Vampires just aren't the same

Just what is it about vampires that piques our interest?
It is beyond my comprehension, but I have to admit I am right in there with the rest of you when it comes to a good vampire story. Last weekend, I spent time to finish reading “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer. Then I watched the movie of the same name. It was a strange interpretation of the “creatures of the dark.”
In fact, the creatures do not stay in the dark anymore. They blend right in with the rest of us as long as it is overcast outside. If it is not, they stay inside and tell people they have gone hiking and communing with nature. At least that is what Meyer says in her first book about the vampire family – the “Cullens” – who live in Forks, Wash.
She’s written four books in the series already and had started a fifth. Had started, that is, because it is now on hold. It seems a copy of the draft was released on the internet – something that should not have been done. A writer’s work is his or her own property to control. Anyone involved with the release of the document should be prosecuted to the fullest extent.
Meyer has released a portion of the story herself for her fans in hopes of giving them a chance to retain a semblance of honesty. I would not have even done that. I would just shelve the project and finish it later. After all, it is not that important to the series. The fifth book is the first book rehashed from the perspective of Edward Cullen – the star vampire of the first book - and I assume the other books as well.
I don’t know whether I will read the other books in the series. I did enjoy the first one. And, I enjoyed the first chapter of the second book that was a tease at the end of the first book. I would not have even read the first book if one of my daughter’s students – Bryce Mickelson – had not sent it to me to read. I do not usually read vampire stories though I will read Kay Hooper books. Hooper’s books are about a special division of the FBI filled with agents with special spooky powers. Usually, I read Lee Child, John Grisham, Stuart Woods, Clive Cussler and James Patterson. I have read just about all of their books and am anxiously awaiting their new releases.
But, I will admit to having an infatuation with vampires – just like the rest of you. I am, however, a traditionalist when it comes to vampires for the most part. I don’t know if I can ever fully accept vampires that can ramble around in the light, that have skin that shines like diamonds in the sun, that have a reflection in mirrors or in photographs or that can live off the blood of animals instead of humans. It does not make a lot of sense to abandon all the traditions of the past that have defined vampires. Vampires are evil.
I have a group of books I received as a present for Christmas – the “Southern Vampire Series” by Charlaine Harris – that I have not started to read. I plan to read them when I get time. I became interested in the books when I started watching the HBO series “True Blood.” The series is set in Louisiana. Now, that is a place where vampires could hide out without notice even if they only came out at night. There are a lot stranger things in Louisiana, especially in New Orleans, than vampires.
But, like Meyer’s vampire stories, Harris’ have some strange twists. The vampires drink synthetic blood developed by Japanese scientist to quench their thirsts and if people inject themselves with vampire blood they trip out like they have just taken some LSD. Harris also includes werewolves, witches and weretigers in her books.
Vampire books are supposed to be filled with horror stories, not new traits. Vampires are not supposed to evolve into super stars. Vampire stories are not supposed to be love stories. I used to understand vampires and knew they were bad creatures. Now, they may be the heroes of the stories. I do not understand them like I once did.
Reading vampire stories has become like watching professional wrestling. You cannot tell the good guys from the bad guys. You can no longer know when a finishing move is really a finishing move. In the earlier days of my youth, wrestlers never escaped the sleeper hold or the figure four leg lock. I blame Hulk Hogan for ruining the sleeper hold as a finishing move. I don’t remember the first wrestler I saw “reverse” a figure four leg lock, but I blame him too.
Now, I guess I will blame Stephenie Meyer and Charlaine Harris for ruining vampires. What’s next? Will the Frankenstein Monster do a song and dance. No, wait, “Young Frankenstein” ruined that already.