# Why are vampires so sexy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738 "2011-05-13T01:26:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/21 "2011-05-13T07:19:23Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > …the appeal of Dracula’s brides and vampirized Lucy are pretty obvious: they’ll be beautiful forever, they don’t have the usual Victorian hang-ups… I always figured that was the reason why the scariness of vampires has changed over the years. In the Victorian Age, that sense of sexual temptation was enough to justify the vampire’s status as a monster. As that attitued faded, the idea of being turned into a vampire wasn’t all that scary anymore. (“I get to live like a millionaire, never grow old, and can have any hot babe that I want; what’s the catch?”) Since the Christopher Lee days, they’ve had to balance that sense of temptation with new reasons for the audience to actually be afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/22 "2011-05-13T07:28:09Z")
Vampires are sexy to women simply because they’re the ultimate bad-boy boyfriend. Either they chose to become one, being cool, cute and antisocial, or they were tricked to become one, making them a victim, leaving only death but with lots of emotion, especially during the biting. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/23 "2011-05-13T08:00:33Z")
Something about a superhuman dick is just awesome. _shrug_ ---
**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:** [May 13, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/24 "2011-05-13T14:13:59Z")
There was certainly the strong implication of sexuality in Bram Stoker’s work, and most vampire literature comes from that (one way or another.) Not just sexuality, but illicit sexuality (in Victorian eyes, anyhow.) The male vampire surruptitiously sneaks into the bedroom of the sleeping female; he hovers over her; there’s oral gratification and the flow of blood (implying she’s a virgin); she’s languid and listless following the act. They’re not married (again, a major sin by Victorian standards.) So, it’s not just sexuality but illicit sexuality, being harmful both physically (she will eventually die) and morally (she will turn into an undead being with no soul.) In Dracula’s castle, the three female vampires try to seduce Jonathan Harker, and the sexuality is very clear. Of course, that was the Victorian Age. Stoker had to be suggestive rather than explicit. Over time, as mores changed, our vampires today are much more explicitly sexy. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/25 "2011-05-13T14:28:34Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > There was certainly the strong implication of sexuality in Bram Stoker’s work, and most vampire literature comes from that (one way or another.) Not just sexuality, but illicit sexuality (in Victorian eyes, anyhow.) The male vampire surruptitiously sneaks into the bedroom of the sleeping female; he hovers over her; there’s oral gratification and the flow of blood (implying she’s a virgin); she’s languid and listless following the act. They’re not married (again, a major sin by Victorian standards.) So, it’s not just sexuality but illicit sexuality, being harmful both physically (she will eventually die) and morally (she will turn into an undead being with no soul.) Right on. Moreover, I think Dracula and the vampires since play out a non-consensual sex fantasy. Perhaps “semi-consensual” is a better term. Victorian porn is full of virgins who are scared of sexual advances or resist on the basis of social norms, but who really enjoy it once initiated. Dracula offered a less explicit play on that - he was a mysterious, powerful stranger who took away women’s ability to resist his advances. The women became willing participants in the intimate contact, but in a way that completely excused them morally. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/26 "2011-05-13T14:42:48Z")
We’ve touched on Why vampires, but not Why not zombies. My answer? Zombies are stupid, vampires are smart. Yes, I’m serious. Zombies lose their will. Vampires don’t. Zombies are dead humans walking, while vampires are humans that have cheated death for a price. It is from there that vampires were capable of being used as sexual metaphors while zombies weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/27 "2011-05-13T15:30:49Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Vampires are sexy to women simply because they’re the ultimate bad-boy boyfriend. Either they chose to become one, being cool, cute and antisocial, or they were tricked to become one, making them a victim, leaving only death but with lots of emotion, especially during the biting. Those self proclaimed Nice Guys _are_ awfully boring. Plus, vamps won’t knock you up! (Unless there’s serious bad magic brewing.) ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/28 "2011-05-13T15:31:46Z")
