MOONLIGHT VAMPIRE SOCIETY

Director Tim Burton Joins The 'Twilight' Phenomenon By Making A Movie About Vampires

Johnny Depp as a vampire?....YUMMY!!!!!!!!!

FROM MOVIES BLOG: A couple weeks ago, in an exclusive chat, Tim Burton told us that he plans to film his delightfully peculiar supernatural movie “Dark Shadows” next year. Adapted from a cult classic ‘60s soap opera, the film will star Johnny Depp as the lover/biter Barnabas Collins.

That’s right: Tim Burton is making a vampire flick, and making one at time when the blood-suckers, from “Twilight” to “True Blood” to “The Vampire Diaries,” are experiencing a pop culture resurrection.

To prove this pop culture resurrection check out the cover of the new Entertainment Weekly...




This week’s Entertainment Weekly delivers the ultimate guide to vampires. You’ll find interviews with the authors behind Twilight and True Blood, our list of the 20 greatest bloodsuckers ever, and Anne Rice’s pick for the best new vampire — as well as a talk with her about how she revolutionized the vampire legend decades ago with Interview with a Vampire.
With Twilight a phenomenon, True Blood attracting converts by the millions, and hordes of new vampire projects looming in the shadows, bloodsuckers are haunting every corner of our lives: bookstores, television, movies, and more. Why has pop culture thrown open its door and invited them in? “The traditional vampire story, with monsters and victims, chases and chills, is more plain fun,” says True Blood’s executive producer Alan Ball. “But they can often reveal the general state of the cultural psyche.”

Vampires are such versatile symbols now that they can express both conservative and liberal views. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels are steeped in her Mormon values. But True Blood speaks in part for gays and, as Ball puts it, “eight years of institutionalized demonization of pretty much any group that wasn’t on the bus with Mr. Bush.”

It may come as a surprise to learn that Meyer – reigning queen of pop culture’s vampire coven – has an uneasy relationship with them. Back in 2003, when she was writing the first draft of Twilight, she refused to show it to her husband. “I was embarrassed,” she said. “It was about vampires.” In fact, last year, she told EW that her great wish was to reclaim some time to write something new. “Look, I’m not just a vampire girl,” she said emphatically. “I can do other worlds.”

Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books, has her own thoughts on the Twilight phenomenon. “Stephenie Meyer has come and she’s taken the genre that I sort of pioneered. Her original audience was 11- and 12-year-olds, so she – very rightly – sanitized the genre. She took out a lot of the sex and violence, especially for the first book…I ask people, Why has this really captured you? What I heard from all ages is that it was very romantic that he was willing to wait for her and that there was no sex. They like the idea that [Bella] was like the fairy princess and [Edward] is the handsome prince that rides in and saves her. The fact that women are so attracted to that idea – that they want to wait for Prince Charming rather than taking control of their own life – I find that frightening.”

When asked why people find vampires so appealing, Anne Rice (author of the series The Vampire Chronicles) says, “I think people are intrigued by what they would do if they were offered the opportunity to be a vampire. Would they be willing to drink human blood in order to be immortal? Maybe they would.”

For more about vampires, including our list of the 20 Greatest Ever and Anne Rice’s pick for the coolest of the new crops, pick up the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly onstands as of July 31.

This issue of EW was such a welcome surprise to me. I loved that they included literary characters in their Top 20 list although I have never heard of some of the other "tween" books. I have to wonder why Selene was only #19 on the list - she's ICONIC and it was great to see Angel make the list but where was Spike? They were like the vamp yin and yang on Buffy!

Vamps are hot these days and here's an article from a Cleveland newspaper that gives us a little more background of vamps thru recent history ....


When did vampires turn from monsters to sex symbols? When did the undead turn sexy?

For such a corpse-cold customer, the vampire seems to be sizzling hot these days. Not just hot, but drop-dead sexy (or is that undead sexy?).

Executive producer Alan Ball's stylish vampire series, "True Blood," stumbled a bit right out of the graveyard gates. But the HBO show gradually found its bat wings during its fledgling season and now is gliding through a bloody terrific second year.

Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series continues to be a titanic teen sensation, with "Eclipse," the third movie based on her books, about to start filming. Johnny Depp has signed with Warner Bros. to play vampire Barnabas Collins in a big-screen version of the 1966-71 supernatural soap opera, "Dark Shadows."

