Vampires
To all my fantasy/mystery-inclined friends: do you think it's possible to do a fresh and original take on vampires? Is there any way they could be revived (pun intended) without using the same tropes over and over? Or are these tropes necessary to make them work? What's the most interesting/unusual/fun interpretation of vampires you've seen in
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Yeah, I keep thinking that someone should re-invent the formula, but on the other hand, a lot of those old vampire tropes are really good. (What it feels like to be centuries old but stuck at the same age, whether it's possible to feel empathy towards humans, whether vampires should assimilate with humanity or enslave it, what types of hierarchies or social constructs are there, what does the lifestyle look like etc.) So maybe it isn't bad to re-visit them over and over.
I was thinking pseudo-scientific too. Since infection, death and sickness are strong elements in vampire lore, I was thinking maybe viruses or something, but I'm fairly sure that has been done as well. Also, it does take away some of the mystery. I like the idea of a historical story because vampire legends are so, so ancient.
I actually like romantic/erotic tropes with vampires too, but that's the genre where it's especially hard to avoid clichés. It's always either puppy dog romance like in Twilight (though ... I only ever saw the first movie so I'm no expert) or soft core porn like in True Blood. So, kinda terrible. XD I did like how Bram Stoker's Dracula did it, where he put a lot of emphasis on seduction, sexual fears, and breaking out of a puritanic society.
Thank you for the recs, though! I'm not actually a huge expert on vampires, all I'm familiar with is basically "Dracula", "Buffy", "True Blood", "Blade", "Anno Dracula" and "From Dusk Till Dawn" and like two SPN episodes. So I have a lot to catch up with.
The Blade movies are really good though, thanks for reminding me!
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I agree, I mean, obviously all that is attractive to people else vampire stories wouldn't be so popular! XD
Yeah sadly they have been done ;; I can't remember specifics but I do remember seeing something like that. Blade does the whole vampirism as a virus thing actually, in the first film with searching for a cure for his bloodlust and the second with the creation of the uuber-vamps.
You could try The Saga of Darren Shan too, it has it's own unique (I feel) take on vampires :3 Lesse what else... Let the Right One In is very good and disturbing. Hellsing is my favourite manga ever, that or it's OVA adaption Hellsing: Unleashed is worth a look at (Not the old tv series, it sucks).
Vampires were a huge thing for me as a teen so I've read/watched a lot XD
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