Zombies are also very “dead” in a way that vampires typically aren’t. It’s actually sort of interesting that the one mythical creature that originally didn’t even die for real at all (zombies) became this gruesome pop from the grave half-rotted gross-fest, while the other type who did actually die for real (vampires) has become this overly sexualized perfected ‘cheating death’ ideal of power and ability. I blame it all on PR. Vampires got a good start with Stoker, an even better makeover with Rice and all the films, and then they even went all teen-aged and sparkly. It’s sort of sickening, really. Zombies got no love except as side-characters, and they weren’t ever powerful people, just a bit tragic at the best, and at worse a shambling terror. Then we needed something gross, and epidemic films started happening, and they ended up on the gory nasty mess end of the spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/29 "2011-05-13T15:33:35Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > There was certainly the strong implication of sexuality in Bram Stoker’s work, and most vampire literature comes from that (one way or another.) Not just sexuality, but illicit sexuality (in Victorian eyes, anyhow.) The male vampire surruptitiously sneaks into the bedroom of the sleeping female; he hovers over her; there’s oral gratification and the flow of blood (implying she’s a virgin); she’s languid and listless following the act. They’re not married (again, a major sin by Victorian standards.) So, it’s not just sexuality but illicit sexuality, being harmful both physically (she will eventually die) and morally (she will turn into an undead being with no soul.) > > In Dracula’s castle, the three female vampires try to seduce Jonathan Harker, and the sexuality is very clear. > > Of course, that was the Victorian Age. Stoker had to be suggestive rather than explicit. Over time, as mores changed, our vampires today are much more explicitly sexy. Dracula, as written by Stoker, wasn’t really about sex. His vampire was a metaphor for foreigners - all those people just across the channel who were threatening our small island with their strange ways. The sex was just one aspect of the ways vampires were different from “us”. They also ate differently, dressed differently, talked differently, acted differently. They just weren’t British, don’t you know? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/30 "2011-05-13T15:35:26Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > We’ve touched on Why vampires, but not Why not zombies. My answer? Zombies are stupid, vampires are smart. > > Yes, I’m serious. Zombies lose their will. Vampires don’t. Zombies are dead humans walking, while vampires are humans that have cheated death for a price. It is from there that vampires were capable of being used as sexual metaphors while zombies weren’t. Basically, a vampire is a character who has lost all human vulnerabilities. A zombie is a character who has lost all human potential. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/31 "2011-05-13T16:00:01Z")
They are written as sexy and played by sexy actors. If they had mouths like Hagfish, were mishappen and shambling, and were covered with running sores they would not be sexy. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/32 "2011-05-13T17:37:59Z")
Good thing they are also shapeshifters then. [M113 creature](http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/ __cb20081206051729/memoryalpha/en/images/thumb/6/63/Nancy_McCoy.jpg/185px-Nancy_McCoy.jpg&imgrefurl=http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/M-113_creature&usg=__ Lw-WdCNOjIsEsz2MXDM6Gh-qYfg=&h=138&w=185&sz=7&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=C0e9puVsHklMxM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=148&ei=K2zNTdXIComosAPWtNSrCw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dm113%2Bcreature%2Bnancy%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1033%26bih%3D777%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=364&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=68&ty=67). > [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > They are written as sexy and played by sexy actors. If they had mouths like Hagfish, were mishappen and shambling, and were covered with running sores they would not be sexy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/33 "2011-05-13T17:53:49Z")
\ ***Buffy:** “To make you a vampire, they have to suck your blood, then you have to suck their blood. It’s like a whole big sucking thing.” \* ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/34 "2011-05-13T18:04:55Z")
Vampires, particularly, [blond viking type vampires](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3049634560/nm0002907), are hot as balls!!! Zombies, not so much. More vampire hotness, and a bit [scary](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2076281088/nm0002907), just in case you missed it. [Yowza](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm596031744/nm0002907), that man is hot no matter what! Anyway (gets lady boner under control), I think the thing that makes a vampire so desireable to a woman (for me at least)… is just that, desire. A vampire wants you, hungers for you, must have you, taste you, you and only you can satisfy his desire. Plus a vampire is the epitome of guilt free sex; it’s not as if you can help yourself, they can make you give in, and enjoy it. The +10 body, dick like a baby’s arm, and super human speed and strength… well thouse are just bonuses. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/35 "2011-05-13T20:19:55Z")