And at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, the CW will premiere "The Vampire Diaries," based on the young-adult novels by L.J. Smith and produced by screenwriter Kevin Williamson ("Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer").

Although these paranormal projects are designed to appeal to different audiences, they have one thing in common. Each features at least one hunk-appeal vampire far closer in spirit and style to David Boreanaz's darkly heroic "Angel" than Max Schreck's rodentlike Orlok in the 1922 silent-screen masterpiece "Nosferatu."

Not bad for a creature who started in myths and legends as a repugnant predator and loathsome leech. Think about recent vampire series, from the short-lived CBS drama "Moonlight" to the Lifetime show "Blood Ties." The undead characters looked more like they had just stepped out of the pages of GQ magazine than the dungeon crypt of a castle.

That's also true of Bill Compton, the "True Blood" vampire played by Stephen Moyer. That was true of Boreanaz's Angel, as well as Alex O'Laughlin's Mick St. John on "Moonlight" and Kyle Schmid's Henry Fitzroy on "Blood Ties." And it will be true of the vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, played by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder on "The Vampire Diaries."

It certainly is no mistake to say that the vampire has made the remarkable jump from monster to sex symbol. But it is a mistake to say that vampires have all of a sudden become hot.

Lord Ruthven

in play 190 years ago

Vampires actually have been hot for, oh, 190 years. It was in June 1819 that literature's first great vampire character, Lord Ruthven, was turned into a matinee idol as the central character in a hit play. Inspired by poet Lord Byron, Ruthven was the stuff that dreams (and nightmares) were made of.

The vampire had caught fire in the pop culture of the day, and theater audiences went bats for Lord Ruthven into the 1850s.

The vampire was hot in the 1840s, when the serialized magazine story "Varney the Vampire" had readers waiting breathlessly for the next weekly installment. The vampire was hot in the 1890s, when Bram Stoker published the most influential vampire novel of all, "Dracula."

Following the path cut by Ruthven and Varney, Dracula was at the same time fearsome and attractive.

"He's the seducer, bringing death and promising immortality," said Cleveland native Wes Craven, the director behind such horror hits as "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" movies. "He embodies social ambivalence about sex and death. That's not only remained incredibly potent, it has remained relevant."

The vampire was hot in the 1920s and '30s, when Bela Lugosi took Stoker's Count Dracula, dressed him up in evening clothes and turned him into a slick-haired vampire variation on the reigning sex symbol of the day, Rudolph Valentino - first onstage and then in a movie that ignited a horror boom and saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy.

'Tall, dark

and gruesome'

The vampire was hot in the '50s, when "tall, dark and gruesome" Christopher Lee began his record screen run as Count Dracula.

This is no reflection on the vampires of "True Blood" and "Twilight," but this terror territory was well-mapped long before they started hitting the covers of magazines. So how did the vampire go from fiend to fashion model, and, in many cases, hero? How did we get from the ghoulish Orlok to the steamy Bill Compton?

Stoker took us a long way down this road by enticing the reader with the appeal of dark and taboo temptations. He also hit upon the notion of the vampire as the ideal metaphor for our fears, hopes and desires. What does Dracula represent?

The metaphor works so well, each generation continues to reinterpret this book and the vampire.

Still, as fascinating and seductive as he is, Stoker's Dracula is pure predator. His one and only goal is dinner - and he's on a strict liquid diet.

For the 70 years after the publication of "Dracula," in Hollywood and literature, there was no significant advance on the vampire character. He remained for the most part a predator - a seductive predator, but a predator nonetheless.

A tortured soul

on 'Dark Shadows'

The turning point occurred in 1967, and it happened by mistake. Facing cancellation, the year-old ABC soap opera "Dark Shadows" opened a chained coffin and out jumped a vampire named Barnabas. Here we go, kids.

Barnabas was played by Shakespearean actor Jonathan Frid, who wasn't sure how to portray a vampire. So he decided to emphasize the character's discomfort with suddenly finding himself in a new century. Viewers noticed, and the vampire started to get some fan mail . . . then a lot of fan mail.

The writers were stuck. They were going to drive a stake through the vampire's heart after three months. Instead, they picked up on Frid's interpretation and started presenting Barnabas as a tortured soul. Critics called it "the vampire as Hamlet."

