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author_by_night[Error: unknown template qotd]I'm inclined to choose werewolves, of course. Two words - Remus Lupin. ;) But vampires are kind of cool too.
I'm writing both a vampire and a werewolf, and it's interesting. Both are good, but the vampire always has that inner demon that sometimes comes out. My werewolf is a good person, but once a month he's a monster - and he will kill you.
Modern fantasy/sci fi seems to want to redeem both - I mean, you go from Dracula and The Wolfman to Buffy and Harry Potter, which have vampires and werewolves that are not inherently evil. In Buffy you have Angel and Oz, and in Harry Potter you have Remus, and there's a scene in one of the books where a vampire is at a Christmas party - and seems fairly harmless, although at one point they mention him looking hungry. And of course Twilight... I wouldn't call Twilight my favorite book series, but it does show werewolves and vampires as redeemable.
I do wonder how that came about - when the "monster" suddenly grew a human being's face. When the "monster" became okay. I suppose even in Dracula, there's some of that - not the redemption, but the implication that vampires can still think like human beings. Evil, sick and twisted human beings, but human beings. He plans how exactly he is going to kill his victims, rather than randomly chase them in a dark forest at night.
This could be an interesting thing to research, actually. Anyone have their own input?
I'm writing both a vampire and a werewolf, and it's interesting. Both are good, but the vampire always has that inner demon that sometimes comes out. My werewolf is a good person, but once a month he's a monster - and he will kill you.
Modern fantasy/sci fi seems to want to redeem both - I mean, you go from Dracula and The Wolfman to Buffy and Harry Potter, which have vampires and werewolves that are not inherently evil. In Buffy you have Angel and Oz, and in Harry Potter you have Remus, and there's a scene in one of the books where a vampire is at a Christmas party - and seems fairly harmless, although at one point they mention him looking hungry. And of course Twilight... I wouldn't call Twilight my favorite book series, but it does show werewolves and vampires as redeemable.
I do wonder how that came about - when the "monster" suddenly grew a human being's face. When the "monster" became okay. I suppose even in Dracula, there's some of that - not the redemption, but the implication that vampires can still think like human beings. Evil, sick and twisted human beings, but human beings. He plans how exactly he is going to kill his victims, rather than randomly chase them in a dark forest at night.
This could be an interesting thing to research, actually. Anyone have their own input?
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Date: 2008-06-13 03:36 pm (UTC)I think we like that people like Remus in HP and Edward in Twilight try not to give in to their instincts (just as potentially we like the vicarious pleasure of watching characters like Dracula who do) - in a lot of ways, they're the embodiement of the indominatable nature of human spirit. I think in those two cases particularly, they're compelling stories, first and foremost, about very human struggles - how to love when you think you're unworthy, how to master your darker side, how to find a place in a world that doesn't want you.
I'm not sure things have changed all that much - I'm no expert on Gothic horror, but I know when I read Frankenstien, I sympathised with the monster....