What makes vampires sexy?
January 29, 2008by Laura
Vampires are sexy. The question is—why?
It may go back to the age-old attraction of bad boys. Vampires are ultimate bad boys; in many stories, they’re even soulless.
But there’s more to vampires that make them better than the average bad boy or even bad creature-of-the-night. Here are some of my favorite aspects of vampires (feelings so complicated they require nested bullets!):
- They drink blood. This can be written as horrible and violent, but it can also be written as erotic and intimate: vampires are connected with a primal life force.
- The “siring” relationship—when one vampire creates another—also strikes a chord. Two people share a sexualized ritual, and then are forever connected, whether they want to be or not.
- They’re frightening, yet vulnerable.
- Blood is difficult to get, especially for a reformed vampire. When they don’t get it, they need help—and at the same time, they can become more dangerous and primal, like a caged animal.
- They generally have various other weaknesses, notably sunlight. Though strong and scary at night, they need to be protected during the day.
- They’re overpowering, yet overpowered. Often they have physical and/or mental powers beyond ordinary mortals. They can cause humans to act against their own wishes, and yet they are driven by natural impulses to act against their own.
- They’re (usually) immortal. Forever young and pretty.
- They’re often hundreds of years old (yet still pretty!), making them worldly and cynical. Ah, cynicism: a bad boy attitude with intelligence and experience to back it up.
- They can (usually) be reformed.
- An unlimited lifetime is enough time to try anything—even a supposedly evil creature can find virtue or love eventually. The potential invites the right mate to try and draw it out.
- On the other hand, an unlimited lifetime is enough time to try anything—even going good for awhile and then going bad again. So the danger is always there.
- A reformed vampire still needs to kill (or at least maim) for survival. This leads to delicious angst. (Why angst and guilt are sexy is a topic for another time…)
What about you–what do you like about vampires?
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Personally, I love the differences that have evolved from the original tales. There’s the Carpathians, Amanda Ashley’s more traditional ones, and any mixture of the different species/death by draining of all blood/sharing that has since come into play. There are even vampires like you said, that can stand daylight in small doses. (Although that one kind of stretches my brain a little.)
I also like the mixture of strengths that are almost equal to their weaknesses. Because in truth, their weaknesses are HUGE, but their sheer ability to have overcome them is the only thing saving their skins. Weak vampires are rarely part of the pool. The nemesis exists for many, but they have an innate weakness that can be used against them. Which also leads to the question: If the Hero has a weakness, when will it be exploited? And by whom?
The fun of that thought is can be used for nearly any hero.
I wish you ladies the best of luck with launching the PR Blog.
I love the bad boy who is really incredibly vulnerable underneath it. Pair them with someone who discovers what they are, overcomes their bias/fear/horror/revulsion and then becomes their defender and protector, and I’m a happy girl.
To add to what you’ve said…
Yes, vampires usually have the ability to compel, but what makes a vampire hero ultra sexy is when he’d rather dance the sexual dance, to lure and seduce the woman into willingly giving him her blood without compelling her that makes his so very appealing. As for the heroine’s perspective on giving of her own blood–there’s something deeply intimate about the sharing of one’s life force, along with the knowledge that not only does the vampire hero need it to survive but he only wants “her” blood. It’s the ultimate rush of sexual power for the human heroine. 🙂
Patrice (who’s a bit partial to vampire heroes! *g* )
I think what makes a vampire sexy is the forbidden aspect. They are wrong, they are evil, they want to take your life force/blood. Deep down I think we all want them to be the one we rescue the one bad boy that we tamed, the evil that turned out to be naughty in a good way! I love vampires and I love the thought that there is only one true love, one mate for them out in the world. But hey that’s the romantic in me!
I love it when the cynical vampire get knocked for a loop and meets someone they believe they can spend eternity with. After hundreds of years of watching people grow old and die around them, they must be used to it at some point. But to meet someone they know they can’t go on without… How romantic!
Vampires fulfill a naughty little spot in our psyche. They can break rules, and yet are bound by their own set of limitations.
The vamps that fascinate me the most are the ones who try to fight it, to regain their sense of humanity. They are desperate to avoid entanglements and yet fall prey to them.
Lonely creatures tormented by the monster they believe themselves to be. Classic tragedy amplified by the paranormal. Love it.
For me, the appeal of vampire as hero is in their tragedy. The torment of living forever, the wisdom that comes from decades of observing humanity, the knowledge that they will always be apart from the world they live in….
I’m not sure their tragedy makes them ‘sexy’, but it sure makes them appealing to me as characters.
Nothing is better when you have a bad boy who has hundreds of year of itellegence. A bonus with the sexy and a bit of a thrilling scary side. I just can’t get enough of them and there is always something exciting good or bad hanging around them.
Ugly vampires aren’t sexy. And there are a few ugly ones out there. The good-looking ones are sexy because they are pretty much bad boys who one assumes will be totally unrepressed in bed. As for their need to drink blood, that doesn’t really turn me on. Too many true crime stories on television about folks with sexual pathologies –necrophilia, etc– have pretty much steeled me against anyone with an obsession with death and sex. Then there are all the pathogens found in blood. Not that I’m a health nut but if some guy came at me after drinking blood all I’d be thinking is that he’d give me hepatitis or worse. Sex and blood seems a bit odd …unless there’s something going on about cunnilingus and menstrual periods…but that might just seem odd to some…not particularly healthy and not particularly sexy. On the whole they tend to be evil and trapped in their bodies and worlds, which makes them appealing in a kind of “good girl wants to repair bad guy” kind of way. -C
“Personally, I love the differences that have evolved from the original tales.”
I do as well. And I’d love to see them explored in more of a ‘Henry Fitzroy of Blood Ties’ way. Anne Rice started the trend of brooding vampires, but I like the idea of a vampire who has come to terms with himself and feels comfortable in his own skin. If anything, I like the role reversal of vampires trying to survive in a cruel world of mortals that try to destroy them rather than the other way around.
Perhaps it’s my “rooting for the underdog side of my brain” but I really like how the vampire heroes of today have been written more complex than just being a straight one dimensional killing machine. They still have desires, ambitions and volatile moods. They can be fiercely loyal or completely comfortable by themselves That along with their dark nature makes vampire heroes of today very sexy to me.
What I find sexy about vampires is their eternal life, angst, beauty, aristocrat-like-adittude I guess. I find it so hot: the y have fangs, so they can be dangerous yet can be so sweet. Since they are usually portariated as very gothic and aristocratic, (the intelligence, wisdom and experience gained from long years), I love how they are just so unique, inhuman and powerful. I like the idea of a strong, dangerous partner that I can torture by just being human (his lust for blood, but his love for me). It makes things hotter. If vampires were real, I’d be the first foolish girl to try and get with one.
Maybe I’m crazy, but vampires are hot. It could takes me a very long time to fully explain why. Its very very hard.
What makes vampires sexy is how they hold their mouth when closed. You can tell when anyone has fangs. Its just so damn sexy.
Its the Fangs… lets just all admit it.
Thiers just so long and pointy.
Makes you wonder what else is long and pointy