Vampires Don't Have to be Monsters

Jeri Smith-Ready author of Wicked Game (a very entertaining novel of the undead) writes a rant on why it'okay to write about and read about good guy/gal vampires. Her essay appears on Jaye's Blahg In fact Jaye has dedicated the entire month of March to all things vampire. Check out all the essays by many well known writers.

Vamp Like Me: In Defense of Defanging

by Jeri Smith-Ready


I don’t know how many times I’ve sat on or in front of a panel at a science fiction/fantasy convention and listened to some bitter person lament how “romantic” vampires have become. (The word “romantic,” of course, is said with a sneer, not a sigh.)

“Whatever happened to vampires as monsters?” someone asks.

“Yeah, now they’re sex symbols,” another adds, then grunts and looks around, expecting the masses to share his dismay and disbelief.

I always want to raise my hand (or turn to them, if I’m on the panel myself) and say:

“Dude. You know they’re not real, right?”

Read the rest here