What Makes Vampires so Appealing? with Patricia McCarthy
Patricia K. Macarthy is author of The Crimson Series, three books, to date, about vampires. We talk here about what makes Vampires so appealing to so many people, about their being symbolic of man\u2019s desire for supremacy, women\u2019s desire to be consumed, about the fringe elements of society, the attraction of eternal youth and immortality, confidence, the perfect villian whose weapon is seduction, alpha males, power, the lack of conscience, film, Halloween, the draw of fantasy, the defiance of death and the preciousness of time.
During our conversation reference is made to poems by Byron and Goethe. Both example early literary treatment of Vampires [see vampires (and vampire fiction)]. The Vampire Female: "The Bride of Corinth" (1797) by: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(1) Once a stranger youth to Corinth came,
Who in Athens lived, but hoped that he
From a certain townsman there might claim,
As his father\u2019s friend, kind courtesy.
(2) Son and daughter, they
Had been wont to say
Should thereafter bride and bridegroom be.
But can he that boon so highly prized,
Save tis dearly bought, now hope to get?
They are Christians and have been baptized,
He and all of his are heathens yet.
(3) For a newborn creed,
Like some loathsome weed,
Love and truth to root out oft will threat.
Father, daughter, all had gone to rest,
And the mother only watches late;
She receives with courtesy the guest,
And conducts him to the room of state.
The Giaour by Lord Byron was first published in 1813 and the first in his Oriental romance series. It proved to be a great success, consolidating Byron\u2019s reputation critically and commercially. Here\u2019s how it starts:
No breath of air to break the wave
That rolls below the Athenian\u2019s grave,
That tomb which, gleaming o\u2019er the cliff,
First greets the homeward-veering skiff,
High o\u2019er the land he saved in vain;
When shall such hero live again?
Copyright \xa9 2008 by Nigel Beale. www.nigelbeale.com
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