The Modern Vampire and Human Identity

Why are we surrounded by vampires in the twenty-first century? From the global phenomena of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse, through films such as Underworld and Blade, television series such as The Vampire Diaries and Being Human, to video games like Bloodrayne a [...]
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Why are we surrounded by vampires in the twenty-first century? From the global phenomena of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse, through films such as Underworld and Blade, television series such as The Vampire Diaries and Being Human, to video games like Bloodrayne and Legacy of Kain, the reader, viewer and player has never had so many vampires to choose from. This collection considers the importance of the current flurry of vampires for our sense of human identity. Vampires have long been read as bodies through which our sense of ourselves has been reflected back to us. The essays offer readings of the modern vampire as a complex consideration of our modern human selves. Now that we no longer see the vampire as essentially evil, what does that say about us?