Whatever you call it, this choice forever changed the course of vampire stories. For the first time, a vampire questioned his nature. "Do I have to be this way? Can I change?" For the first time, a soulless creature set out to reclaim his soul.

This set the stage for Anne Rice's endlessly introspective undead characters introduced in her 1976 best seller, "Interview With the Vampire." It blasted the way for Rice's Lestat, "Angel" and "True Blood." There almost never has been a time in recent history, therefore, when vampires weren't hot.

After "Dark Shadows," the vampire not only became more human, he became more heroic. And when Frank Langella gave us a blow-dried Dracula for the disco era in '70s Broadway and film versions, the vampire became sexier and sexier.

This evolution is lost on some.

"I really don't get it," said Richard Matheson, the fantasy writer who authored "I Am Legend" (1954), arguably the most influential vampire novel since "Dracula." "I've never found them attractive or sexy. They're animated corpses. They have bad breath and they drink blood to stay alive. What's sexy about that? How is something that ghastly considered even remotely romantic? I've never found them anything but disgusting."

Like the vampire hunter sharpening a wooden stake, he has made his point. But the legendary Matheson is in the minority.

Vampire stories are marketed to kids, teens and adults. We use vampires to sell cereal (Count Chocula) and teach children numbers (Count von Count on "Sesame Street").

Nightmarish vampires have continued to flourish in movies (think "From Dusk Till Dawn" and its imitators), but television, comic books, novels and films are just as likely to give us the vampire as detective or action hero.

Yes, we're a long way from the Borgo Pass and Castle Dracula.

Forbidden desires continue to be a strong ingredient in this alluring brew. But there also is an almost-biblical strain running through much of horror literature. What is the horror story, after all, if it isn't about confronting evil?

Redemption is a recurring theme, and if the vampire can be redeemed, is there hope for all of us?

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/mark_dawidziak/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1249115425305490.xml&coll=2&thispage=4

Vamps are everywhere today! Woo hoo! Here's another well written and very witty article re: the marketing of vamps in books, tv and film!

Who knew bloodsucking would be so marketable?

Talk about vamping it up – the stylish and sexy undead are hogging the culture spotlight

*Who knew bloodsucking would be so marketable?

*Johanna Schneller

Last updated on Monday, Aug. 03, 2009 03:39AM EDT

The undead sure are lively. Everywhere you look in entertainment these days you see vampires.

First there were the books, three different series of neck-biter novels, bestsellers all. The Vampire Diaries , the young-adult series by L.J. Smith (five have been published, with two more on the way), centre on a teenage girl named Elena who falls for a hot bloodsucker named Stefan.

The Sookie Stackhouse series (also known as the Southern Vampire series), written by Charlaine Harris, features Sookie, a cocktail waitress in steamy Bon Temps, La., and Bill Compton, the courtly, 173-year-old vampire who alternately protects and ravishes her. (On the July 10 New York Times paperback mass-market fiction list, Harris's books held seven of the top 25 spots.)

And Stephenie Meyer's monstrously successful Twilight series details the chaste but super-deep love between the mortal Bella and the vampire Edward, high-schoolers in drizzly Forks, Wash. Two graphic novels based on Twilight are due soon from Yen Press, drawn by Korean artist Young Kim and closely vetted by Meyer. And yet another trilogy of vampire novels, this one from the film director Guillermo del Toro, begins with The Strain , about Manhattan vampires run amok.

Then there are the TV shows. Starting Sept. 10, The Vampire Diaries will become a CW series, produced by Kevin Williamson ( Dawson's Creek ) and starring Nina Dobrev as Elena and Paul Wesley as Stefan. Over on HBO, True Blood , the kudzu-shrouded, plasma-soaked, 18A-rated series adapted from Harris's novels by Alan Ball (who also created Six Feet Under and wrote American Beauty ), is currently number one. With Oscar winner Anna Paquin as Sookie and her real-life fella Stephen Moyer as Bill, the show, now in its second season, lures 3.7-million viewers every Sunday night at 9; with repeat airings and downloads, the viewership jumps to more than 10 million. The ratings have risen 85 per cent since the series premiered last September, and more than a million season-one DVDs have been sold since their May release (Amazon is already taking pre-orders for season two).

