Speaking of Twilight, I teach middle school and see all the fads

[Strong Atheist]

Poll question: Speaking of Twilight, I teach middle school and see all the fads

come and go. Vampires have been popular for a few years now, and I don't understand the attraction. :shrug:

Werewolves are not popular in the same way, nor are zombies or aliens at the moment.

I used to have some goth acquaintances, and I game so I am aware of Vampire: The gathering, but I really do not understand the fascination with vampires. :shrug:

Is it, as King suggested in his interview, more of a female thing, or am I oblivious on my own? Explain it to me, please.

[Shell Beau]

1. I haven't gotten into the Twilight thing, but the HBO series

True Blood is AWESOME!!!! It is a guy and girl thing I think. My husband loves all vampire movies. But he also loves zombie and werewolf movies too.

[Strong Atheist]

6. I am not into horror. Maybe that is it.

:shrug:

[ThomCat]

39. Have you read the books?

They're pretty good, fast to read, and you get addicted to them. :)

[yellowdogintexas]

51. Hi Thom , I can back you up on that. All 3 of us are reading them.

I finished the boxed set, sent the 2 my husband had already read to our daughter and the rest of them to him at the oil well. A friend at work lent me the hardback of the 8th one today. Looking forward to that!

Those books are hysterical.

[ThomCat]

52. I haven't read the 8th book yet.

I can't wait until it's out in paperback, or until I can borrow it in hardcover. :(

They really are funny. It's written with a good about of sarcasm and wit. :)

[yellowdogintexas]

62. my friend at work says her other books are just as much fun. Have you ever read

any of the Midnight Louie Murder Mysteries? They are a hoot.

Louie is a 20 pound black cat who is also a detective. It is a long series and still holding up. The author has built a good cast of continuing characters and it is fun seeing them all grow and change through the series.

How are you doing?

[ThomCat]

66. Yes, years ago.

I read two of those books a long time ago, but I totally didn't realize that they had the same author. :)

[yellowdogintexas]

68. my bad. The Midnight Louie books are a different author. I am currently reading

one which made me think of it ..and of course knowing you for a cat lover, figured I would mention it. (Carole Nelson Douglas is the author and she lives right here in Fort Worth!)

Sorry for the non sequiter!

But the author of the Sookie Stackhouse books does have several other series out there.

[BuddhaGirl]

50. True Blood rocks!!!

I can't wait for the next season! Have you read the novels True Blood is based on? I've read the first two and enjoyed them greatly.

I haven't read Twilight, and will probably watch the movie when it's on a satellite movie channel. I have been a big vampire fan since Dark Shadows! I also loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer :-)

I would love to have this shirt LOL

[ghostsofgiants]

2. Vampires are a mixed bag.

The "sexy" ones are bullshit munchers. I love them as a concept though, even when they're a metaphor for sex. (Just not stupid "sexy" shit.) But then, I like most things supernatural and scary.

[tigereye]

19. everything is a metaphor for sex

if you listen to the deconstructionists.... ;)

[WildEyedLiberal]

43. Yeah, I agree

I was about to post about how I'm not into vampires at all, but I feel more like you do - as a horror concept, they're cool. As a pulp romance concept - UGH.

[ghostsofgiants]

47. Case in point, Nosferatu, Vampyr, Let the Right One In, even 30 Days of Night = Badass

Twilight, Anne Rice, etc. = Weak.

[tigereye]

3. seems like a romantic projection...

and the sexy height of "bad-boy" attraction with no actual risks.... ;)

[Strong Atheist]

5. Ah, like Tom Petty's freefalling? nt.

[tigereye]

21. hmm, perhaps

[JVS]

4. I voted other: This shit is horribly whack and only excusable if being done to lay some pipe.

[Strong Atheist]

7. Do you mean vampires, or my poll? nt.

[JVS]

8. Vampires and related activities.

Your poll is ok, even if it can't be used as a scheme to lay some pipe.

