History of Vampires

Dracula first appeared in the movies in F.W. Murnau's German Expressionist silent film, Nosferatu (1922). Starting a practice still enjoyed by film students to this day, Murnau made the film without bothering to secure the rights for the novel. Despite the names of the characters being changed (Dracula was now "Count Orlock"), the similarities to the novel were too apparent and a court forced Murnau to destroy all the prints. Fortunately, a few were hidden away so that we can still enjoy this terrifying interpretation of Dracula as a freaky man-rodent.

Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula starred Bela Lugosi, who had played the Count in a popular stage adaptation in London and became so good in the role that not only did he later attain movie icon status, he was also condemned to a life of acting the part in shlock horror films. Still, his is the most famous incarnation of Dracula - no one else has come close to Lugosi's ability to lean in seductively and suck on the beautiful heroin, er, heroine. Since Lugosi, seemingly hundreds of actors have taken on the role across the world, including John Carradine, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, Gary Oldman, Jeff Miller and, of course, Leslie Nielsen.

The movies would continue to adapt and recreate the vampire myth, from teenage gangs (The Lost Boys and its recent sequel/remix, Lost Boys: The Tribe) to the modern-day western (Near Dark) to a metaphor for adolescent love (Twilight) and would be the strongest medium for keeping the popularity of the vampire alive.

Besides the movies, it's hard to overstate the importance of another addition to the vampire legend - Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. Rice jettisoned certain aspects of the vampire myth (fear of crosses, turning into mist, etc.) and clarified other particulars with clever pseudo-science and intricate ancient histories. Most importantly, she created a world of erotic, sensual outcasts living the Romantic ideals that would become one of the hallmarks of the evolving Goth scene. 30 years ago, disaffected youth were just discovering a source of identification in vampirism. Now it is as integral to that recognizable subculture as black eyeliner, ankh necklaces and stapled body parts on SuicideGirls.com. The series of novels that began with Interview with the Vampire (1976) is without question the most influential literary contribution to vampire popularity outside of Dracula.

That is, at least until Stephanie Meyer's Twilight saga. A series of young adult novels that became almost as popular as the Harry Potter books, the Twilight series appeals to 15-year-old girls of all ages with the sweeping, swoony romance of high school student Bella Swan and dreamy vampire Edward Cullen. Meyer introduces some interesting new ideas in vampire mythology but more importantly captures the thrill and awkwardness of young love, the extreme, ever-shifting and always-confusing emotions of adolescence and the importance of family ties. The Twilight saga consists of four novels: Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007) and Breaking Dawn (2008) - the first book has been adapted into a feature film, starring Kristen Stewart as Bella and Robert Pattinson as Edward, and you're damn right the second one has already begun production.

Twilight certainly embraces the romantic and sensual aspects of vampirism. However, also in recent years, the portrayal of the bloodsucking nightbeasts has sometimes shifted away from the frilly shirts and Victorian sensuality (and teenage dreamboats) and back towards the original perception of vampires as superpredators with films like 30 Days of Night (2007). 30 Days, based on the popular graphic novel by Steve Niles, portrays vampires as more evolved lifeforms preying on top of the food chain, like land-locked sharks. Instead of seduction and impersonation, these vampires use brute strength, animal cunning and near-invincibility to quench their thirsts. In many ways, this brings our history back to the beginning, with the primal act of partaking in blood once again returned to the core of the mythology.