Finally there are the movies. Last year's Twilight , directed by Catherine Hardwicke ( Lords of Dogtown ) with Kristen Stewart as Bella and Robert Pattinson as Edward, has grossed $382-million (U.S.) worldwide. Fans devour daily updates from the Australian set of its sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon , directed by Chris Weitz ( About a Boy ) and due out Nov. 20. (One recent hot flash: Edward and Bella kiss in it OMG)

Also released in 2008, the Swedish film Let the Right One In , about an adolescent vampire named Eli and the troubled kid, Oskar, who befriends her, was a cult favourite, ending up on a number of year-end best lists, including the Toronto Film Critics Association's. According to IMDB, it's getting an American remake courtesy of writer/director Matt Reeves ( Cloverfield ), along with a dumbed-down American title ( Let Me In ).

And rolling out across North America this summer is Thirst, from Korean horror-meister Chan-wook Park, in which the love between a priest and a married shopkeeper gets even more complicated when he turns her into a vampire. (To promote the film, Focus Features sent critics a hospital-style blood bag full of fruit juice, complete with a straw.)

So there was plenty of bloodlust on display at last week's ComicCon convention in San Diego, Calif., the annual geekfest that draws about 125,000 fans – and almost as many Hollywood marketers eager to garner their support. Weitz brought clips fresh from the set of New Moon , Harris signed Sookie novels for 150 pre-ticketed worshippers, and folks from The Vampire Diaries TV show and the Twilight graphic novel shilled their wares.

Why are we going batty for vampires? For one thing, these are not your grandparents' monsters. Creepy capes and heavy hair oil are out; today's blood-suckers are ethereally beautiful. In Twilight , Edward and his “family” are the coolest kids in school, with the sharpest clothes and the hottest cars. When they enter the cafeteria (in slow-mo, naturally), they stop traffic, and when sunlight accidentally hits them, their skin glitters as if they swallowed a disco ball. In True Blood , the vampires are sexy beasts, all smouldering looks, tattoos and tight black leather. (Their sheriff, Eric, recently tore a victim's limbs off while sporting high-lights foils in his blond hair.) So many mortals flock to the vampires' bar, Fangtasia, to mate with them that they've earned a nickname: Fang-Bangers.

Another reason vampires are so popular: Their habits can be adjusted to suit any audience. The PG-rated night-crawlers in Twilight and The Vampire Diaries experience passion without sex. The vampire boys clearly desire the mortal girls, but they're all about respect and restraint and withholding. Edward doesn't want to rip Bella's throat out, no, he wants to lie in a forest and hold her hand. He doesn't even kill people – he's a vegetarian (meaning, he only sucks the blood of animals).

On HBO, however, everyone's getting well and truly laid, with plenty of nudity, high-speed humping, and close-up blood slurping.

As well, vampire stories often surface during times of economic or societal gloom, because they play to our worst fears and secret yearnings. On one hand, they personify the idea of dark forces at work, chaos beyond our control, hushed-up conspiracies poised to destroy us. On the other, who better to fantasize about during a recession than decadent hipsters with mansions, flexible morals and a really swinging nightlife? They're haughty, selfish, excessive – all things we can no longer afford to be. In Blue Bloods , a young-adult book series launched in 2007 by Melissa de la Cruz, the vampires descend from establishment families and attend a posh private school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Just as we suspected: The rich are ghouls

Today's vamps are also eternally youthful, with no surgery required, which is why the fashion world has embraced them, too – recent magazine spreads and ads brim with pale wraiths sporting red lips, black-rimmed eyes and killer stiletto booties. All of which means that we'll be living with vampires, if not for centuries, at least through summer 2010, when the third Twilight movie comes out.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/who-knew-bloodsucking-would-be-so-marketable/article1238114/

Wow lots of great vampire articles. This is awesome. Oh and I LOVE the idea of Johnny Depp as a vampire!

Ha Ha! Joss Whedon's take on an Angel/Angelus versus Edward Cullen showdown! Hilarious! You have to watch the video at the link to hear the Geek God's take on it!

