Vampire Fictions:
Rewriting Myths
IWIS
Learning Aims and Objectives
• To explore how Bram Stoker’s Dracula and
the myth of the vampire has been adopted
and adapted in film and literature from
across the world
• To develop ways of bringing these texts
into the classroom in order to stimulate
creative writing
The History of the Vampire
• term vampire popularized in 18th Century
after widespread superstition and hysteria
from Eastern Europe.
• 1819 – John Polidori’s novella The
Vampyre established archetype of
charismatic and sophisticated vampire
Dracula
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by Bram Stoker
published 1897
defined modern form of the vampire
background in Invasion literature
enjoyed as an adventure story
popularity didn’t come until after movie versions
of the 20th Century
• estimated 217 films feature Dracula in a major
role
Vampire ‘facts’
• p. 26 – ‘the facts’
• p.286 ‘there are such things as
vampires…evidence…proof’
• p. 289 ‘tradition and superstition – are
everything’
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of
the vampire?
• How is Dracula portrayed?
Vampire strengths
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strong as 20 men
cunning
command of the dead (necromancy)
appear at will (within limitations)
direct the elements
command meaner animals (rat, owl, bat, moth, fox, wolf)
grow and become small
vanish
feeds on living
doesn’t die of old age
makes no shadow
no reflection in mirror
Vampire weaknesses
• can’t enter without invitation
• power ceases at sunrise
• can only pass running water at the flood of the
tide
• garlic
• crucifix
• branch of wild rose
• sacred bullet fired into coffin
• stake through hear
• cut-off head
I Am Legend
• by Richard Matheson
• published 1954
• voted best vampire novel of the last 100
years
Activity 1:
• Group 1: Read Chapter Two
• How is the vampire presented? What
differences are revealed?
• Group 2: Read Chapter Three
• How does Richard Matheson engage with
previous representations of the vampire?
• Group 3: Read Chapter Four
• How is the vampire presented? What
similarities are revealed?
The Lady of the House of Love
• by Angela Carter
• published 1979
• Short story within The Bloody Chamber
collection
• based on a radio play called ‘Vampirella’
Activity 2:
• Read pages 196 – 197
• How is the vampire presented?
• How does this alter or enhance our
perception of the vampire, particularly in
relation to Dracula
Dead Until Dark
• by Charlaine Harris
• published 2001
• first in The Southern Vampire Mysteries series
• inspired television series True Blood
• How does the extract re-write history?
Dead Until Dark / True Blood
• modernising the myths
• asking the question: ‘What if?’
• providing parallels/metaphors for today’s
‘monsters’
• What issues/themes in contemporary society
could you re-write using the vampire as a
starting point?
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
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Based on 1992 film of the same name
ran from 1997 – 2003
Created by Joss Whedon
aimed to revert the Hollywood formula of ‘the
little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and
gets killed in every horror movie’
• ‘the supernatural elements in the series stood as
metaphors for personal anxieties associated
with adolescence and young adulthood’
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
• post-modern Gothic
• pastiche
• an examination of the facts and fiction
• playful take on the traditions
• asks the question: ‘What is a monster?’
• inner / outer demons
Activity 3:
• What themes / issues have been explored in our
discussions of vampire fiction and film?
• Create a mind map that shows the
interconnections between these themes / issues
• Use these to write a condensed lesson plan that
explores how you would take vampire fictions
into the classroom in order to explore one of
these themes / issues