor characters (Anya, Andrew) coming back for their own story arcs. And even the spin-off, Angel, is worthy of notice. (Can anyone name what rhymes with "refulgent"?) Naysayers out there be shamed! If you haven't ever given this show its due, now is the time. Rent Season 1 and I guarantee you'll be hooked!!

Literature: Laurell K. Hamilton
Nope, Laurell K. Hamilton is not the name of a book; it's actually the name of the author for the Anita Blake: Vampire Killer series. At last count, there were 22 books in all. I've read the first three but I'm already totally hooked. Whenever I want a nice break from heavier fiction, I go on half.com and buy two or three installments of this candy-for-the-brain series. Anita is a necromancer in St. Louis, MO. Yep, she raises the dead for profit. She also happens to be very good at it and, in the second book, finds herself to be a very powerful one indeed. It just so happens that St. Louis also has a vampire problems. Occasionally these vamps break the law and Anita is hired to kill them. She is a very powerful entity and that is why the head vamp is in love with her. And so is a werewolf. And it just gets crazier from there. I'm not saying this is the best vampire series on the planet, or even that it is great literature, but the series is a lot of fun and I strongly suggest it for an all-day, thunderstorm-outside, read-a-thon.

Film: The Hunger (1983)
This one was really, really, really, really difficult! I have seen so many vampire films that it's hard to narrow to just one. I mean, there is Horror of Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, The Lost Boys, Blacula. How do you choose just one? I went with the film that forever changed my idea of vampires. In this film you have Mariam (Catherine Deneuve), an ancient vampire, who is just trying to find eternal love. See, in The Hunger you actually have to be born a vampire to have eternal youth. Ah, and there is the problem. What is eternal life without eternal youth? Unfortunately, Mariam has a collection of past lovers in trunks in her attic. Did I mention they're all still alive? It's not until she meets Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon) that she finds a possible lover and eternal mate. But then things get problematic as they always do. This is an arthouse film that appeals to the masses. That said, it's not for the young. Mariam and John (David Bowie) have some pretty explicit sex scenes at the film's beginning. If you haven't seen this film and still consider yourself a vampire film junkie, you really aren't one quite yet.

Next week ends the Halloween fun. To wrap up the month, I'll be doing a "Best of the Rest" blog.