Joss Whedon on Angel's superiority: 'There's no Edward Cullenus'
by Mandi Bierly
Categories: 'Twilight', Books, Buffy, Eclipse, Inappropriate Crushes, New Moon, Vampires

Speaking to MTV News before he went inside EW’s Comic-Con party (and danced!), Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon discussed the Twilight phenomenon and who would win in a fight: Angel (David Boreanaz) or Edward (Robert Pattinson). Of course, you’re gonna play the recently-posted video below to hear Whedon’s answer, since he sounds so… Joss, but in case you’re in a rush: Whedon says he thought he’d be laughed out of the room when he created the character of Angel, a vampire with a soul who romances a slayer, but clearly he was wrong. Of the vampire-human love connection, he says, “There’s something really timeless about it. I saw Twilight, I was like [pretends to be breathless] ‘She loves him so much!’ There’s something primal about that story. You can’t get away from it, and it just works like gangbusters. I love it.”

And who would win the fight? “I think Robert Pattinson’s really cool; Angel would kick the s— out of him,” Whedon told MTV News. “Okay, he’s Angelus. There’s no Edward Cullenus, okay. He just gets shiny in the sun…. Boreanaz would have him down in a heartbeat. No offense, ’cause he’s hot.”

We all agree with Joss, yes? Even if Angel didn’t tap into Angelus, he spends every day fighting other vampires and demons, so that experience would counter Edward’s speed.

See the interview here! http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/08/06/joss-whedon-twilight/

Loved this article and yes, Angel would kick Edwards @ss into next month...........

Bad news for mortal men everywhere! What do you think boys???

Vampire romance: mortal men no longer cut it

By News Online's Amy Simmons


Edward Cullen: Tall, dark-haired, unbearably handsome - and a vampire. (www.imdb.com)

Stephanie Meyer's world-famous Twilight series has set a new, impossible benchmark for the perfect man.

He must be capable of protecting his partner from every imaginable danger; giving her butterflies with even the slightest grin; and sending her breathless after each kiss.

More importantly, his physical appearance must be perfect - tall, dark-haired, unbearably handsome - and his body must sparkle like diamonds in the sun.

Of course, he cannot be human. He must be a vampire, who preferably goes by the name of Edward.

Millions of women - and men - are obsessed with Meyer's supernatural romance novels, have watched the first movie several times, and are counting down the days until book number two hits the screen.

Dr Lisa Bode, an associate lecturer in film and television at the University of Queensland, is researching the cultural reception of the Twilight series.

She says after reading the books, some women are gaining unrealistic expectations of men.

"They're idealising Edward to the point where real men can't compete anymore," she said.

"It's kind of a performative thing, an empowering gesture.

"If you consider the way that women have had to put up with men's ideals for centuries, and feeling insecure in relation to that, there's perhaps a little bit of revenge coming through."

Facebook groups such as "Twilight has ruined any chance I have at a realistic relationship" and "Because I read Twilight I have unrealistic expectations about men" have attracted members across the globe.

The sexiest of all monsters

Dr Bode says the book's two main characters - Edward, a vampire, and Bella, a mortal teen - have an unhealthy, but irresistible love.

"It's not healthy because she is so wrapped up in him. She stops seeing all her friends, she just lives desperately for him, she becomes self-destructive and she's willing to die. She loses her sense of self," she said.

"But it reproduces in a lot of readers, myself included, this feeling of falling in love for the first time and of being loved intensely by this extremely powerful, dangerous creature that could kill you, but he chooses not to.

"Vampires are the sexiest of all monsters. They hold these contradictions of being dead and alive and immortal and frozen, they have the strength and the power to be perpetually young and beautiful. It's a very attractive thing."

Assistant Professor Scott Knight, a Bond University lecturer who specialises in vampire fandom, says the idea of an impossible love is what lures readers in.

"There's an inherent romanticism associated with vampire stories, going back to Bram Stoker's Dracula," he said.

"At the heart of the vampire story is this sense that there is the possibility of impossible love - the tall, dark, handsome vampire - this sense that he can be saved by love, and that the woman succumbs to his vampiric charms and becomes a vampire herself."

He also says it is the potent combination of eroticism and death, which sucks people in.

"Vampire stories bring us face to face with questions of mortality, which in everyday lives we try to push to the side," he said.

"The vampire likes to investigate the inner connections between sex and death or eroticism and death, so it's a very potent combination. It has that sense of the taboo."

Real vampires

Although vampires are generally perceived as fictional characters, the genre of literature, including Dracula, Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and now the Twilight series, has seen the emergence of individuals claiming to be "real vampires".

