The Evolution of Vampires: How GROTESQUE Monsters Became Romantic

Vampire romance is all the rage. Countless books, movies, a tv shows have been made where predatory, demonic monsters of the past are made into an erotic turn-on: Stephenie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga, Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire, L.J. Smith’s The Vampire Diaries are just some of the most well known in this ever-expanding genre.

To borrow a line attributed to Stalin, if only one book or movie like this had been made it would have been seen as tragic, scandalous, and insane. But hundreds of vampire romances have flooded the market, so it’s normal no one questions it or bats an eye lash.

Shocking as it may seem, vampires weren't always seen this way. People didn’t always want to hook up with and/or settle down and live happily ever after with the undead.

In the beginning, the first vampires of legend were far more like grotesque zombies than James Dean. The folklore of the vampire really began in the middle ages when people started believing in things called revenants. A revenant was essentially a human being who had died and come back from the dead to prey on family members and friends, perhaps out of vengeance, or simple malevolence. In South Eastern Europe, these revenants came to be known as vampires, and by the time of the enlightenment, vampire panics were in full swing across the continent, attracting the attention of rulers like the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, as well as the fascination of scholars and intellectuals like the French philosopher Voltaire.

The question is, How did we get from zombie to teen romance heart-throb?

It all comes down to one man, and one night in the summer of 1816.

That man was George Gordon, Lord Byron.

Sources
Byron’s Poetry and Prose: A Norton Critical Edition

[GabrielWilliamsOfficial]

the channel is so good, exactly what YouTube needs.

[austenl]

That Kierkegaard quote about true thinkers not producing works of art but rather *are* works of art is amazing. One of the best lines I've heard in some time! Thank you for including it and producing a fascinating and illuminating piece on vampires! Hell yea

[SquigglesZero]

And his daughter had even greater impact on our modern world. What a family.

[abrahemsamander]

This is the best history of the literary vampire I’ve ever listened too. Very clear and conscise! It also shows just how influential that night of romance authors telling ghost stories truly was.

[Master_Blackthorne]

One the most important videos about the literary vampire I have ever seen.

[n]

That was so interesting and beyond what I expected… I spent a few weeks on the island of Ithaka, Greece, Lord Byron territory… but good god! All of these connections are so defined down to a hand full of noteworthy people attempting to scare each other… thank you

[ivandovranic]

"How did it come to this?"
Just as l was about to type 'Romanticism', you've put lord Byron on screen.

[susansprague]

Fascinating, thank you. I'm sorry to say that I believe there's also an element of evolutionary biology in the allure - being drawn to strong, dangerous (ie. protective) potential mates.

[LynetteTheMadScientist]

For quite some time now I’ve thought that vampires seem to narratively represent choosing a worldly immortality over one’s own humanity. They fear death and eternal punishment so much that they embody death and prey on others for their own petty pleasure. Our post-sexual revolution society venerates the decadent and youthful (immaturity) so of course it would also venerate vampires. The Lost Boys touches on this a bit.

[audreydimmel]

I love Byron's poetry, and I always thought that he lived a really...interesting...life. I guess he is unfortunately also responsible for the monstrosity that is Twilight. 😂

[ILoveCatsSoMuch]

I don’t want to sex a vampire… I wanna BE A VAMPIRE. It seems fun instead of just rotting in a grave. Who knows maybe I have been listening to too much MCR

[schizoidboy]

Of course it isn't just the male versions but also the female versions. The story of Carmilla, where there is a female vampire that feeds on young women, also took inspiration from the same novel that Dr. Podiori, which lead to the female version of the vampire that is also seductive.

[enriccoc]

you could maybe argue that drinking out of a human skull is anti-social or misanthropic but it certainly isn't evil.

[AngelEyes]

How the hell Bella even get pregnant? Must be hard for Edward to ‘get it up’ if his blood circulatory system is inactive.😂

[markwrede]

Grotesque saviors would make cannibals of all Gentiles.

[jacobbear]

Thinkers do indeed live the richest lives although in today’s age of information it can also be said that ignorance is bliss. May I recommend a novel to you, it’s the best satire I’ve read written by a 20th century polymath. Hilaire Belloc “ The Mercy of Allah”, it concerns business rather than religion and I think you’d get a lot out of it.

[RebecaLawrence-we]

Vampires go way back. Lord Byron. Has a lot to do. With the way vampires now. The one that people fall in l😢😢😢ove with. This is the guy. Mary Shelley and her husband. Was staying with. When Frankenstein was born. 🧛🦇

[Frey]

That's hilarious and completely believable!!!

[Inspector-Chisholm]

While it's fine to say that intellectuals live the richest lives, wouldn't you agree that while it's fine for Lord Byron to live that life, for ordinary non Lord's, trying to live that life just leads to poverty and regret?

[to_be_consumed]

I think vampires are also hot n sexy bc of what they represent (the evil of temptation and even homosexuality). From Carmilla to the Vampire Chronicles vampires have been queer and as society has become more accepting of queer people, the stories have gone from condemning queerness to representing it, both in actual content and in readers' interpretations. So its kind of this idea of wanting something people believe you shouldn't want (attraction to the same sex) so that attraction becomes something monstrous preying on you, which over time became giving into it (and maybe your own monstrous nature). Part of it is that you want to give into it. that's why it's framed as a seduction in popular vampire media like Dracula or iwtv. My other running theory is that they are human folklore and humans want to fuck things.