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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Are Vampires Dead?

Okay, so I know technically vampires are "dead", that's not what I mean. I'm referring to whether or not vampire fiction is dead.

I have two views on this. On the one hand, as a writer, I can kind of see the point that there are a lot of authors writing about vampire characters. There are a lot of established writers (writing in other genres) who have made the jump into paranormal fiction and entered it with vampires blazing, so to speak. When I'm working on something new I try to stay away from the vampires - although they do sometimes make an appearance in the periphery.

On the other hand, as a reader, I can't seem to get enough of my vampire romances! I just finished reading Jennifer Armintrout's, American Vampire and loved it! I say keep them coming - I'll never tire of vampires - haven't in over twenty years!

So what do you all think, are vampires dead or not? Do you have an insatiable thirst for them as I do or are you all full up?

BTW, for those of you who don't know, I've been MIA for the past four weeks because I recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Welcome to the world my son!
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14 comments:

  1. j d wayeMarch 24, 2011 at 8:08 AM

    Nope! Not dead. Never.

    They've changed a lot since Bram Stoker and Ann Rice. But they will live forever, so to speak. It's been part of our culture for centuries.

    Now how about zombies? What's your opinion on them?

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  2. HeidiMarch 24, 2011 at 8:39 AM

    Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby. I hope you are finding time to rest and to just enjoy these first few weeks with him, they go by so quickly.

    About vampires. Vampire stories are the same as Peter Pan, a boy who can never grow old, who lives forever, and out of all the girls in the world, he falls in love with Wendy. Sounds like a vampire to me... It's the ultimate love story, the fact that this man/woman has lived for so long but only loves 'you'. It's a story that has been around for ages and will continue to inspire and lead to doey eyed daydreams of millions of girls. Thanks for the post, it gave me an idea for a blog post of my own.

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  3. Danielle La PagliaMarch 24, 2011 at 1:04 PM

    First, Congrats again on your little one!

    Second, I love vampire fiction. I've always been fascinated with them as a reader and movie goer. However, the publishing houses are pretty much closing their doors on new vamps right now, so I don't know if we'll have to get our fix from the standards or from indie's or if the houses will be forced to respond to readers. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

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  4. Diane GirardMarch 25, 2011 at 3:15 AM

    Enjoy your delightful baby boy.

    I don't read a lot of vampire fiction but I can almost assure you that the vampire concept won't die. At the moment however, there is an over-supply of vampire fiction. I see it everywhere. Publishers may fear there's a glut. On the other hand, if a story or novel is excellent and contains vampires it may be able to find a home.

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  5. Diane GirardMarch 25, 2011 at 3:16 AM

    I wrote a reply but it disappeared. In any event - vampire fiction won't disappear. There's a glut at the moment though, so publishers may be more wary than usual.

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  6. Falcata TimesMarch 25, 2011 at 4:58 AM

    I wouldn't say that its dead just that it perhaps needs a fresh infusion of blood to help resurrect something a little different. There's too many super sexy vamps, why are few writing about the Max Schrek Nosferatu's or why can't we get the Ubergeek becoming the vamp?

    Some authors are doing that but for the main part we're stuck with the supersexy Vamp that was portrayed in the Hammer Horrors.

    Congrats on your new addition.

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  7. Seleste deLaney/Julie PartickaMarch 25, 2011 at 8:05 AM

    Congrats again on your little bundle of joy! *squooshes baby cheeks*

    I write vampire fiction and I read vampire fiction. For people who love it, there will never be enough because they'll devour whatever comes out (as long as it's good). More than vampire fiction in general for me are series (some of them vampire) that have gone on so long that every story is starting to read the same. I don't care if they're still selling. At some point a wise author/agent/editor needs to decide to step away from the O-negative and say it's time to step into the sunlight and go out in a blaze of glory.

    But that could just be me.

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  8. T. CrosbyMarch 25, 2011 at 6:19 PM

    I'm with Falcata, I'm a bit tired of uber sexy perfect vamps. I loved the creatures in Legend and Daybreakers, nothing super sexy there, just wicked cool. :)

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  9. Jessica PeterMarch 25, 2011 at 7:40 PM

    I'd say vampires-with-a-twist are still popular in the mainstream. Your traditional, dare I say stereotypical, vampires however - not so much.

    And the paranormal romance world is still eating (drinking?) them up, or at least that's the way it seems!

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  10. Lisa ForgetMarch 25, 2011 at 9:29 PM

    A new baby in the house! What a wonderful and joyous event. Congratulations!

    Angela, I will never tire of vampires. I had a thing for them when I was a teenager and still do! I love well written and entertaining stories that involve vampires. (I'll invite Charlaine Harris's Eric Northman into my...er...home any time!)

    Vamps? Bring 'em on!

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  11. Michelle.Muto@gmail.comMarch 28, 2011 at 8:44 AM

    Congrats on the new baby boy! That's great news.

    And no, I don't think vampires are dead. It's not the WHAT. It's the story. So, I'm always game for a new spin or new personality... on anything supernatural.

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  12. J.A. CampbellMarch 28, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    I don't think vampire fiction will ever truly be dead. I mean really, we've been watching vampire movies since the beginning of movies, reading Dracula forever :) I think the genre will evolve, as most do.

    However I prefer the straight up urban fantasy to actual romances.

    I haven't been writing as many vampire stories as I used to, but I have a few that still need to get done.

    Julie/Firewolf

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  13. BeaMarch 28, 2011 at 3:27 PM

    Congrats on the baby! I missed that announcement.

    as for whether vamps are dead, I think the vamp book field is getting crowded and may start to thin out but interest will continue. The types of vampire stories will continue to change but I don't think we've seen the end of them.

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  14. Ria Amber TesiaJuly 19, 2011 at 6:57 PM

    First off, congratulations on your new addition, you must be so thrilled! Secondly, vampire fiction is getting a little tired now. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it's dead. It seems like half of Waterstone's is filed with vampire fiction or dark romance. (The dark romance stuff doesn't bother me, as I love that genre). It's the vampire aspect that is starting to bug me a little. It seems the vampire characters are nearly all a re-hash of Stephanie Meyer's 'Edward Cullen' character. It would be nice to read about a vamp that is a break from the norm. I'm quite intrigued by demons / super-human angels too...

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