Why are vampires considered sexy?

[Last of the Great Mikeys]

Why are vampires considered sexy? Not to knock anybody's idea of fun, of course, it's simply that I do not understand. To me vampires are, well, corpses and since I am not into necrophilia I am competely unable to find them sexy.

On a secondary note: WHAT HAS HOLLYWOOD DONE WITH REAL VAMPIRES?!?! Vampires, corpses that they are, should be cunning, remorseless predators who revel in their undead status and coldly suck you dry of blood then casually leave your cadaver for the scavengers. Hollywood seems to have decided vampires should be crybaby momma's boys/daddy's girls who cry at the sight of blood instead of getting hungry and want to take up Ghandi's pacifism when they should be unleashing primal undead fury and NEVER, EVER SPARKLING!

[Gunslinger]

Dude, I thought twilight was pretty cool.

[Avis habilis]

Just once, I'd like to see vampires portrayed in the way the older legends described: reeking, leathery, half-rotten corpses that spread pestilence everywhere they appeared. Or as corpse-eaters themselves, like in some Russian stories.

[leelan]

Personally I've always loved vampires but i'll agree I have not seen Twilight and I never will. Reason being, I think Vampires are beautiful deadly creatures. I'm a fan of J.R. Ward's take on Vampires (as several people on E are as well...www.jrward.com) but I don't think the way things were done for Hollywood is right. Glitter? What the...no Vampires should not be so gentle and kind all the time. But again its my opnion and I wont sit here and say others shouldn't enjoy whats been put out as Vampires can be different in everyone's minds.

[Nadir]

I like vampires. Not all of them, but the real sly bastards who play long, cruel games with their prey. They shouldn't be the sex toys they have become - if you think a vampire would spend years manipulating the situation so he/she can have a boink, I say they've got you thinking what they want you to. They are playing these games to kill you, destroying your sanity before they do it. Edward has obviously managed that in the Twilight series - Bella's interpritation of things is just her mind escaping the terrifying truth of the situation.

That's why I like them.

[kitten]

*raises hand* I have to admit I went "ooo shiny* when that part came up in Twilight but I would prefer a cold, harsh vampire that took what they wanted from me. A bite. The feel of cold lips sucking at your skin. The hope that you survive the encounter. Life threatening and yet at the same time, sensual.

[Lithos]

I like vampires, but I think that their sexuality is just something that mortals associate with them. I do not see vampires themselves as sexual creatures if you play one. Blood is best drug you can get, best sex you can get, best food you can get, all in one. No reason to have sex when you can feed.

Twilight glitterbugs might be different but wont be dabbling with those. WOD vampires I just cannot see having much to do with sexuality... does not mean that mortals would not think that they are... one good way to lure them in for feeding

[Shiri]

I love vampires because of Lestat(book version). I'm not sure other than that...they're sexy, not in the cold corpse "Imma eat your brains" way but...in the "I need you to live" way. In rps they are really intriguing because of their age and their different outlooks on life er, unlife(?). I mean most of them were originally human so it kinda adds a dynamic to them.

My first turn on to vamps was Lestat de Lioncourt. =) He's the most unpredictable vampire I've ever read.

And there's the side note that Vampirism is an alternate lifestyle for some people. *shrug* So I suppose it's not as fanciful as most people think.

[Jeramiahh]

I've enjoyed Jim Butcher's take on vampires in his Dresden Files series; there's three 'courts', White, Red, and Black. Black is.... well, as Dresden says, Bram Stoker was hired to write "Dracula" specifically so people would know what they were and how to fight them. Red court are giant, bat-like creatures that can illusions themselves as humans, and feed off humans as cattle; more of a 'modern' vampire, as they tend to be intelligent and sexy. White court are succubi and incubi; they feed off strong emotions, and are stunningly attractive and super-sexy. They're the most 'human' of the lot; born as normal humans, and develop their 'curse' in their 20's or so.

So, yes, Black court = rotting corpse, Red court = seductive monsters, White court = soul-eating sex god(des)s

[LittleNekodemon]

 I find them sexy because they can be oh so hot when they slowly and forcibly take what they need from you to live. Even more so when it seems like they are begging but they are using their powers to get you to give in.

[Diabolus Lupus]

I'm not really a big fan of vampires, mostly due to the whole 'living dead', 'I vant to suck yer blood', no sunlight stuff.

Granted I have found some different takes on them that makes me sometimes like them a little more.

couldn't get into Anne Rice's works very far, but Lestat was pretty cool. Can't recall reading Dracula, but you can't really knock the count. Butcher's Vampire courts was ok, Harry's brother was probably the best of the lot but I still wouldn't sleep with him.

The only truly sexy 'vampires' I've found have been the Daimons from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. The oldest of them are some really pissed off guys you really don't want to mess with, well only one guy actually. but you really don't want to mess with Stryker if you want to continue breathing.


Oh, and my two cents on Twilght....Vampires do not sparkle...and I would've chosen Jacob.

[Doomsday]

Never was a huge fan of vampires... I'd take the vampires from 30 Days of Night over the sparkly ones.

[Tachi]

I like the version where they're beautiful people who never physically age, powerful and confident yet still vulnerable in certain ways. (Though not to garlic and crap like that.)

