VAMPIRES DON'T SPARKLE discussion

I've talked, at length, about the type of vampire I don't like, and the bastardizing of the bloodthirsty vampire genre. So, I thought I'd create a thread to discuss the idea of the "perfect" vampire. Who is your ideal? What vampire from literature or film do you see as the epitome of what vamps should be? If you could create a vampire character...what would they look like? What would be their characteristics, personality, abilities, etc..?

My favorite vampires are the "classic" ones like the ones from Dracula, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Lost Boys. And then there is 30 Days of Night. Those vampires are vicious killing machines.

What would my vampires be like and what characteristics would they have? We actually had a discussion about this in another group. Here, I'll list the characteristics of "my vampires"....

1.) Must drink blood to sustain itself.
2.) Is undead
3.) Immortal
4.) Has super human strength, speed, hightened senses, and ability to heal fast.
5.) Has fangs
6.) Red or yellow eyes
7.) Pale skin
8.) Sleeps during the day(possibly in a coffin, in the ground, our hanging upside down..lol)
9.) Exposure to sunlight causes them to burst into flames
10.) Other methods of killing them are:
a.) wooden stake through the heart
b.) fire
c.) decapitation
11.) Weaknesses (possibly fatal ones) include:
a.) garlic
b.) silver
c.) crosses, holy water, etc.
d.) must be invited in order to enter a home.
12.) Has no soul-demonic entity
13.) Casts no reflection

Perfect vampire

Marceline the Vampire Queen (adventure time) j/k

I'm down with Dracula, Anne Rices vamps. The victorian vampires.

Rick wrote: "Perfect vampire

Marceline the Vampire Queen (adventure time) j/k

I'm down with Dracula, Anne Rices vamps. The victorian vampires."

Victorian Vamps, huh? Have you ever read this?

I've read Dracula several times over. It actually lead me to Louis and Lestat.

The book I showed you is not Dracula, it just features an omitted chapter of the story along with a collection of Victorian vampire tales. You said you liked the Victorian vampire stuff so I thought you would like it.

My idea of vampires is old-school. I like the Rice vampires, Dracula, the Lost Boys, 30 Days of Night..and I have a fondness for the vampire in the Stephen King short story "The Night Flyer."

Lucy wrote: "My idea of vampires is old-school. I like the Rice vampires, Dracula, the Lost Boys, 30 Days of Night..and I have a fondness for the vampire in the Stephen King short story "The Night Flyer.""

I've never read the story, but I loved the movie. He had that huge cape and those rediculous swords for fangs.

I didnt know night flier was made into a movie, was it a made for TV movie!?

I'm not sure, Rick. It didn't make the theaters. It came out in the ninties and I remember renting it in the local video store (back when video stores were still around....lol). You would like it, Rick. The Vampire looks so evil and scary. Well, I don't know how it compares to the story.

Theres also a movie by full moon (Puppet master, Radu, Deminic toys) that did a movie where the vamps sleep submerged and cough up their lungs. I remember watching this as a pre teen abd lovung it.

@ Rick. I believe you are talking about Children of the Night. See my list in the Favorite Vampire Movies thread.

I prefer old-school vampires, but I am open-minded about other kinds of vampires as well, as long as there is a good story behind it. Why not try something new?, otherwise it would get boring sooner or later.

I love to discover stories that experiment with the vampire genre, creating their own vampire universe complete with unique origins and vampiric characteristics.

I have watched the 1979, Frank Langella Dracula many many times. I wouldn't say that I dont' like it but It's not exactly my favortie either (although he did have that cool cape..lol). As far as Dracula goes I prefer Gary Oldman, Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi and Gerard Butler.

Kyle ~Special K: Rebel Leader~ wrote: "Yes, that cape was awesome. Oh, Christopher Lee owns the title! I've seen him play Dracula in so many films.

Lugosi was great in the 1931 classic.

Haven't seen Gerard Butler as Dracula yet."

Yes it goes without saying that Lugosi was great. He is to Dracula movies as Bruce Lee is to Martial Arts movies. I never got why he didn't wear fangs though. LOL.

Gerard Butler played the lord of vampires in Dracula 2000. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I am of the minority who did.

I did know that about Lugosi..he was also an addict, which could account for some of the delusions he had toward the end. He was buried in his full Dracula costume.

