It seems you can’t go anywhere without hearing about the Twilight saga. Or how about HBO’s True Blood series?
With the recent resurgence of vampires in popular culture, it’s easy to forget that this little slice of horror fiction was once a mainstay in the literary world (I know, Twilight fans, Stephanie Meyers’ books are literature… sort of). But I’m thinking more along the lines of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire, even Salem’s Lot by Stephen King.
Yes, it seems that the classics have taken a back seat to their new, hipper counterparts. Recently, I came across Bram Stoker’s Dracula under the required reading list on a syllabus for one of my fall classes and couldn’t help but smile. But with the exception of a few of us stubborn readers, no one cares about those books anymore. So in this new age, what’s a classic book lover to do?
Absolutely nothing.
It sounds bleak, but the new fans to the genre don’t know anything about the books some of us can’t live without. However, that’s not a bad thing – they’re forging their own icons. And we can all appreciate the revival of the genre.
Perhaps it’s best to let the classic novels fade into obscurity. But it doesn’t hurt to pay homage every now and then; so the next time you stop by Snell, make sure to pick up one the classics – even if it’s just to skim the back cover. It’ll be good for you.
I mean Edward Cullen belongs on the bench when compared to Dracula and Lestat.
I enjoyed the Twilight books and the Charlaine Harris series that True Blood is based on, but I’ve read Dracula too (also for a class!) But it does seem like vampires are more popular than ever now. There’s a new show this fall called the Vampire Diaries, and Jennifer’s Body, which comes out this weekend, stars Megan Fox as a vampire. And I can’t walk by a news stand without seeing the Twilight/New Moon stars splashed across the tabloid covers. There are a number of recent interesting articles about why these books are so popular, but I think this is one of my favorites.
If you really want to try an old school vampire story you should check out Varney the vampire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varney_the_Vampire) with full text sans illustrations provided by Google books (http://books.google.com/books?id=joXJQElqyAQC )
Also if you are interested in Gothic fiction you should also check out the Vampyre by John Polidori inspired by a story by Lord Byron. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampyre)
And another perspective: http://www.slate.com/id/2228717/
Comments are closed.