[Mnemaxa]

Tragically, most people never read the Tanya Huff 'Blood Pact' series, which is actually one of the best portrayals of vampires as not-inhuman-killing machines.  The short lived television series did not do it justice at all. 

Vampires have been sexual creatures ever since Carmilla and Dracula, where they fixated on specific people and hunted them, haunted them, in truly Victorian era 'sex is evil' mannerisms.  What people also forget is that these vampires destroyed life all around them, other than their specially chosen prey....Carmilla's plague like consumption consumed towns, while Dracula wreaked havoc through London.

Interestingly, the oldest vampire legends of Slovakia did not have them drinking blood, or even looking terrible....they simply returned from the dead, and returned to their homes...where there mere presence leached away the life of everyone in the house.....

[Lady Annabelle]

For me, it is a battle of Science Vs. Fantasy.

If you look at Vampires at a completely logical point of view, then they are silly and unbelievable.  Yes, they are walking corpses.  They probably smell of death and they don't work in any type of physical attraction.  I mean, if there heart isn't pounding, then how can they get hard?  That is simple biology.

But, like many mythical creatures, you are not supposed to look at them that way.  They are not real and figments of people's imagination.  In that case, they can be very sexy because the only limitations are of somebody's own mind.

I enjoy them to a degree.  I have played WAY too many stories of a sweet and innocent girl getting bit and then it basically ends.  I need something more than that.  I love their sensual and seductive atmosphere and aura that they present.  I like how they can be dominant and rather heartless.  I like ghouls and the bond that is formed from being turned into one.  But, all of that can be done with a mortal.

But, I agree that Vampires have too many human traits now a days.  They are animals.  It is against their nature to be human and try to love.  I think that is attributed to the rise of Anne Rice and how she portrayed them.

Vampires are what people make of them.  So, I wouldn't be mad at them specifically, more at the authors behind them.

[Last of the Great Mikeys]

Ghouls are barely sentient undead cannibals that rip you to pieces and eat your still bleeding flesh!

[Jeramiahh]

Depending on interpretation, of course; in the World of Darkness, ghouls are humans who've drunk of vampire blood, gaining limited enhancements, and becoming effective slaves to the vampire, though most go willingly, for the power of it.

[Defiance]

I'd love to see the vampire that left a trail of blood on the walls everywhere he went. There has to be more than just, "Wow, she's pretty, I want to have sex with her." or "I'm feeling Human today, lets fall in love." to make a vampire actually give a crap about walking boobs.

I think the author that managed to do such a thing, would have an excellent vampire story.

Because then the need for each other would exist outside of using trite excuses to bring the characters together.

[Last of the Great Mikeys]

Depending on interpretation, of course; in the World of Darkness, ghouls are humans who've drunk of vampire blood, gaining limited enhancements, and becoming effective slaves to the vampire, though most go willingly, for the power of it.

They are wrong! Much like Twilight was wrong! Dammit, what's wrong with monsters being monsters?

[Tachi]

How can this NOT be considered sexy?

[Transgirlenstein]

Well in Arabic myth, a ghul was a type of vampire.  A creature that assumed the form of a beautiful woman and slept in your bed until it could feed.  They would drink blood or dig up corpses to eat them.

That being said, V:TM Ghouls can in fact be pretty terrifying.  The things most vampires put them through or the things they will do for their next fix can be quiet terrible.

Mnem said it best..the first sexualized vampires were from Varney the Vampire and Lord Byron.  Carmilla and Dracula followed as well making the vampire into a sexualized creature.  Carmilla in fact almost seems to struggle between her desire for Laura and her desire for Laura's blood.

[Mnemaxa]

If we're talking role played vampires, by far my favorite vampires were the World of Darkness Kindred of the East.  They were not truly vampires in the sense that people think of vampire.  They were undead corpses, animated by their own souls (the Chinese theory is that the mortal body has two souls, the higher intellectual Hun and the animnalistic P'o).  They drank blood, but only because it was the richest source of chi.  Older ones could steal it from your breath, or even from the environment around them. 

But the real kicker is that they are not a disease, nor are they 'cursed' in the traditionally vampire sense of the word.  They were people to whom bad things were done, or who did bad things.  Not everyday bad things but horrible, hell-worthy bad things.  And that's what happened - their soul (the hun part) went to hell.  And then fought it's way back out, and possessed its own body again.  Then other kuei-jin would capture the animalistic vampiric monster that tore its way howling madness and insanity from the grave, and re-educate it.  You screwed up, you went to hell, this is your chance to redeem yourself.  You are a monster, be a proper monster in accordance with the rules made by Heaven itself or you will be destroyed. 

So, it's not so much angsty, 'I never wanted to be like this', or 'oh woe is me, I must drink the blood', it was 'this is your own damn fault, bloody deal with it and accept the fact you're a monster and have to learn to be one properly or else!'

And interestingly enough, White wolf used Kindred of the East as the basis for all the new World of Darkness rules systems they are making now.

[Nadir]

Older ones could steal it from your breath, or even from the environment around them. 

Reminds me of someone...

[Transgirlenstein]

My favorite is the Russian vampire who would set up a faucet behind someones head/break it open and catch it in a bucket.

[Oniya]

Had to do a bit of searching to find the source myths for this one, which I remembered from my D&D days:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penanggalan

You can't tell me that's not sexy.  [/sarcasm]