# Vampires are dead to me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454 "2010-11-21T17:12:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/1 "2010-11-21T17:12:36Z")
Vampires have saturated pop culture the past few years and I’ve lost the ability to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy any shows, movies, or books with vampires in them. The occasional vampire used to be fun; now when I see one in a movie or show or book, I stop watching or reading. Anyone else sick of vampires? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/2 "2010-11-21T17:15:59Z")
All of them except Bitey. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/3 "2010-11-21T17:20:57Z")
I was sick of them by the end of Season 3 of _Buffy_; why they’re still around 10 years later, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Liz\_Marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Liz\_Marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz_Marie)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/4 "2010-11-21T17:25:29Z")
I was sick of them about 1 year ago. I can no longer enjoy True Blood. I wish they’d all go away. Werewolves, shape shifters, and any other supernatural creatures too. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/5 "2010-11-21T17:27:38Z")
Shouldn’t they be _un_dead to you? ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/6 "2010-11-21T17:30:10Z")
Underworld destroyed it for me. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/7 "2010-11-21T17:41:17Z")
I’d love a scary vampire movie (horror scary, not action scary like 30 days of night) to come out. I’m sick of vampires as sex symbols, i want them to go back to scary monster status. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/8 "2010-11-21T17:42:03Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I was sick of them by the end of Season 3 of _Buffy_; why they’re still around 10 years later, I have no idea. I thought the phenomenon would die after all the lame spinoffs and copycats, but sadly no. > [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > Underworld destroyed it for me. I googled that, ew. I’ve never read or seen Twilight and I mostly avoid shows themed on vampires, but lately vampires show up everywhere. I was reading a book by a favorite author last night and halfway through the first chapter up popped a vampire. I couldn’t keep reading, hence this thread. Vampires are a cheap gimmick, in my opinion. I suppose it’s not much different than using magic, but the vampire theme is less versatile and more contrived. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/9 "2010-11-21T19:21:26Z")
There’s a pretty limited number of horror tropes that get recycled with various innovations thrown in from time to time. I’m not sure Vampires are anymore overexposed then ghosts or zombies. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/10 "2010-11-21T19:34:16Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > There’s a pretty limited number of horror tropes that get recycled with various innovations thrown in from time to time. I’m not sure Vampires are anymore overexposed then ghosts or zombies. Used to be that it was Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the werewolf that got recycled on a fairly regular basis. And they still do, but _Buffy_ et al seem to have taken vampires away from Dracula and into a different realm. Sort of like Westerns in the 1950s, vampires are now omnipresent. This fad, too, will pass. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/11 "2010-11-22T05:28:48Z")
The problem isn’t that vampires are omnipresent, the problem is that vampires are now sex symbols or action packed badasses. Twilight and Underworld aren’t vampire movies, they are a really bad Romeo and Juliet rip off and a really bad Matrix rip off. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/12 "2010-11-22T05:34:02Z")
I’ve never liked Vampires. I’m also over zombies, husband-and-wife spies, and reality talent shows. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/13 "2010-11-22T06:41:49Z")
Vampires are being humanized…“definged”-if you like. In the old Bela Lugosi flicks, vampires were dangerous and deadly…now they are handsome adolescents…kinda like the “kid next door”. Vampires now have sex with people, worry about communicable diseases, and pay taxes. They are not exciting or scarey anymore… that role has shifted to the zombies. And don’t even ask me about werewolves! ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/14 "2010-11-22T07:14:09Z")
I’m sick of emo-pires, emo-wolves and emo-monsters in general. But don’t worry, sooner or later the real deal will be back… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/15 "2010-11-22T07:15:26Z")
Bram Stoker’s _Dracula_ was a Victorian allegory for sex and little else. It’s a good read. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/16 "2010-11-22T08:21:19Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Vampires are being humanized. Actually, Bram Stoker was the first to humanize a vampire. (Previously, vampires of legend were more like zombies or revenants.) Yes, his Dracula was evil – but it was evil you could identify with, or at least [recognize in the human world](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/17 "2010-11-22T08:28:19Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > Actually, Bram Stoker was the first to humanize a vampire. (Previously, vampires of legend were more like zombies or revenants.) > > Yes, his Dracula was evil – but it was evil you could identify with, or at least [recognize in the human world](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney). There was also the earlier [Carmilla](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmilla). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/18 "2010-11-22T12:22:02Z")
There was the even earlier **Varney** and **Lord Ruthven** , and all the adaptations and ripoffs. It was really John Polidori’s _The Vampyre_ that gave us the not only the humanized vampire, but the titled vampire and the sexy vampire. Before him, as **fuzzy** suggests, vampires were more like zombies. More to the point, they existed in communities that knew they were dead. Polidori’s Lord Ruthven\* was the first vampire that could pass for human, stayed with people who didn’t know he was dead, and seduced and married a woman. Before him, vampires weren’t all sexy\*\* \*with the possible exception of Goethe’s _Bride of Corinth_, which I yhaven’t read. \*\* According to David Skal, who’s researched this rather heavily, Dracula wasn’t really sexy, either, despite all the efforts of stage and screen to make him so. In the book, he’s definitely neither sexy nor a seducer. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/19 "2010-11-22T12:42:58Z")
Dracula, Anne Rice’s vampires, and the vampires in the show from the 90’s (Forever Knight) are the only ones I can tolerate. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454/20 "2010-11-22T12:51:01Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There was the even earlier **Varney** which is impossible for me to take seriously, since I keep imagining **Jim** Varney, as an undead Ernest P. Worrell. KnowhutImean? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-are-dead-to-me/561454.md?page=2)