Phase Post

Why is there such a significant difference between the vampire stories of Bram Stokers’ time and the vampire stories today? Bram Stoker first wrote “Dracula” in 1897 how does it compare to The Twilight books my Stephanie Meyer or the hit T.V. show The Vampire Diaries? The biggest differences in the way the authors portray these vampires are clearly shown when they discussed how a vampire is created, how one is killed, and what each vampires intentions are in life.

Each of the authors have created their own spin on how one creates a vampire. In “Dracula” vampires are considered evil, stalk their prey until the victim becomes like him. Stoker brutally describes the scene when Dracula is in the middle of transforming Mina into a vampire when he states, “the attitude of the two had a terrible resemblance to a child forcing a kitten’s nose into a saucer of milk to compel it to drink”(Stoker 282). The scene is uncomfortable, sad, and terrifying. Dracula forces his prey to drink from him in order to become like him. In Stephanie Meyer’s novel Twilight, being bitten by another vampire makes a vampire. And if you wish for the transformation to complete, the victim must endure pain and suffering for a period of time. But when the transition is complete the vampire will become more beautiful, gain heightened senses, and yes sparkle in the sunlight.  In “Dracula” a newborn vampire is sexist, evil, thirsty, and looses all compassion. It is clear that over the past 115 years, vampires have become softer, sexier, and more than willing to fall in love. Now that we can understand the differences in how vampires are created, we can now look deeper in to how a vampire can be killed.

The idea of how one can kill a vampire has not changed as much in the past century. Stoker created Dracula to be killable, but the task was not an easy one.  Van Helsing, the doctor who knows more than enough about the “night walkers”, uses crucifix, wooden stakes, and garlic to ward of and kill the evil creatures. Although the idea of the wooden stake remains mostly intact, the garlic and crucifix gestures of died away. In today’s’ hit series “The Vampire Diaries”, the sun, wooden stakes, and werewolf bites are the only fatal weapons that can be used to kill vampires. It is clear that Stoker’s novel “Dracula” was a major influence when creating the series. On the other hand the only way to kill a vampire in the Twilight series is to “the only way to be sure is to tear him to shreds and burn the pieces”(Meyer 398). The vampire’s head are usually pulled off by force, and the remainder of the vampire is burned. Although there have been some adjustments, the difficult factor that comes with destroying a vampire has not faltered. In every story vampires are stronger, faster, and more deadly than any human on the planet. So why have recent author made vampires more likable to the teen fiction world? Stoker’s Dracula has obviously influenced today’s vampire authors, but why has something so evil become so affectionate?

The differences between the vampire stories from the 19^th century and the vampire stories today remain unexplainable. Most of the vampire stories that are written in today’s society end up on the Teen Fiction shelves in bookstores. So why are teenagers so interested and accepting toward things that used to be horrifying and evil? What are the differences when it comes to the vampires’ intentions in the last 115 years?  The answers to these questions lie between the differences in society between then and now. Today, teens are more literate and independent than those in the 1800’s. They are able to make their own opinions and inferences on the things they read and watch. Sexual content has also become a more acceptable form of entertainment within the last 30 years. So the things that feared adults and seemed unapproachable then, are accepted and approved by society today.

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Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and, 2005. Print.

Stoker, Bram, and Tudor Humphries. Dracula. New York: DK Pub., 1997. Print.