But in the current times, shows like The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, and the Twilight movie saga have painted entirely different and new portraits of Hollywood blood suckers, and many people have forgotten what it was like in the early days.  Here is a video clip honoring the vampire films of old.  Enjoy.

There are no vegetarian vampires in Rice’s books — at least not the fledglings, who must feed every few hours in their early days or risk going mad.  The sensitive and tragic vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, turned by Lestat into a vampire, found killing humans too emotionally painful.  Still, he was subject to the needs of his vampire nature.  Eventually he tried living off rats’ blood, which disgusted Lestat and often threw him into rages.  The two later adopted a daughter, a young girl whose mother had died from plague in a New Orleans slum.  Lestat turned the girl into a vampire, knowing that this move would make Louis stay with him.  Louis had been thinking of escaping from Lestat, of fleeing or going off alone to pursue his own death, but Lestat sought to give him someone to love, someone who would cement their relationship.

There are twelve books in the series in all, with a few extra “crossover” novels that bring her vampires and witches together.  If you are used to sparkly vampires, you will find these books to be rather dark by comparison.  Check out the movie Interview with the Vampire on directv packages before you dive into the books.  That way you can see whether you would like it or not before you dive in to start reading.

To keep myself from going crazy while I am waiting for November 18th, I usually watch the released clips and the trailers a couple time each day.  Yes, I might be a little bit obsessed right now, but like I said, I have been waiting for this for a long time.  I mean, it was years ago when I first read the book and waiting that long seems like an eternity.  Even those who have not even picked up one of the Twilight Saga books are waiting with great anticipation for the movie to be released.  Maybe it’s just because we all love us some vampires.

Take a look at one of the official trailers for the film and a scene from Edward and Bella’s honeymoon too.

1. Sparkle – Um, I’m a girl, and I’m the type of girl that loves glitter and anything that shines.  Well, give me a man who sparkles in the daylight and I am sold!  Edward’s type of vampire does just that.  When he steps out into the sun’s rays, his skin glows and glitters and my heart skips a beat.
2. Cool Down – I run hot, so I like to keep my home cool and things like that.  I would run really hot if I were in the presence of a smokin’ vampire like Edward, so the fact that he could cool me off with one touch works out perfectly for me.
3. Speed – I know that Jacob can run, but Edward is all about speed.  He drives fast, runs fast, flies fast, and I love it.  Plus, with Edward I could get to the beach in no time and he would arrive with his clothes on, unlike Jacob.
4. Family – I know wolf packs are close, but Edward and the rest of the Cullens seem to have the close knit family thing down pat.  The fact that Edward is so close with his family is all the more reason for me to love him.  Good family guys have that power over me.
5. Dogs Stink – It might sound mean, but dogs (or wolves) really can have a smell, and I don’t want to have to spend all of my money on incense and stuff from http://www.legalherbsdirect.com to keep my home smelling decent after a visit from my love and his friends.  I don’t have to if I choose Edward.

Take a look at the infographic to see how the franchises match up in regards to social media, awards, and revenues.  It has changed just slightly since the release of the final two installments of Harry Potter and an additional Twilight film, but it is still very interesting to put the three head to head to head.

So what is it that we love about vampires? What’s not to love about vampires? They’re immortal, they stay youthful forever as long as they have a flowing supply of blood from helpless victims, they’re extremely seductive and depending on what kind of vampire they are, they can have some surreal powers that awe us and make us fearful of them yet wish we were them at the same time.

The attributes of a vampire have evolved much since the original Dracula of the past who wore nothing but a tuxedo with a long cape and high collar. The vampire movies of old were meant to scare people. The original vampire character was meant to make people frightened of the night because that’s when vampires would go hunting for their next victim or victims. Today, vampire movies are the complete opposite of that. Now, girls swoon over these sexy, superpowered, immortal beings and are drawn to the movies because of their sex appeal. Vampires add that extra thrill to the everyday romance film that gives young girls and women alike that “butterflies in your stomach” feeling when they watch them and fantasize themselves being the object of a vampire’s desires.

But enough with all this mushy Twilight saga talk. Let’s talk action. There’s those of us who want some action to go with all that romance or maybe there are those of us who just want all action! With all those powers vampires have, there’s got to be some fighting, special effects, wild chases and maybe a little gore. The Blade movies and Underworld movies were so great they had to make more than one. These days it seems that every great vampire movie has to have a sequel. In both of those movies and their sequels we have very little of the mushy romance and way more of the thrilling action with guns, swords and a whole lot of butt kicking.