[Strong Atheist]

10. "a scheme to lay some pipe"

:rofl:

:yourock:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. Vampires =

god-like. metaphor for surrending in order to have everlasting life and eternal love. YMMV.

[Strong Atheist]

11. "YMMV" Stands for.... ? nt.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. your mileage may vary. n/t

[Strong Atheist]

13. Thanks! ttfn! nt.

[tigereye]

23. yeah, but problematic for the sleeping in a coffin, dying from sunlight

and needing blood to survive aspects. :D

[Tuesday Afternoon]

70. well--

even god has problems. Look at us :D

[kentauros]

33. If that's the case

then why aren't djinn (genies) as popular as vampyres? ;)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

69. dude...

it is all about the penetration :yoiks:

[kentauros]

71. Ahh, so the instant materialization and implementation of

a huge pair of scimitars isn't "penetration"? :P

[Tuesday Afternoon]

73. How many kinds are there?

Let me count the ways! :D :yoiks:

[Jamastiene]

14. Make it bleeeeed.

:evilgrin:

I am a lesbian and I like vampires a lot. I'm not a goth, but I do love the vampire thing. I went with a woman once who was into it. She was great at the time, but now, I'm not so sure. Er...

I recently saw an ad for her local "vampire coven." She now runs a coven where the instructions for meetings involve bringing a 1 inch spider for some sort of ritual they do. Apparently, also in the instructions, the spider will not be returned. :wtf:

I guess it's a good thing I did my own kinda drugs and she did her own kinda drugs back then instead of my dream of bonding over our dope. My drugs may have caused me to be a little on the crazy side (still nonviolent), but at least they don't induce me to do...whatever they are doing monthly...to one inch spiders.

Then again, I can't talk too much, I don't guess. :shrug:

I'd still like to know where they are going to get the one inch spiders for their February coven meeting seeing as how there is snow on the ground and not a damn bug, except the ever present piss ants and mosquitoes, present. :shrug:

Personally, I hope she'll tell them they can substitute the damn mosquitoes this time around. I'm beginning to like spiders. I may just infiltrate her "coven" and free all the one inch spiders. She calls herself Jellybean, but she's really an angered vengeful Miss Muffett. Should I expose her? :evilgrin:

[Strong Atheist]

15. I thought your area of the world was crawling (intended) with

spiders?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=8449454#8450628

[Jamastiene]

16. It is...but one inch spiders are kind of....meh...

medium sized. The ones in my yard are more like 2 inch spiders. They'll be safe, I suppose. I still want to start a spider army. I'm sure it'd work. :evilgrin:

[Strong Atheist]

24. Mad scientist! Run for your life! nt.

[Jamastiene]

26. Well, SOMEBODY has to organize an army to fight the

Creationist Pterosaur Army.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8489875

:evilgrin:

[SidneyCarton]

17. I have never understood the attraction toward Vampires...

Were they real they would be a predator species that would view Humanity as prey. Caribou do not have sexual fantasies for wolves (or certain Alaska governors) mice do not have them for cats, and Wildebeasts do not fantasize over Lions, such behavior is strongly discouraged by natural selection.

Hence, I have always been of the opinion that the only good vampire is one with a stake in it's chest.

[Strong Atheist]

27. Or a steak

in its




chest :9

[SidneyCarton]

28. Oooh... You're bad.

:spank:

:rofl:

:hi:

[Strong Atheist]

29. .

:hi:

[mitchum]

40. Exactly...they are essentially just bloodsucking freaks

[SidneyCarton]

41. Yeah, like Nosferatu, the original movie vampire.

Ain't nothing sexy about that pasty fellow.

[mitchum]

42. That's why Murnau's film and Herzog's remake are the only 2 vampire movies worth a damn

[kentauros]

65. Wholeheartedly agree!

Twilight fans should be strapped down, eyelids pried open (and kept wet by an attendant eye-dropper) and forced to watch both movies, back to back :P

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. Like most fads, it's because 90% of people are too stupid to decide for themselves what they like

and so they let marketers, friends, the media, whatever tell them what they like, and then they go out and buy it.

