By Suzanne Carré

It is assumed that to classify as a sexy beast the vampire needs to be debonair and irresistibly handsome. If we look at the historical development of the vampire then we will find that the visual aspects are as transient as our model of ideal beauty. The seduction by vampires is more than just good looks. The attraction of vampires is more psycho-sexual. Modern audiences need a visual confirmation, so if the vampire is sexy, then he looks the part. How this happened is not only a function of the way we told the vampire story but also the media used to visualize the myth.

Icon of Sex

Before the idea of the Slavic undead resonated with Western Europeans, the vampire was a non-entity associated with magic and witchcraft. Where once the goddesses of sex offered liberation through unlimited sexual pleasure, and appealed to both men and women, the schism of the “evil” vampire created an all-powerful “warlock” with the supernatural capacity of the Devil, and diminutive succubi.  The split was irrevocable.

The male attributes of this new entity proved sexually powerful due to the potential of controlling natural forces through sex. The devil form of the vampire was hardly a sex symbol. In some representations he is a mere animated skeleton, and hence preempting the undead of the grave, but looks had nothing to do with the nature of the sexy beast. This bad boy offered up what women have wanted for thousands of years—sexual rights and the means to dictate physical pleasure.

Sexual Access

As long as you provide the goods, liberating sensual gratification, then women of the past never cared for the packaging. No matter how disgusting the Catholic Church depicted the Devil or any of his demons in art, the attraction to the so-called “evil” vampire had a persistent following. Suggestion then seems to be the vector whereby vampire nightmares spread, especially among women. In the beginning, this demon known as the incubus took on many forms, smothering males in the night, and inducing erotic dreams in his female victims.

The exact date when the incubus takes to seducing men is uncertain but the literature indicates we have entered the Puritan age where not only demons are reexamined but sex is scrutinized. All practices of sex outside marriage are banned and for the first time both men and women have a prohibition on masturbation. But the marital age also increases because now a man must prove himself and women are sequestered by their families to keep their worth. The delay for sexual realization in relationships, produces a ferment of anxiety and frustration, which reaches fever pitch by the Victorian era. Now the pure and innocent fear retiring when the vampire would come with tempting sex after midnight and pollute their minds and bodies. The corrupting power of masturbation was a psychological and spiritual plague spread by the demon of the night.

Powers of Seduction

The more demonic the vampire seemed in literature, the more convincing of the evil powers to the 19th century reader. But a new technology ushered in the 20th century—motion film. For the first time, the written word became animated reality, and with the pictures came the necessity to illustrate in a new dimension. Allegory was limited in a medium that reinterpreted print into moving images. If you wanted evil, you made the character resemble the devil. If you wanted good, the character was depicted as perfect. And if you wanted sexy—well, Nosferatu would hardly gain your mother’s approval for a date.

Interpretations of the vampire continued from an unchanging ghoul to a man with evil incarnations. Each time the vampire gains a heightened sensuality appealing to his female victims. Bela Lugosi endeared us with old world charm and Christopher Lee mingled a little cruelty with tantalizing sexuality tolerated at the time. What started as artistic license to interpret for the screen has become expected fair today. An ugly vampire just won’t do to challenge women and seduce them.

Possibly the best reason I find is in the mannerism of the vampire. Where once the vampire stalked only at night and never charmed while their victim was conscious, today there is more interaction between victim and vampire. The seductive nature is not acceptable in the psychic sense anymore. If the vampire looks repulsive then he can only trick you to see him in a sexy light, but that still calls for a heartthrob to play the part.

Sexual Culture

The medium of film set the bar, so sexy vampires are in for the love story and zombie-like undead are not. Romance follows naturally from the bad boy persona of the vampire. Sex is expected because if he looks that good you’re a fool to say no. While modern audiences are divided over whether the vampire is a sexual symbol or a rouge from hell, the consensus still leans to the sexual potential of the vampire. A killing scene of the feeding ritual doesn’t diminish the charm of the vampire. Compare this to a movie where a man slashes his victim, well he’s just plain evil, and no matter whose playing the role, he’s not sexy (even though he spilled less blood).

So the question does its full circle—what is it about vampires? Well, for those of you out there who still don’t get it, it is simple. The vampire taps into our primeval consciousness. We somehow relate to the vampire, in that if he doesn’t kill to feed we’re disappointed. The bloodthirsty habits of the vampire entices us while the sensuality of the beast provides us an outlet no other supernatural entity can boast. Vampires are sex, and power, and they are not shy to offer this.

Then, do only women like the modern vampire? I don’t think they want the vampire per se, but the love story. Vampires are intriguing, so a love affair involving the ultimate challenge of a bad boy is female territory for a sizzling romance. The denial of the vampire bite certainly attracts more women because that complication is best left out of sugar and spice love. A wimpy vampire who’d rather pluck flower petals, over human necks, is not a male attraction.

It is also the visual interpretation of the vampire—a male vampire seducing women gains a popular mixed audience. But female vampires tend towards lesbianism and have for over a 130 years! The problem seems to be, it’s not sexy for men to play the helpless victim. He can die from a vampire attack—a small sacrifice for the plot—but having a vampire control him sexually, well it is certainly not traditional. Problem is, non-traditional vampires tend to raise a firestorm of protest, as in the debate over the Twilight sagas, than gain wholesale acceptance.

Vampires have seduced us from the beginning of time and they will continue to do so. For all those of you who don’t see the point in vampires—get over it because vampires are here to stay. How they look will depend largely on what we need the vampire for. If we call for affection, the vampire will be more romantic. If we need more sex (and my guess is this will be the case), the vampire will answer to our sexual appetite. And if we need more horror, savvy directors will balance out their plots with full-on vampire action and lots of blood. But the vampire can’t be anything other than visually appealing, not now we can see the vampire.

So what’s left? There is more than fangs and sex appeal to a vampire, so next time I want to look in more detail at the characteristics the vampire has gained. We have changed the way a vampire looks, behaves, and what vampires mean. At the same time, we granted the vampire powers. So cover those mirrors and invite in the dwellers of the preternatural domain.

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