Vampires - Be Still My Heart!

Vampires - Be Still My Heart!

So I'm on a new blogging site called Pillowfort, which is still in beta so unfortunately everyone can't just come along and sign up, even though it's great. On there we have things called Blanket Boxes, which are a set of questions for certain subjects to get people talking. I created one for vampires and since I know you're dying to know all about my vampire obsession, I thought I'd post it over here too :)

1. Why do you love vampires?

I love that vampire media can go from the darkest of the dark (Salem's Lot, John Carpenter's Vampires) through action (Underworld, Moon Child) to romance and comedy (Fright Night, Sundown the Vampire in Retreat) and combine any of these and still seem as believable as vampires are in the first place. Vampires can slot into just about any fandom if you try hard enough (I know, I made it my mission to write them into as many fandoms as possible ;)). Historical, Contemporary, Futuristic - they can be found anywhere, and they give that spicy edge to anything.

2. Which vampire(s) brought you to the dark side?

The Lost Boys - I never really though about vampires before that film. I saw it when it first came out in the cinema and never looked back. It's only looking back that its possible to see how the film changed vampire movies and how ground breaking it was, but, at the time it was definitely ground breaking for me. I never identified with Dracula or Mina or Lucy, but Sam and Michael and the very good looking Lost Boys - now them I could totally feel.

3. TV, Movie or Books - have a favourite vampire medium?

I love vampire movies. While I enjoy TV and books and occasionally comics, it is definitely movies that have me. I collect them, so I have some really, really bad ones, as well as the ones I really love. I think I have over 400 of them - not that I have seen them all yet - some are yet to be watched :). There is such a range in vampire movies and every time they have a resurgence I cheer.

4. All time favourite vampire?

Um ... this is hard ... I think I have to go for Regine (Julie Carmen) from Fright Night part II - she is bold, she is beautiful, she is ruthless and I love her style.



5. Current favourite vampire?

Adam (Tom Hiddleston) from Only Lovers Left Alive - he's so melancholy, but so focused and sexy. It's also a great film with a moody arty feel - not the usual kind of vampire movie I enjoy, but totally captivating. Okay, yes it also might have something to do with who plays him ... I'm not obsessed, I'm focused! :P



6. All time least favourite vampire?

Mama Dracula! Got the VHS out of a previous viewed bin at Blockbuster many years ago and hated her and it. There are many things I will forgive in a vampire film, but being deadly boring is not one of them.

7. Favourite vampire book?

It's a toss up between Salem's Lot by Stephen King and Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice (read the 1st 3 vampire chronicles books, but can't get into the rest). On balance, given how many times I have read each and seen the film/mini series adaptations, I think I have to go with Salem's Lot. I either love Stephen King books or I loathe them, this one I adore and my copy is so battered I probably need to get a new one soon.

8. Favourite vampire movie?

Fright Night (1985) with Fright Night part II a close second. The original Fright Night is a classic (don't get me on to the remake, I will rant ;)) and has everything I love about vampire movies. It has dark moments, it has comedy, it has wonderful special effects, it has plot, it makes me laugh, it makes me cry and I love everything about it. It comes out at least once a year, if not more often and I never get tired of it (except the cafeteria scene which makes me cringe). Fright Night is about Charley Brewster, an average teenager with an obsession for horror movies. He gets new neighbours and notices something very strange about them, becoming convinced one is a vampire. Things get tricky from there.

9. Favourite vampire TV show?

I have several :) it could either be Moonlight with Alex O'Loughlin and Sophie Miles or Blood Ties with Kyle Schmid and Christina Cox. They are both private investigators and vampires, only in Moonlight the PI is the vampire and in the other the PI knows about the vampire. Or Kindred: The Embraced with Mark Frankel, C Thomas Howell and Stacy Haiduk from way back in the 90s - that is a re-imagining of Vampire the Masquerade. Or Forever Knight with Geraint Wyn Davies and Catherine Disher - cops and vampires ... I should stop.









If I have to choose one out of all of them, I think I have to go for Kindred: The Embraced - after all I have written fanfic for it :).

10. What trait does a vampire have to have for them to be a "real" vampire for you? (e.g. fangs, speed, strength, hopping, nocturnal etc)

For me they have to have fangs. There are a couple of exceptions, but the fangs have it usually, I am afraid. It doesn't matter what kind of fangs, but I do like my vamps to be able to snarl ;).

11. Any vampire fanfiction recs?

Um - I will have to think about this and come back to fill in this space later.

12. Do you create vampire content - what is your favourite of your own creations?

Oh, lord, which to pick. I think I am most proud of my Harry Potter/Anita Blake crossover. It took the most work and I think I did a good job of melding the two universe. It's called Black Magic By Moonlight, it's 35 chapters and 169.6K long and it can be found on: AO3 or Wattpad

Harry gets himself almost sacrificed on a trip to St Louis, which ends up involving Anita Blake, most of the preternatural community and Draco, who was the one who sent Harry away to get some rest in the first place.

So when I originally wrote this I was totally in fandom mode, but decided to cheat and mention original fic too :). I have a vampire book out I am very fond of called Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse - it's in eBook & paperback from Amazon, just eBook from Smashwords. Gay characters, bi characters, poly relationship, angst, humour - I tried to get it all in there.



Max Statton's life will never be the same again. While in Moscow for the premier of his new movie he is attacked by one of the city's resident vampires. Bitten and infected, only a team of local vampire hunters prevent him being dragged into the violent underworld of the undead. Fighting for his very existence, Max must resist the vampire curse with everything he has.

13. Any unusual vampire law you would like to share with us?

Vampires don't have to just be staked with wood in folklore - sometimes they were staked with iron or other metals. The original idea was that if you impale the corpse into the ground or into its coffin, it can't rise as a vampire.

Have a go at the Blanket Box

If you would like to have a go at the Blanket Box, here are the questions in a neat little list for copying and pasting. You don't have to answer all of them, just have fun :) Drop a link in the comments if you do it so I can come look at your answers!

1. Why do you love vampires?
2. Which vampire(s) brought you to the dark side?
3. TV, Movie or Books - have a favourite vampire medium?
4. All time favourite vampire?
5. Current favourite vampire?
6. All time least favourite vampire?
7. Favourite vampire book?
8. Favourite vampire movie?
9. Favourite vampire TV show?
10. What trait does a vampire have to have for them to be a "real" vampire for you? (e.g. fangs, speed, strength, hopping, nocturnal etc)
11. Any vampire fanfiction recs?
12. Do you create vampire content - what is your favourite of your own creations?
13. Any unusual vampire law you would like to share with us?