If you had taken those books, or the movie, and presented them to anyone who is obsessed with them now but in a context in which that person had never heard of those books or movie and in which those books or movie were cultural unknowns, they would more than likely hate it.

But, because they're being told that they like those books and movie, they like it.

That's the nature of a fad - stupid people following the lead cow.

[bbernardini]

20. Don't hold back, now. Tell us how you really feel.

Also, GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

[tigereye]

25. ah, they are young....part of the fun is not needing to be quite so "rational"

[kid a]

22. its not so much the vampires as the teen lust / hyperbolic emotional drama

and there is no shortage of that in the "tween" genre.

My 19-yr-old daughter (a "Twilighter" herself) has tapped that Twilight fanaticism in a song she wrote when she was a "tween" and the song is now being considered for the next twilight movie.

She has over 20,000 twilight fans behind her and almost 1 million plays of the song in a month on myspace and facebook.

They seem to be hardcore, loyal fans.

you can hear the song here: http://myspace.com/needfornewmoon


I haven't read the books, but my wife has. She disappointed my daughters greatly when she became "Team Jacob"
Whatever that means.

[DarkTirade]

30. I dated a vampire once.

Now I have at least one relationship that I can quite literally say, "I still have the scars." when referring to it. :P

[Yukari Yakumo]

31. Depends on the vampire

The wannabe-goth vamps of Twilight do not appeal to me at all.

Alucard of Hellsing, OTOH, is a Crowning Moment of Awesome machine.

And then there's Arcueid...

[Lethe]

32. i don't mind the old-school vampires

like Dracula in Bram Stoker's book. They are seriously evil creatures. They kill people and eat babies and delight in doing so.

What I really don't like is the notion of the romantic vampire. It's silly. Case in point: Coppola's Dracula movie. None of that romance shit was in the book.

[LeftyMom]

34. Vampires generally are a symbol for sex, power and temptation.

The Twilight thing is a Mary-Sue story for sexually frustrated teenagers written by a sexually frustrated Mormon housewife. :shrug:

[SidneyCarton]

44. Gott in Himmel, again with the Mormon bashing!

You'd think from some of the responses on this board that each book came with its own chastity belt, and that all the keys were kept in Salt Lake City! If you'd prefer your children read about hot, steamy vampire sex, there are no end of authors who supply the need, (Laurel K. Hamilton comes to mind here.) If Ms. Meyer had been a Catholic and written these books, her faith would not be an issue.

[LeftyMom]

53. Nah, I'd rather my kid read books that don't suck, which would rule out both Meyer and Hamilton.

I'd have no problem with him reading, say, anything written by Orson Scott Card before he lost his damned mind- I don't have a problem that the author is a Mormon. I am however pointing out that Mormon subculture has some very screwed up notions about sex, which does explain some significant differences between Twilight and typical vampire fiction.

Iirc, Hamilton is some kind of neo-pagan, which would also explain a lot about sex and how it's handled in her work. There's a different underlying attitude.

[SidneyCarton]

72. Fair enough,

In all honesty, I've never read anything by Card (It seems every Mormon has, so I'm being purposefully contrarian)

As to Meyer, I've only read The Host, which was a fair piece of writing, but hardly the finest book I've ever read. I have neither interest nor desire to read the Twilight books, Mrs. Carton has read them all, and I've heard more about them than I ever wanted to know :puke:

[LanternWaste]

35. I supervise a gaggle of twentysomethings, and...

I supervise a gaggle of twentysomethings and to a person, each female is enamored with the books anmd movies (and all things Vampire-- except for the classics- in both literature and film)), and each male is a member of garage band that will be bigger than The Beatles one day.

One of the girls said, "vampires are highly moral and human creatures that play by their own rules...". I'm beginning to think that's the intentional direction that contemporary films and books have taken the myth-figure to-- strip away the myth, and we're left with James Dean wearing lipstick, market them to a specific female demographic (as was Dean), and let the lines form around the block for the newest book or movie.