Yes, it's very sad the story of Bela Lugosi. He was addicted to morephine I think. Not sure. I did not know, however, that he had delusions at the end. That's sad. I did know that he was burried in that Dracula costume. It was the wish of his son and his wife.

Very sad. Did you know that Chistopher Lee almost stopped playing Dracula because he said he didn't want to end up like Bela Lugosi.

Did you also know that that Ring Christopher Lee wore when he played Dracula was worn by Bela Lugosi?

Yes, his name was Max Shreck. I've seen it too and it is pretty cool for a silent movie. He looks so creepy.

He just looked so creepy with the black clothes, the bald head and pointy ears. Two front fangs. Those really long finger nails. Very good for that time period.

I also like how that movie started the whole "vampires burst into flames in the sunlight" thing.

Yes, a lot of people don't know that it started with that film. It's like a rule now that they have to burn in the sunlight. Of course, Stephenie Meyer doesn't seem to get that. LOL.

I like the idea. It makes them look like monsters who are prisoners of darkness.

Any time I think of Meyer and her craptacular novels I can't help but be reminded of Rihanna's song SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND!

Well a craptacular series deserves a craptacular singer

LOL! I'm there with you on both Meyer and Rihanna. :)

LOL...that's funny. Someone should make a video of Twilight stuff with that stupid song playing over it.

Well I like to read stuff where vampire lore is challenged - living in the open etc. The Classic vampire lore is my favorite and I always return to it no matter what. At its heart I enjoy having the crap frightened out of me and the classic suck you till your dead vampires do that for me.

As I read through this thread, I couldn’t help but thinking. For me the perfect vampire is between science and myth. I don’t believe that that all could (or should be explained) but it should feel plausible (sparkling not plausible.) I have always wanted to explorer the vampire world from a different angle, that is one of the reason I wrote a book. I changed things, but I tried to keep the feel of the old legends. I want my vampires to be different but not so different that they are alien. I will admit to liked Twilight, but what I hated about it was the fact she had the nerve to call them vampires.

I made it all about the blood. The blood of a vampire holds its memories and animates the body. The blood uses parts of the body such as eyes to see a brain to thing, but does not need them. The blood needs energy and without a working body it stills from the living, in a way the soul is inside out. If you could imagine your body a engine designed to provide energy for it to live. A vampire use it soul to power the body and steels the living energy through the blood. And one more think about the blood of my vampires, it is like kerosene, flammable. Either by fire or the rays of the sun, the blood can be ignited.

My vampires can come out during the day but they are severely weakened and if cut or shot their own blood would catch a flame and burn them to death. That’s just one of my ideas I used for my book, to make vampires a little bit different but also to work with mythology of vampires.

E.B. I can't wait to read your book.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...

I like the Anne Rice style vampires, but I also appreciate attempts to make the vampire concept more plausible. I'm not a fan of just using "magic" as the answer to why something that is dead can get up, walk around, and all the rest.

I like the traditional vampire, but for my own writing, I decided to try making the vampire as scientifically plausible as I could. I started with keeping them alive and used a virus that mutates and changes the human body to explain the vampire condition.

I really don't like when vampires have no personalities and are just human-shaped sharks. For me, that takes all the interest out of vampires and just makes them zombies who don't rot. I think it's more interesting when the vampire isn't inherently evil, but instead has a choice. Being a natural predator, that choice is a difficult one, but I think the choice defines them. If something can't choose what it does, then it's really not evil, it's just a creature following its instincts and is no more evil than a tiger or crocodile.

For the purists, however, I did decide to have different types of vampire in my world. Along with my scientific main type, I included the Chinese Jiang-shi to represent a more traditional "mystical" vampire whose science is a lot less obvious.

In the end, I suppose there is no perfect vampire for me. I like seeing diversity and, though I favor certain tropes in my own writing, I like the fact that vampire writers continue to innovate and reimagine the vampire.

I take my initial vote back... perfect vampire THE COUNT yest THE COUNT, he's well educated and well hes good with numbers. I think the grouch secretly is a Vampire hunter though!

Rick wrote: "I take my initial vote back... perfect vampire THE COUNT yest THE COUNT, he's well educated and well hes good with numbers. I think the grouch secretly is a Vampire hunter though!"