Vampire sexiness goes back to Polidori’s _The Vampire_ – Polidori almost certainly based his Lord Ruthven on George Gordon, Lord Byron (who he was the traveling companion of). Byron, a bestselling author and notorious rake and sexy guy, was with Polidori, Shelly, and Mary Wollestoncraft (later Shelley) during that famous summer in Switzerland where they read from _Phantasmogoria_, a book of fantastic horror stories, and thought they could do better. It’s telling that the two famous poets inthe bunch – Byron and Shelley – didn’t produce anything of note, but two of the unknowns in the group – Mary and Polidori – produced works that are still haunting us. Byron had started a story that was probably going to be about a vampir, but never finished it. Polidori’s book, which got a boost because everybody _thought_ it was by Byron, sold briskly and inspired several stage versions. Not only did it give us the first Sexy Vampire – one capable of wooing and marrying a girl, giving rise to the great Sexual Vampire Trope, it also re-imagined the vampire from a shambling, silent, zombielike figure (that everybody knew whemn it was alive, and therefore knew that it was dead) into a creature that could be anonymous – nobody knew that he was dead, so he could pass for living, so he _could_ seduce a victim sexually. You couldn’t see those earlier vampires doing this – it’d be like one of the zombies from _Night of the Living Dead_ trying to seduce someone. (there were possibilities in earlier works, like Goethe’s _Bride of Corinth_, but I haven’t read that one.) Polidori also gave us the Titled Vampire in Lord Ruthven (Ruthven was also the name of a character transparently based on Byron by Caroline Lamb – another reason to see him as a zombified Byron). Afterwards, vampires were often peers. The penny dreadful Lord Varney followed, another titled vampire capable of seductive speech and pleasant appearance, and having great strength (another thing traditional vampires lacked). There were lots of vampires in stage plays and operas over the next decades, and the end of the century gave us Carmilla and then Dracula. david Skal convincing argues that Dracula was never supposed to be a sexy vampire, and was, rather, an asexual predator. Perhaps on the surface. But the story is filled with sexual symbolism. If Freud ever analyzed it (I don’t think he did) he could have a field day. And the guy had three “wives”, even in the book. Certainly many who played the Count on stage excuded sexual magnetism, especially Frank Langella and his followers during the 1970s revival of the Deane and Balderston play. As Skal pointed out, vampire fillms in the 1950s and 1960s were heavily into decolletage and female vampires. The sexy definitely wasn’t below the surface. So it wasn’t all that surprising when Anne Rice brought it directly to the surface in her original _Interview with the Vampire_ in 1976, and built upon it from there. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/36 "2011-05-14T16:41:15Z")
We should note that the vampire, _in literature_, is a rather different concept from the folk-tales of the people who actually believed in this superstition, and reports from travellers from more sophisticated countries who witnessed the panics which supposed outbreaks of vampirism produced. As educated men they did not believe, but the moral atmosphere was clearly distressing. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/37 "2011-05-14T17:11:11Z")
A few different studies have heavily implied that human beings mix up the excitement they feel when they are afraid with the excitement they feel when they are attracted to someone. That’s why scary movies are the default “make-out movies.” Oh and everyone else has analyzed the basics pretty well. Power is sexy. Swapping bodily fluids reminds us of sex. The forbidden fruit angle is sexy. I haven’t read anything earlier than Dracula, but the original Dracula is popularly interpreted as a giant metaphor about sex, and that’s not a view I’m disinclined to agree with. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/38 "2011-05-14T18:24:00Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Those self proclaimed Nice Guys _are_ awfully boring. That may be true, but I would still take wholesome Willow over Vampire Willow. (Though I _do_ admit: Vampire Willow was seriously hot.) ---
**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:** [May 15, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/39 "2011-05-15T20:43:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > david Skal convincing argues that Dracula was never supposed to be a sexy vampire, and was, rather, an asexual predator. Perhaps on the surface. But the story is filled with sexual symbolism. Yes, I agree. I think that if we could ask Stoker about it, he would deny it emphatically. It was, after all, the Victorian Era and Repression and Denial were rampant. “Never trust the author, trust the tale.” Thanks, **Cal** for the insightful comments about the Dracula predecessors. I tend to forget about them, because Stoker pretty much became the standard. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738/40 "2011-05-16T04:15:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Basically, a vampire is a character who has lost all human vulnerabilities. A zombie is a character who has lost all human potential. Excellently put. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-vampires-so-sexy/581738.md?page=3)