#vampire shows

[blushpprincess]

My babysitters a vampire

[laughingshadows]

You will never convince me Rüdiger Von Schlotterstein and Rudolph Sackville-Bagg are supposed to be the same character. Absolutely not.

[writing-slanted]

wlw vampires where??? I need some sort of book or show or movie portraying wlw vampires nowwww!!!

[wordssetinstony]

Picture this. It’s 2025. You’re home, alone, scrolling streaming services for something to watch.

You notice a trend. It seems like every other movie, show, or ad break has a similar theme in common.

Vampires.

Vampires.

Vampires.

Now, vampires can’t die. Not naturally. But, they can evolve. And lately? They’ve been everywhere.

But what does that mean? What does it matter? Why am I talking about this? Well, it’s not only because this is my final project for my history class. (Yes, seriously.)

It’s because media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is influenced by the current world around it and it may influence future works that will be shaped in the same way.

Using historical examples and analysis, I’m going to try to answer a simple question: why are vampires back and what does that say about how we, right now, view race, class, and opportunity.

Let’s rewind. Historically, vampires have been used as a stand in for a variety of things, a metaphor for the insertable “other” of the era. As the culture shifts, so does the “other”. Vampires, especially in the modern era, navigate strikingly similar social tensions to our own.

A little over a decade after the end of WWI, on October 29, 1929 the US stock market began its fall that would lead to The Great Depression.

Less than two years later, Universal’s Dracula would be released.

Now, vampires don’t just live forever, they hoard wealth while they do it. In many ways they are an aristocratic final boss. Dracula? He was loaded.

He had a castle and everything. While America was in turmoil due to the poor decisions of the nations elites, citizens got to watch as the rich foreigner was vanquished by a proper Englishman.

With that in mind, we’re gonna fast forward a bit.

In the same decade that the officers that beat Rodney King were acquitted...

...and the first lady was indirectly referring to black boys and men as “super-predators”...

Our screens were blessed with Westley Snipes as Blade, a Black vampire hunter who is able to walk in the daylight. Blade exists between two words, fully accepted by neither, and actively fights against conforming to vampirism.

So where are we now and what are we saying? And why are vampires involved?

Vampire media of the 2020’s has been way more diverse. Back in the 90s Blade was one of a very small handful of vampire films with a slightly more diverse cast. But now?

We have Jaime Foxx as Bud, a blue collar vampire hunter who must save his family while also trying to re-join a vampire hunting union (I bet those benies is nice)

at a time when unions are largely under attack.

We have monster hunter Calliope falling in love with rich vampire Juliette that doesn’t want to carry on her families bloody legacy. Relevant when we’ve seen the exact opposite from wealthy people whose fortunes were made off the backs of others.

We have vampires literally try to gentrify the Bronx and forcefully assimilate/destroy the residents living there.

Vampires or Real Estate Developers, what’s the difference right now?

And that’s just on Netflix!

What’s a running theme in these works?

A privileged , pale, influential figure, will try to seduce, target, or otherwise manipulate vulnerable populations, such as people of color and the poor in order to reach their goal. They’ll offer marginalized people the “opportunity” to join their ranks. And often people don’t realize until it’s too late that the “opportunity” isn’t actually optional and comes with deadly strings attached. The figure will try to force people to conform to it’s beliefs, even if they are in direct conflict with their personhood.

And the only way to defeat the monster?

Community. Real community.

The American people of the 2020’s are seeking unity to defeat a common enemy, the wealthy. After being quarantined, after economic upheaval, after repeatedly watching lives be lost, America wants working class solidarity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Works Cited~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ 1996: Hillary Clinton on ‘Superpredators’ (C-SPAN).” YouTube, C-Span, www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0uCrA7ePno. Accessed 16 May 2025.

Ch VIII. “World War I & Its Aftermath.” The American Yawp, 7 June 2013, www.americanyawp.com/text/21-world-war-i/.

Introduction. “The Great Depression.” The American Yawp, 7 June 2013, www.americanyawp.com/text/23-the-great-depression/.

Ford, James. South Bronx Residents Face Displacement as Gentrification Takes Hold, PIX11, pix11.com/news/local-news/bronx/south-bronx-residents-face-displacement-as-gentrification-takes-hold/. Accessed 16 May 2025.

Gateward, Frances. “Daywalkin’ Night Stalkin’ Bloodsuckas: Black Vampires in Contemporary Film.” Genders 1998-2013, 2 July 2004, www.colorado.edu/gendersarchive1998-2013/2004/07/02/daywalkin-night-stalkin-bloodsuckas-black-vampires-contemporary-film.

Greenhouse, Steven. “‘Old-School Union Busting’: How Us Corporations Are Quashing the New Wave of Organizing.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 26 Feb. 2023, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/26/amazon-trader-joes-starbucks-anti-union-measures.

McKee, Patricia. “Racialization, Capitalism, and Aesthetics in Stoker’s ‘Dracula.’” NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, vol. 36, no. 1, 2002, pp. 42–60. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1346114.

“Los Angeles Riots of 1992.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 22 Apr. 2025, www.britannica.com/event/Los-Angeles-Riots-of-1992.

[gloomy-eye]

Question for anyone who knows: Is there any other south asian vampire representation in media besides Armand from IWTV?

[gothamslostboy]

Vampire Media I Like

The Lost Boys (duh)

Interview With The Vampire movie

The Vampire Chronicles (IWTV book series)

What We Do In The Shadows movie

Draculaura (Monster High)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer tv show (just started 🎉)

Sims 4 Vampires

[rapha-reads]

Liz Forbes 🤝🏻 Talia Burns

Badass kickass mothers who do not give a damn that their child is now a vampire, the very thing they were raised to hate, and will destroy you if you dare lay a hand on them.

Given that Caroline became not only the best characters but the best vampire on TVD, here's hoping that Theseus gets a good narrative arc.

And you know why Caroline is the only person in that whole town of Mystic Falls AND New Orleans who has her shit together? Because her mother is Goddamn Sheriff Liz Forbes.

... Turns out I am not over my TVD feels.

[apinchofsanity]

If I was a protagonist in a vampire show

Me, about to be turned into a vampire by the Lord of the Undead or whteve: So like.... *gestures vaguely* is the sex thing mandatory?

Vampire: ??? what??

Me, sighing deeply: *rolls eyes* is the sexy-times thing a mandatory part of life as a VamPEARe? cause I'm like ..NOT into that.. No offence.

Vampire: ?...no.??

Me: OH! okay cools, please continue then

Vampire:.....you don't care about the murdering people to survive?

Me: Nah

Me: ...So... d'you want like a bendy straw for this or something??