By Edward Nawotka
Today’s lead story features in interview with Adam Rex, author of Fat Vampire, a YA novel about the travails of a an overweight teen vampire. Rex offers some thoughts as to the enduring appeal of vampires, but what do you think? Why are we so darn taken with these bloodsuckers? They’re hardly to be envied or admired. And what do they have over werewolves, succubi and other creatures of the night?
Theresa M. Moore
1 year ago
I think the reason is that you can carry on a rational conversation with a vampire, but with werewolves it carries the risk of having your throat torn out. I have been writing vampires for years and the current teen attraction is nothing new. Certainly the appeal of the vampire is undeniable: they are immortal and virtually indestructable, except for a few flaws. Most have been depicted as ascended nobility, or descended from nobility, and now many are mostly still human except for their thirst for blood. I write vampires as eyewitnesses to history; that is, they have seen and experienced what humans can only write about based on what they read. This makes them excellent as bridges between one generation and another. With teenagers the current fascination seems to be about staying young, beautiful (have you ever seen an ugly vampire lately?) and strong. But vampires are flawed as compromised in their moral choices, and I think that is the strongest argument for their relationship with the average teenager.