People willingly donate their blood or energy to so-called real vampires, and a range of houses, clans and covens exist to cater for their spirituality.

Role-playing vampires are criticised by the real vampires for their fakeness.

Even in Australia, there are a range of vampire groups, which coordinate monthly meet-ups for their members.

But Professor Knight says most people can negotiate between fact and fiction, and insists the vampire-obsessed should not be viewed as pathological.

"Fandom is generally a very rich, wonderful addition to people's lives," he said.

"Fantasy is an incredibly healthy part of everyday life and it's necessary, in some ways, to play out different possibilities and to explore and to experiment and to make you understand who you are in a much deeper way."

Dr Bode agrees, and says the Twilight series is a "soft vampire interpretation", which is more about romance than horror.

She says gaining a better understanding of who you are is certainly part of the series' attraction.

"A lot of the older women who are reading it are reliving their younger self and the experience of falling in love as a teenager," she said.

"It's got an addictive, narcotic effect in the way that it's written and you just want to sustain those feelings that the books conjure within you."

Bedroom awakenings

She says while some women have taken on unrealistic expectations of men since reading Meyer's Twilight books, some have also enjoyed a healthy, sexual awakening.

"Some people are channelling this obsession into their everyday life in ways that actually enrich their lives," she said.

"People are getting together online, talking about relationships between men and woman, what is healthy and unhealthy, rewriting parts of the series they disagree with.

"There's evidence to show that it's actually enriched some people's relationships with their husbands in the bedroom. It's awakening women's fantasy lives and their sexual selves."

Source:http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/12/2653108.htm

Anne Rice Discusses Robert Downey Jr.

'The Vampire Chronicles' author is pleased with Downey's possible casting as Lestat


Anne Rice is speaking out on rumors that Robert Downey Jr. will star as Lestat in new a film based on her "The Vampire Chronicles" novels.

Lestat was previously played by Tom Cruise in 1994 for Neil Jordan's "Interview with the Vampire," and by Stuart Townsend in 2002 for Michael Rymer's "Queen of the Damned." Universal Studios is looking to resurrect Rice's popular series for the big screen, and Downey is their prime choice for Lestat, according to Bloody-Disgusting.

"First off, I cannot confirm or deny the rumor," Rice said in an interview with BSCreview. "I have not received official word as to the truth of it yet. But I can say without hesitation that I love Robert Downey Jr. and I think he would make a fabulous Vampire Lestat. He is a major actor, a powerhouse of talent and personality, and he evinces an irrepressible and seductive charm. He would bring great energy and skill to the role. I would love to see this happen.

"I’ve loved Robert Downey Jr. ever since I saw him in Restoration years ago, and I thought he was magical and powerful in Iron Man. ... So I hope the rumors are true. ... I’ve posted on my Facebook 'fan' page saying pretty much the same thing. Some are saying he is too old to play the part. This is absolutely not true. He is quite youthful. Besides, Lestat is a man when he is made into a vampire. A twenty year old man in the 18th century is the equivalent of an older man today. Age just shouldn’t be an issue here, not with an actor of this scope and charisma. I’m thrilled at the prospect that this rumor might be true."

Rice also spoke about why her work hasn't received more on-screen adaptations.

"The rights were controlled by one studio for a very long time; and though there was constant interest, that one studio controlled whether or not something got made," she explained. "The rights are no longer with that studio. And my agents are working diligently on the new possibilities.

"I have often wondered why so few movies have been made from my work. I think the problem lies in the fact that I wrote rather long series of books. If a studio buys one of a series, that studio wants to tie up the whole series. It is a built in problem. I can’t complain. Had there been more movies, maybe I wouldn’t have written so many books. And I loved writing the books.

"I hope now that the series can really take off, with one high quality film after another."

Loves of girls loving their vampires in here! LOL Thanks you guys for all the articles and news.

Hmmm - This could be pretty cool if they actually go with it. I like the idea of Robert Downey Jr being Lestat. I think they should do more movies from the Anne Rice books. Does it really matter if they are long?

Thanks Flo for all the vamp articles, and I so want to see Johnny as Barnabas, that's gonna be so cool!!
My friend in San Diego has a EW subscription, so I read that article live LOL
xoxo

Blood, Religion, and Vampire Evolution

Imagination, the catalyst for both science and religion, allows us to make sense of life and death. If vampires are the offspring of imagination, it begs the question: Why would we imagine such beings into existence?