It is amazing how long the legend of the original Dracula has lasted and how much the idea of vampires have evolved over time. Vampires may be the longest living fictional monsters in history. They’re not immortal for nothing. So go ahead and watch your favorite vampire movies on direct tv again and again and be on the lookout for more vampire movies to come. Vampires will never go out of style (which is something to remember for next halloween when your at a loss for a costume idea).

Historically, the first vampire to ever appear on screen was Count Orlock in the 1922 movie Nosferatu, a total rip off of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. From this movie, and the book written by Stoker, comes most of the symbols that represent vampires throughout the rest of cinematic history, from sleeping in coffins to dying in the sunlight. Here begins the love affair we as a culture have with the unholy terror known as the vampire. Down through the decades, few of the basics change as far as what we know of vampires. There are several additions, an aversion to garlic, having no reflection and how vampires are created, but the over all idea remains the same.

Then, in 2005, everything changed. Stephanie Meyer released Twilight, the first in the series of the Twilight saga introducing readers to a new kind of vampire. This kind didn’t stalk the darkness and drain the blood of innocents. Instead, this vampire fed on animals and struggled to fit in with humanity (in an after school special kind of way). They didn’t burst into flame in the sun, but rather sparkled and shimmered (like they spent too much time playing with arts and crafts supplies). They lived in homes, went to school, worked normal jobs and the only time stalking came into play was when making sure that our (creepy stalker) heroic vampires mortal girlfriend was making safe decisions (you know, like not dating a vampire). This was the girly, somewhat weak, romanticized version of vampires. While pre-teen and teenage girls, and sadly their mothers as well, all over the country fell in love with this vampire, in many cases, the type was met with outrage.

Whether you find yourself on the side of adoring fans of the Cullen family or you believe that Twilight may have done irreversible and untold damage to the street cred of vampires everywhere, we can all agree that vampires may never be looked at in the same way again. No longer are they the terror that ravages the night, rather they have been reduced to melancholy misunderstood creatures that just desire acceptance. Yes, Twilight has effectively eliminated the awesome factor of one of the scariest cinematic monsters of all time, but take heart! Vampires have been replaced with a different kind of monster: the crazed Twilight fan. They may not make quite as great of a movie, but they do have the potential to be scarier than any vampire we’ve seen yet.

First and foremost is the original and arguably the best vampire movie to date, Dracula. There are two different versions of this famous film, but for the sake of the modern age we’ll go with the 1992 version. The movie tells the tale of Vlad Dracula, who cursed God for allowing his beloved wife to commit suicide, a crime punishable by eternal damnation in hell. Dracula then emerges several years later to hunt down and seduce a woman named Mina, who is the reincarnation of his previous wife. Dracula grossed $215,862,692 and with it’s rich story and tale of dark love make it a great film for any fan of vampires and still stands the test of time today.

Next up on this wonderful list which you know you love is the movie Blade. Based on the marvel comic of the same name, Blade tells the story of a vampire hunter who is himself a vampire. Known to his enemies as “the daywalker,” Blade has no weakness to sunlight or fire. In fact, Blade is the most human of all vampires and possesses all their strengths and no weakness other then one, the thirst for human blood. In order to cope with this, Blade has to drink a serum regularly or he will go crazy with thirst. The movie is action packed and for the more mature audience. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s definitely one of my favorites. For anyone who loves vampires and action, this is a must have.

For the people out there who love a fresh perspective, Daybreakers offers something completely new to the vampire movie genre. Most vampire films have the movie taking place where there are very few vampires fighting humans, but what if it were reversed? Daybreakers tends to actually do just that to a point. It tells the story of a disease that has infected almost every last human on Earth. That’s right, almost everyone is a vampire. With this comes many problems for the new vampire population such as a lack of a food supply. So the “enemy” in this film is trying to farm as much blood as possible from the left over humans while trying to find an alternate source, while the protagonist is fighting to find a cure. The movie has so many twists and turns you will be sure to stay interested every single step of the way. The ending will keep you thinking for months on end, I guarantee it. It may even cause you to increase your home security because it’s so terrifying! These are just some of the great vampire films out there for the world to enjoy, and trust me when I say this isn’t even the half of it. Get out there and watch some vampire movies!