Vamp N's ~*~ Nightmares

list vampire novels

Eric Northman is over one-thousand years old; Sookie Stackhouse is Twenty-five[phpbay] He is December, she is May[phpbay] For those readers unfamiliar with the term, a May - December relationship is generally that of an old man, defined as one into or past middle age, who is having a sexual relationship with a much younger woman[phpbay] This relationship is almost inevitable in a vampire novel since they live to be very old, and generally (in a twisted Enzyte Smiling Bob sort of way) are portrayed as still possessing not just a sex drive, but also the ability to have sex[phpbay] Just a quick trip through any bookstore will convince you that this ability is a key factor in the fastest growing segment, paranormal romance (in all age groups)[phpbay]

So what is it that makes this age difference so acceptable in the world of the vampire novel? Let's take a look at just a few possibilities:

• They usually appear physically young, rarely over thirty[phpbay]
• Physically they are usually fine specimens of humanity: great bodies
• They have the physical strength to defend their female against threats from other supernatural creatures
• They usually are single (wives and original families long since truly dead)
• The hero vampire is rarely truly evil
• They often are in positions of authority
• They usually have enough savings from years of living and earning to provide very well materially for their young trophy

Let's get physical[phpbay] The vampire is usually very attractive, often the epitome of tall, dark and handsome with six-pack abs[phpbay] Even if he is blond, the same holds true[phpbay] He is more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound[phpbay] And the super strength is harnessed to her keep her safe from all threats[phpbay] Why are these undead almost invariably young? Practically speaking, life spans used to be shorter, and infant mortality higher, culling the population to those most capable of surviving and continuing the species: natural selection at its finest[phpbay] Toss in a hidden species of ex-humans that feed on the life-blood of humans, one which needs to remain hidden and what happens? Who do they pick to feed off and join them: one of the village outliers -- the shepherd, the merchant, the lonely traveler, the soldier? Any of the outliers could easily have succumbed to the attack of wild animals or wild bandits, and apart from the merchant who would presumably be traveling in company, they would probably be traveling alone; food for the hungry vampire[phpbay] Note that there is nothing like outdoor exercise such as farming and lots of walking to develop physical fitness, and soldiers tend to become survivors - or truly dead[phpbay] The survivors of nature and nurture in these time frames would be superman, or incredibly lucky[phpbay]

The vampiric hero is inevitably single, both as a plot necessity and as a reflection of undead reality[phpbay] When the undead lifespan is a few centuries, unless they have turned their wife's (or married serially over the years) it is likely that the first wife has become one of the truly dead[phpbay] Luckily this makes it possible to find the perfect soul-mate, the beloved, the heroine[phpbay] That the female heroine is single is a given; I can't think of a single novel in which a married heroine gets together with a vampire, can you?

As the hero is an old soul possessing a young looking body, the heroine, the May of the relationship, is almost always young, teenage or early twenties[phpbay] A marked exception to this rule are Katie Macalister's novels in which the heroines are sometimes as old as forty[phpbay] The young heroine must be pretty, the sort of girl a living male would love to replace his current wifely model in on when he hits the midlife crises[phpbay] These trophies are usually not only pretty, they are intelligent, capable, and resourceful - although they do usually need the hero's saving[phpbay]

Few of these Decembers are poor - they have had centuries in which to amass money[phpbay] And with money comes power; the power to buy pretty things, to fly the heroines wherever they need to go, to purchase them replacement clothing to replace any torn during the hardships of adventures or lovemaking[phpbay] They drive great cars, frequent hot clubs, and know anyone who is anyone[phpbay] As their physical prowess is given to protect the heroine, so their power and money is spent on the same[phpbay]

It is their spending their time, money, and supernatural abilities protecting the heroines which is a convincing argument to the readers that these vampires in particular aren't evil[phpbay] This leads to the supposition that perhaps vampires in general aren't that different as dead folks than they were as living folks - back when they still had a soul[phpbay] The reader finds it easy to forget within the walls of the novel that the writer is creating idealized constructs and imbuing them with the necessary traits to further the novel[phpbay] The vampire is treating this particular heroine, the one he is to spend his eternity with, nicely[phpbay] The rest of the time when they aren't with the heroine, they still have to prey on someone else's neck[phpbay] Whether this taking of life-force is evil or is simply "ick," I leave you to decide for yourself[phpbay]

That the worlds of these vampire novels reflect the reality of our world back to us is unarguable[phpbay] We are so used to the May - December age difference between men and women that we don't even really notice its reflection in the novels, and the only real difference is perhaps the deepening of the age gap[phpbay] I leave you with a thought though: usually the older man is termed December because he is closer to death, but in these cases, the man is already dead[phpbay] Is the heroine really a cougar?

Leslie Ormandy is an instructor at an Oregon Community College where she teaches classes on Vampires in Literature[phpbay] She is also CEO of Scion Press, a small publishing house which focuses on supernatural literature[phpbay] Her website which focuses on vampires in literature may be found at http://www[phpbay]simplysupernatural-vampire[phpbay]com Copyright: you may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, the active links and this copyright notice remain intact[phpbay]

My Vampire Obssession

Tags: anne-rice, books, comics, free, library

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