Before we had a scientific understanding of mortality, this is what we knew: We were born from the blood of our mothers’, and we died from the loss of our own. When an animal is hurt, it compulsively licks the blood from its wounds. Even now, so detached from our own animal nature, we are possessed to do so. If you cut your finger, your first instinct is to suck the wound. You consume your blood as it leaves your body in an effort to sustain life.

If blood is the key to life and death, it is not hard to imagine how the vampire was dreamt into existence. If we drink blood, the vessel of life, it follows that we will live forever. Allow imagination to take this idea a step further, damning those that drink (Deuteronomy 12:23: Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.) and a monster is born.

Yet it has been recently reported that a group of neo-vampires have “evolved” and risen above their blood drinking ways. We have seen fictional accounts of this on True Blood–Vampire Bill loves his synthetic blood substitute–but the vampires of Tampa Bay, FL have taken this above and beyond the kitsch. According to St. Petersburg Times staff writer Alexandra Zayas, who spent months among Tampa Bay’s vampire population, “vampires can also psychic or pranic feed, sucking the energy directly from the auras of others, or they can ambient feed on the collective excitement of high energy places like dance clubs.”

While I suppose I’d rather meet a pranic vampire alone in a dark alley as opposed to the neck loving variety, it is hard to imagine a world where vampires no longer drink blood.

Mystic blood still courses through our veins: Australian Aboriginal dancers paint their bodies with blood to evoke Dreamtime; Christ’s transubstantiated blood brings Catholics eternal life; Japanese pop culture identifies nosebleeds with sexual desire; Prince, a Jehovah’s Witness, refuses blood transfusions because of his faith; and it was not so long ago that Billy Bob Thornton’s blood was dangling from a chain around Angelina Jolie’s neck.

Like water, blood will never cease to be essential; it will always capture our imaginations. Blood is what connects us, above all else, to vampires. Without it, neither humans nor vampires exist.

Um... okay. That's a little freaky!

Flo note: Anyone out there in MVS land read G. del Toro's book The Strain yet? I'm interested but don't want to spend the money if its only so-so. Would love to hear from you if you have. Thanks!

latimes.com
by Gina McIntyre

Forget the garlic, the crucifixes, the security of daylight. Nothing is holding the vampires at bay these days. With the wild popularity of movie, TV and literary properties including "Twilight" and HBO's hit series "True Blood," the bloodthirsty undead are dominating the pop culture landscape in ways Count Dracula could have never imagined, and the trend seems unlikely to abate any time soon.

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon," the second film adaptation of the popular series of novels, is set for release in November, with the third installment to follow in June 2010. "True Blood," drawing some of HBO's largest audiences since "The Sopranos," concludes its second season on Sunday. Now, the CW network is taking a stab at the genre with "The Vampire Diaries," which premieres Thursday.

"Vampires are the bad boys," says series co-creator Kevin Williamson in trying to explain their popularity. "They're dangerous, but they're also just sexy and they can protect you. You can challenge them. There's so much there -- epic love, epic romance, epic epic! Everyone wants their life to be epic."

He admits, though, that he was somewhat skeptical at first, well aware that his new show will be compared to "Twilight." And there are plenty of similarities: Small-town girl meets good-guy vampire, falls head over heels, conflict ensues.

But Williamson said that it's where the action goes after that point that he found particularly intriguing, and the creative possibilities ultimately convinced him to say yes. Well, that and the fact that vampire stories are just plain cool.

And they appear to be here to stay, at least through 2012. Tim Burton is crafting a "Dark Shadows" movie starring Johnny Depp that is set for release in 2011, and there's also a talked-about cinematic reboot of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" aimed for the following year.

On the page, director Guillermo del Toro and his writing partner Chuck Hogan will produce the second and third installments in their vampire series -- the first book the pair co-wrote, "The Strain," was released earlier this year to solid reviews.

Of course, this is not the first time in recent memory vampires have captivated the pop culture consciousness. In the late 1970s and '80s, Anne Rice's novels sparked a resurgence in the popularity of the creatures, playing up the romantic and sexual aspects of the vampire myth more strongly than writers who had come before.

