# Vampire stories—what do you love and hate? And why?!



## Art3mis (Jun 22, 2018)

Vampire story. When I hear these words, I think of _Twilight_. However, many readers don’t want to read this kind of story. But all my ideas, which I got lately, are like that. So, I use the method of elimination. You know. That’s the technique, where you say what you hate by vampire stories. But I’m going to add something. You say me know, which do you like and hate by this genre and why. Let’s begin!

P.S.: Please, don’t write _I hate vampire stories generally. Why? The genre is the reason_. Or like this


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## Terry D (Jun 22, 2018)

Vampire stories get a bad rap because no one has come up with anything original to say for a good long time, and the market became saturated with Twilight knock-offs. Twilight isn't a vampire story, it's a love story in which one character happens to be a vampire to provide an obstacle to the relationship. To be honest, the last good vampire story I read was Robert R McCammon's, _They Thirst_. At about that same time (mid 70's) King wrote, _'Salem's Lot_ which is one of my favorite books. Also about the same time Anne Rice published, _Interview with a Vampire_, which was a hit, but not my cup of blood. My own first novel was a vampire story and has received good reviews from readers. I decided to stay faithful to the traditional vampire mythos and tried to make my book unique primarily through setting it in a cave (where it's always night) and developing it using dual timelines 150 years apart.


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## Art3mis (Jun 22, 2018)

@Terry D Thanks for your tip! I also want to make my vampires more like the folklore and not á la Hollywood. But my story will set in a vampire school like in Vampire Academy. How can I make this original?


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## Book Cook (Jun 22, 2018)

Art3mis said:


> How can I make this original?



Cheerleaders, jocks and a bullied nerd vampire.


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## PiP (Jun 22, 2018)

The weirdest vampire film I've ever watched was Kung Fu vampires. Although I think it was meant to be serious  all I did was giggle throughout the film.

As for ideas you could try an adaptation on some 'real' stories

https://youtu.be/0mOKykc7YtI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXqAQKOcFOY


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## moderan (Jun 23, 2018)

Art3mis said:


> @Terry D Thanks for your tip! I also want to make my vampires more like the folklore and not á la Hollywood. But my story will set in a vampire school like in Vampire Academy. How can I make this original?



Set it on a beach and have them count the grains of sand. If you don't understand this, google is your friend. A good deal of what is thought of as vampire lore comes from inventions by Curt Siodmak. Vampires (Wampyr, vorwalaka, etc.) come from the traditions of many countries. The classic trope comes from Slavic myth-cycles.
If it's a vampire academy, then have the students learn about vampirism. It would help to learn the lore. Don't plan on writing for a couple of years if you're going to do that.


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## Sir-KP (Jun 23, 2018)

I think vampire is oversaturated just like zombie. Or maybe even more, because you have Chinese vampire too. Lol.

It's basically like that and that again. At least Twilight tried something.


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## scarab (Jun 24, 2018)

The last vampire story I read was 19th C and it was very long and so subtly nuanced you were hardly aware there was a vampire involved at all.


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## scarab (Jun 24, 2018)

Art3mis said:


> But my story will set in a vampire school like in Vampire Academy. How can I make this original?



I was going to say Vampire Academy is a great name, then realised it is already a set of novels and film. So I just wonder why you would aim to do a story set in a vampire school_ if _you don't already know in what way it would be original?   Why not start with something different - vampire hospital, vampire hotel, vampire zoo, vampire penitentiary, vampire parliament?


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## Ralph Rotten (Jun 24, 2018)

I just think vampires and zombies have been done _ad nauseum_.  Unless you come up with a truly mind-boggling idea (that can be boiled down to a single awesome sentence) you should broaden your scope and avoid the genre.  

But if you could come up with something totally different...

I liked this movie because it looked at vampires from a totally different angle:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093605/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_211


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## Annoying kid (Jun 25, 2018)

Bring the terror back to vampires.


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## Jack of all trades (Jun 25, 2018)

Art3mis said:


> Vampire story. When I hear these words, I think of _Twilight_. However, many readers don’t want to read this kind of story. But all my ideas, which I got lately, are like that. So, I use the method of elimination. You know. That’s the technique, where you say what you hate by vampire stories. But I’m going to add something. You say me know, which do you like and hate by this genre and why. Let’s begin!
> 
> P.S.: Please, don’t write _I hate vampire stories generally. Why? The genre is the reason_. Or like this



Redoing something well can be fraught with difficilties.

Arthurian legend is done over and over. The show Merlin did that well, in my opinion. They took the basic legend and put their own twist on it. Gwen was a servant, and Merlin was Arthur's man-servant. There was no mention of Merlin aging in reverse, though he did occasionally make himself look old. The point, they started at the base of the legend and made that their own.

If you want to do something similar with vampires, a little research into Count Dracula may be helpful. This might be a good place to start : http://romaniatourism.com/dracula-legend.html


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## Paul Atreides (Jun 25, 2018)

Their are good vampire stories, Some of my favorite are Carmella, Interview with a vampire and Salem's Lot. However their are alot more excellent novels, novella or short story that has vampires as the focal point. It really just depends on the writer if they are good at making a captivating experience.


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## Phil Istine (Jun 26, 2018)

Paul Atreides said:


> Their are good vampire stories, Some of my favorite are Carmella, Interview with a vampire and Salem's Lot.



Yes, I haven't seen many vampire films, but _Interview..._ was my favourite.


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## ironpony (Jun 26, 2018)

I'm kind of indifferent towards Vampires.  I don't like the stories especially but if there is a good one, I will give it a chance.  It's the same thing of how I feel with druglord stories, for example.  Some good, some bad, it all depends on that individual story.  As the monster themselves though, I personally find werewolves and mummies more interesting.

For your story what if you did werewolves at a school instead, cause then it wouldn't be compared to Vampire Academy as much?  But if you really want to do vampires then go for it.


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## MikeCobley (Jun 26, 2018)

I like vampire books - pretty much all of them - apart from the soft porn ones. 

Just finishing Dan Simmons - Children of the Night, i got transfixed on the biology side. My inner geek making an appearance, got me hooked instantly. But then again i also enjoyed, and not a fan of admitting this, twilight, at least the first time around. It is not a good second read, and not really my style of writing either. But she had a way of keeping the reader entertained, just look at all the sales!

Rgds


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## Paul Atreides (Jun 26, 2018)

Phil Istine said:


> Yes, I haven't seen many vampire films, but _Interview..._ was my favourite.



I agree although their was some not so great moments, Overall it's quite good and it's the only movie that I like Tom Cruise in. Have you seen Lost Boys, Universal Dracula, Once Bitten or Vampire's Kiss?


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