Thanks Rick--now I can't get him out of my mind! lol!

Rick wrote: "I take my initial vote back... perfect vampire THE COUNT yest THE COUNT, he's well educated and well hes good with numbers. I think the grouch secretly is a Vampire hunter though!"

One body, Two body's, Three...

AHahah

E.B. wrote: "Rick wrote: "I take my initial vote back... perfect vampire THE COUNT yest THE COUNT, he's well educated and well hes good with numbers. I think the grouch secretly is a Vampire hunter though!"

On..."
lol. That's great! I LOVED the count. He was always so unbelievably excited about everything he was counting. teehee.

Kiefer Sutherland as gang leader David in The Lost Boys.

The perfect blend of charm, charisma, menace and threat. Cracking one liners, though he doesn't say all that much, you can see the depth of the character.

And Greg Cannom's make up trail blazed the way for all vamp make up in movies to come.

Jevron wrote: "Kiefer Sutherland as gang leader David in The Lost Boys.

The perfect blend of charm, charisma, menace and threat. Cracking one liners, though he doesn't say all that much, you can see the depth of..."


Nice answer, I was think along the lines of what makes a vampire a vampire, but your right Character and some good make up for the big screen. Those are the thinks you never forget, not what the rules were. Red contacts are not enough.

Jevron wrote: "Kiefer Sutherland as gang leader David in The Lost Boys.

The perfect blend of charm, charisma, menace and threat. Cracking one liners, though he doesn't say all that much, you can see the depth of..."

That's one of my favorite parts about the Lost Boys, Jevron....the vamp makeup. Like those contact lenses. They looked awesome. I have a pair of them called "Lost Boys" but they don't look exactly the same.

So glad you brought this up, Dan.

I have perfect screen accurate Lost Boys lenses. I have a high res image of the exact paint job Greg Cannom did on the lenses, so I sent this to one of those cosmetic lenses places, insisting they copied it perfectly. Cost me more but they look awesome! Like, AWESOME!

Today, ironically enough, I'm going to a denture clinic so I can get fitted for screen accurate LB denture fangs, they'll be custom made for my mouth. They cost a fortune but I so don't care.

I mentioned I'm a Lost Boys NUT, right?

I've met pretty much all the cast as well, had a couple of drinks with two of the vamps, so I have, like, a THOUSAND stories.

Best not to get me started!

Lol!

Jevron wrote: "So glad you brought this up, Dan.

I have perfect screen accurate Lost Boys lenses. I have a high res image of the exact paint job Greg Cannom did on the lenses, so I sent this to one of those cosm..."

Wait you have Lost boys lenses that look edactly like the ones in the film???? Where did you get them???

Like I explained, matey, I got a high res image of the original paint work Cannom did on the lenses and just sent it to a company to replicate it.

what company? And was it expensive? Where did you get the high res image?

I can send you the image if you want, Danny?

Okay, it's not high res per se, but it's clear. I screen grabbed it off The Lost Boys Special Edition DVD. I went frame by frame through the docs and screen grabbed a ton of rare makeup shots.

I forget what company it was, it was years ago.

The lenses cost me about £200 I think.

Made my teeth impressions at the dentists yesterday. My fangs are getting made this week! Eeeek!

Jevron wrote: "I can send you the image if you want, Danny?

Okay, it's not high res per se, but it's clear. I screen grabbed it off The Lost Boys Special Edition DVD. I went frame by frame through the docs and ..."

Oh yeah. I have the special Edition DVD. It show a real close up shot of what the lens looks like. There are other company's that carry lenses that were inspired by the movie and they are actually called "Lost Boys", but they are not exactly the same. The pair I have is called Lost Boys. I want the lenses that you have, Jevron.

You have the DVD, you star, so screen grab that image that Greg Cannom talks about and send that to the guys that made yours. Done and done!

You just wait until my custom fangs are made! I'll blow your mind with pics!!!!

I don't know how to "screen grab" it. Do you think you could do it? I'll send you my email.

PM me. I'll send the image to your email. That's no probs.

Tomorrow, I am getting fitted for my fucking expensive, professional, custom made, Lost Boys lateral fangs dentures and I CAN'T WAIT!

This is high quality work. I sent the lab technician pics of Greg Cannom's work so these fangs should be flawless.

I hope......