Monday, 12 July 2010

Vampire romance?

I love Waterstone's, but it recently irritated me to bits. I recently got an email from them, they were advertising their "vampire romance". Not the chain's fault, it is making the best of a trend, but I happen to hate, hate, hate that trend. Vampire and romance should not, should never have been in the same sentence. I want them as thirsty bloodsuckers, who can turn into bats or wolves, or mist at will. Call me old fashioned, but I think vampires have lost their bite with Anne Rice, who turned a great horror archetype into a "romantic" (read: Eurotrash) antihero (read: lovestruck teenagers with hormonal problems).

I long to a come back to the nasty predator that was personified by Dracula. Bram Stoker's novel might not have been great literature, but it was a smart, efficient book with more intelligence than any of the modern vampire books, without any of their pretention. I mean seriously, romance? There is something romantic about a creature that suck someone dry and turn him into a similar ravenous beast? I just don't get it.
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4 comments:

  1. Jazz13 July 2010 at 02:44

    THANK YOU!

    Vampires are supposed to be monsters. I blame Anne Rice...

    The last good vampire was in the book The Historian.

    I hate the vampire as tortured soul. They are the undead.

    THEY..À
    HAVE.
    NO.
    SOUL.
    DAMMIT!!!

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  2. The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch13 July 2010 at 23:51

    Well just be glad you don't have a 'tweenage' daughter Guillaume! You don't even begin to know how much you can loathe angsty, love-struck Vampires until you are subjected and tortured by repeated viewings of the Twilight Series movies! Woe is me!

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  3. PJ14 July 2010 at 00:28

    J'ai cette super idée d'histoire basée sur ce principe, où il y a un vampire super charmant qui séduit les jeunes filles avec des promesses d'immortalité et d'amour, juste pour se rendre compte à la fin qu'il n'est qu'un Renfield à un paquet de vampires plus hideux et monstrueux que le Nosferatu de Murnau.

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  4. Guillaume17 July 2010 at 18:02

    @Jazz-Yes, Anne Rice is the main culprit there. She really turned them soft big time. It is not only baffling, it is downright infuriating.
    @Wendy-That is one series I will hopefully never set my eyes on.
    @PJ-Intéressant. J'ai aussi une vague idée d'histoire sur des petites filles pâles aux dents acérées qui dévorent les passants en riant.

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