Liceul Teoretic Mihai Eminescu

Novels with Vampires

Silivestru Maria Luciana

Class XI F

Novels with Vampires

A vampire feeds on the life essence of their victims. This usually occurs
by drinking the blood of their victim. The reasons that the vampire needs blood
to survive varies from culture to culture. Some feel that the vampire needs blood
to flow through their veins to keep their bodies animated and limit the damage
of decay. Others feel that the beasts feed as a sadistic habit in order to wreak
havoc and fear.
This theory of course also makes on think that it may not be the blood that
animates the vampire, but the fear & pain. Vampires aren't particular they will
drink the blood of animals as well as humans.

The most obvious characteristic that you think of when referring to the
vampire is of course that the creature is dead a yet walks among the living. Most

tales of vampirism tell us that these beings have fangs, are afraid of sunlight,
they can shape-shift, (i.e. bats and wolves), they cry tears of blood, sleep in a
coffin during the day and have extreme levels of strength and speed. Of course it
goes without saying that this creature is immortal, unless of course killed using
the proper methods.

Bram Stoker
When you think about vampires usually the first name that you think of is
Dracula. Bram Stoker is the man who penned the famous novel "Dracula". It is
thought this story that most of us are introduced to vampires.

"Dracula" was actually based on a true Romanian Prince named Vlad Tepes,
He was seen as a hero by his countrymen. According to most legend he was
considered a fair, but very cruel man. Most of the information about this prince
has been handed down to us by verbal tradition in his homeland, and by Russian
and German pamphlets printed shortly after his death. The verbal form tells us
of his conquests for his country, whereas the pamphlets portrayed him as an evil
demon.
There is never any mention of Vlad being a Vampire, just a sadistic ruler.
Vlad was a hero to his people, even though his methods of his punishment were
unequivocally severe and cruel. He helped defeat the Turks and kept them out of
Romania for many years.

Anne Rice

Anne Rice's vampires are different in several ways from classic vampires
like Dracula. Rice's creatures are not affected by the usual weapons against
classic vampires: garlic, crosses, and they cannot be killed with wooden stakes.
Like classic vampires, most do choose to sleep in some form of coffin during the
day because sun exposure can cause death/pain. She wrote book like Interview
with the vampire, Queen of the Damned, Vampire Lestat etc.

Charlaine Harris
The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The Sookie Stackhouse
Novels, is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris that
were first published in 2001 and now serve as the source material for
the HBO television series True Blood. In The Southern Vampire Mysteries series,
Harris develops a detailed mythology and alternate history that approaches
supernatural beings as real; at the beginning of the series, vampireshave only
been public knowledge for a couple of years. Other supernatural beings, such
aswerewolves, shapeshifters, etc., exist but do not go public until later in the
series. Its history has otherwise unfolded so closely to that of the real world that
the series contains occasional references to popular culture.

Prior to the first novel's time line, vampires around the world have
revealed themselves, via television, to the world as actual, and not mythical,
beings after the development of a synthetic blood product (the most popular
marketed brand of which is called "TrueBlood") that provides adequate
sustenance for vampires and therefore does not require them to feed on
human blood. Vampires are pale and cold, possess unfathomable strength as well
as speed, and have keen senses of hearing, smell and vision. This makes it easy
for them to protect themselves. They have the ability to remain completely still,
expressionless and silent.[14] Vampires can control the minds of humans
(glamour, often seen as a form of hypnosis), and a few can even fly; individuals
may have other powers and abilities.

Stephenie Meyer
The majority of vampire novels and films centre around the idea that vampires
are creatures of the night and must stay inside during the day. From sleeping in
coffins to burning when the sun touches their skin, vampires have always been
portrayed as only going out in the dark.

Stephenie Meyer is the author of The Twilight Saga (Twiligh,New

Moon,Eclipse and Breaking Dawn).Meyer challenged this idea by having the
vampires in her novels able to go out in the sunlight. When it is overcast, they
appear like regular people, which is how the majority of the Cullen family are
able to attend their school in Forks, where the weather tends to be bad. It is only
on sunny days that any difference can be noted. On these days, the vampires
sparkle, as if they have a layer of gold dust over their skin. In the books, the
Cullen family do not attend school on days such as this, as it would reveal their
secret, and therefore go camping.