[SidneyCarton]

45. I think you've hit the nail on the head.

We've gone from Nosferatu, to Lugosi, to some odd amalgam of Brad Pitt's looks and Lord Byron's tortured soul.

[kentauros]

46. Uh,

if they play by their own rules, how can they be moral? ;)

You have distilled the phenomenon down properly, though :D

[BarenakedLady]

36. I went through a vampire phase

At about 10-13 or so. Just the same age as my Twilight obsessed tween.

[Sequoia]

37. I liked vampires when I first saw Bela Lagosi.

It was hard to find any books about vampires back then. Then Anne Rice came along, but after 3 of her vampire books it just went downhill for me. Vampires aren't as cool as they used to be. And Tom Cruise playing Lestat was just awful. Thank goodness for Brad Pitt and the little girl who saved the movie somewhat.

[mitchum]

38. No one will ever go broke selling vampires to teenage girls...

it all has to do with budding sexuality and submission

[Broken_Hero]

48. I first got into

vampires, via Anne Rice's, The Vampire Lestat...I read all her vamp novels, and the way in which she tweaked the vamps(with age comes strength, and the ability to withstand the sun) really interested me, and how the vamps came into existence.

With the Whitewolf gaming system, and the Vampire the Masquerade novels, I was really hooked, with how each branch of Vamps intermingle(I loved the Brouha and Assamite clans)....

But, with white wolf, their Werewolves...are AWESOME....I never got into werewolves much, but with playing the game system, and especially reading the Werewolf novels, I was immediately hooked.....

I prefer the Whitewolf werewolf caste system, over any vampire system...

[LeftyMom]

55. Werewolf is seriously fun to play.

Mage is too, but it's a bitch to run, because people's powers are so open ended.

[Broken_Hero]

63. I never got into mage that much

I did like some of the...what are they, like the Technocracy? I believe they are the main bad guys in Mage...most of the Tech mages I read(I never played Mage, but read the novels) were pretty good...

I believe the first novel I read was about the Tech vs. Mage, I want to say the main guy was Prisoner 16 or something...I recall him escaping a Tech hideout, and Miranda Giovanni(Giovanni Vamp) helping him out..its been at least 12yrs since I read that one...the Technocracy was working on prisoner 16 to be some type of doomsday mage/weapon....

[elshiva]

49. Vampires are sexy, but I don't much care for "Twilight."

I am a total Buffy/Angel fangirl for life.

[PVnRT]

54. The only good vampire is one with a stake through it's heart

Which kills them everywhere except in Twilight novels, where all traditional methods of killing a vampire just result in the vampire becoming more dreamy.

[underpants]

56. See that's what those damned Werewolves WANT YOU TO THINK

I run in the dark of the morning
PRIME Werewolf time
they are out there.... I know it :hide:

[Strong Atheist]

74. Lol! nt.

[JTG of the PRB]

57. Vampires do not remotely interest me. Zombies, on the other hand, DO interest me. GREATLY.

Zombies will never become a fad because zombies are not sexy and they do not make good protagonists. It's a simple fact of life.

[JVS]

58. What about sex-zombies?

[JTG of the PRB]

59. You show me a zobie sex scene and I will show you how unappealing it is to the masses.

Something about decayed, rotting flesh and non-sexual moaning just doesn't do it for most people...

[JVS]

60. it's been done

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/497575004.html

[JTG of the PRB]

61. I think we have to count anything that happens on Craigslist out of contention.

We all know Craigslist is in the pocket of Big Werewolf.

[Bill McBlueState]

64. Is the vampire Kate Beckinsale?

If so, put me down for option #2.

[Generic Brad]

67. My daughter just finished that book tonight

She is enamored with Edward. Should I be concerned?

[Kali]

75. May be a teen female thing

My niece is obsessed. Keeps her room all dark and reads all the latest books. Can't wait till this fad/phase is over!