Once upon a time vampires roamed the crypts of the horror genre, terrorising squeamish readers in all their blood-sucking, soul-stealing glory. Today, it would seem that vampires are no longer feared. Instead, they have become the desired hero of the romance novel, in which the only fear is not being loved by the vampire.
Vampires in the Romance Genre
Vampires have long had sex appeal or relied on sexual curiosity to capture reader interest. Today, such attributes are perhaps responsible for their smooth transition to the romance genre where sexual chemistry is a requirement. Instead of fearing coming face-to-face with a vampire in the night, women (the traditional readers of romance) welcome the dark, brooding stranger.
Generally, the vampire romances popular today often feature a male vampire as the hero of the story According to USA TODAY, the four titles of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, about a girl who falls in love with a vampire, were the four top-selling books of 2008. L.J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries series of the early 1990s about a mortal girl torn between two vampire brothers has had resurgence in popularity with its recent television adaptation. HBO’s True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries novels and featuring the romance between mortal Sookie Stackhouse and vampire Bill Compton, has proven popular enough to run into a third season. Even Buffy, who had a TV show from 1997 to 2003 and was by definition the vampire slayer, went soft by falling in love with one of the enemy.
Naturally, there are variations on the vampiric man/mortal woman formula, but the principle remains the same: the presence of vampires in the romance genre means a sexy, forbidden love is on the cards.
Vampires: The Ideal Romantic Hero?
Every romance novel requires obstacles for the lovers to overcome before they can be together and vampirism serves as the ultimate obstacle in service of the plot. It can put the lovers in danger, gives them doubts, puts a barrier up against the healthy progression of the relationship.
It is universally known that some women are helplessly drawn to the “bad boy”. The male vampire in romance fiction can tick the bad boy boxes. He can be moody, arrogant, aggressive, mean, violent, and he has no doubt killed people (and probably enjoyed it). Ultimately, this is just another obstacle to be overcome.
Part of the appeal of the bad boy is that he can be “fixed” by his mate. For the love of a woman - the heroine - the bad boy vampire will change. He softens for her. It is common for the bad boy vampire in romance to have his behaviour attributed to the very creature he is. Being turned into a vampire has made him wild and animalistic.
When the vampire meets the woman he reveals his torment: He cannot age. He has already “lived” an unnaturally long time, and still, eternity stretches out before him. His existence is shrouded in secrecy and darkness. He has fed off the blood of human beings to survive (though the heroic vampire often has found an alternative). He believes he is a villain. In short, being a vampire is not all it's cracked up to be. However, his true love provides the remedy. She redeems him and cures his loneliness. The prospect of eternity no longer seems unbearable.
Immortal Love
The promise of a true and ever-lasting love is the most essential ingredient of the romance novel. The vampire can offer immortality therefore he is the ideal candidate for offering a literally eternal love. What more can a woman ask for? Well, it seems the romantic vampire also brings danger with protection, lust with gentle affection, and a supernatural twist that makes the relationship superior due to its exclusivity. All of this means passion and excitement, a wild ride that is irresistible to the romantically inclined reader.
By making it into the realm of the romance genre, vampires have seduced a world of readers. And they are willing “victims” too. Vampires do not intend to disappear from reading interests any time soon. And why would they? They are, after all, immortal beings. As long as people continue buying, reading, devouring vampire fiction, the creatures will remain alive…well, undead.
Sources
Bartlett, W. & Idriceanu, F. 2006, Legends of Blood: The Vampire in History and Myth, Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut.
Cawelti, J. 1976, ‘Notes towards a Typology of Literary Formulas’ in Adventure, Mystery and Romance: Formula Stories as Art and Popular Culture, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
Torrey, R. (online) 2009, http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Appeals-To-Women-About-Bad-Boys&id=6466
USA TODAY (online) 2009, http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-01-14-top-100-titles_N.htm
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