She created a dashing monster. These days, the vampire is almost always depicted as the handsome leading man (or at least the handsome, conflicted villain).

Thomas Garza, a University of Texas professor who has taught a class on the subject, "The Vampire in Slavic Cultures," for the last 12 years, said the metamorphosis of the vampire from repugnant fiend to alluring Lothario was a natural and necessary update for the modern era.

"You see the devil standing before you looking all hideous and grotesque, you're not going to walk over and join him," Garza said. "But if the devil appears to you looking like some romantic character and speaking beautiful British English, you might want to sit down and have a cup of coffee."

There are exceptions. For "The Strain," Del Toro and Hogan revisited age-old representations of the monsters as hulking, malevolent creatures driven only by their insatiable desire for blood. "There's nothing at all erotic about our vampires," Hogan said.

The versatility of the myth seems to be one of the key reasons it's endured for centuries, but its longevity also owes to the fact that it offers audiences a unique kind of escapism, according to Matt Reeves, who's set to direct the remake of last year's Swedish film "Let the Right One In," about a pre-adolescent boy who unknowingly befriends a vampire, due out next year. Namely, the genre allows people to safely indulge their darker impulses.

"There have been all kinds of vampire movies and each one indulges a different side of it," Reeves said. " 'True Blood' is obviously all about sexuality, the soap opera sexuality version of vampirism. 'Twilight' has its great romanticism. This one is very much about youth, the pain of that time of life. The interesting thing about the vampire genre is for filmmakers, artists, the audience to be looking into the same basic myth but taking something different from it."

In terms of the creatures' dominance in Hollywood right now, though, Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter who has penned the adaptations of Meyer's "Twilight," "New Moon" and "Eclipse," chalks it up to one simple factor.

"When one vampire story is successful, everyone else jumps on the bandwagon -- that's just how studios and networks operate," Rosenberg said. "It all comes down to money, but it's born out of very creative writers reinventing a genre and reinventing the mythology. Of course, every time it's reinvented, you have a whole new generation of people for whom it's really brand new."

Whether those new converts, or more specifically, the "Twilight" generation, will embrace "Vampire Diaries" or any of the other projects in the pipeline remains to be seen. Williamson, an admitted "True Blood" fan, realizes that burnout is a distinct possibility.

"Is there enough room for one more vampire show on people's DVR? I don't know," Williamson said. "I have room, but I don't know how America feels. It will be interesting to see if this show is one too many and tries people's patience, but I feel like the vampires are still popular."

gina.mcintyre@latimes.com

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
Source: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ne ... rint.story

From Australia....

http://www.fancast.com/blogs/uncategori ... nterparts/

Why TV Vampire Make Better Boyfriends Than Their Fictional Counterparts
by Sara Bibel - Sep 19th, 2009

If you are a single male television character who is having trouble attracting the woman of your dreams, there is a simple solution: become a vampire. It may seem counterintuitive. After all, no woman has ever written, “I am seeking a serial killer who will always be fighting his urge to mutilate me,” on her match.com profile. There would seem to be many disadvantages to dating a vampire. First of all, he can only go out at night. No romantic walks on the beach for him. Second, he can never order anything at restaurants. That could be awkward. Third, the damsel must sleep with one eye open at all times lest he succumb to his urge to suck every ounce of blood out of her body or, worse, stand by her bed for hours watching her sleep. That is creepy, not romantic, Edward Cullen!

So why are the undead considered so D*mn sexy? And why vampires, specifically? No one is hot for zombies. Academics argue that being bitten is a literary metaphor for sex, specifically loss of virginity. The obsessive nature of vampire lust also makes him an appealing fantasy. Nothing is more important to a vamp than the object of his obsession. A vampire would never blow off a girl to play fantasy football with his boys. Actual baseball, maybe, but only if he is one of those wussy Cullens. Every TV vampire — even Nick Knight from Forever Knight – is cooler than the Cullens. In fact, TV vampires are consistently better boyfriends than their mortal fictional counterparts. Consider the evidence as we compare and contrast them below. And remember, once you go vampire, you’ll always aim higher.

Angel And Booth (WB/FOX)

BOOTH/Bones ♥ANGEL/Angel
Booth is an FBI Agent who works tirelessly to solve crimes. He also served his country as an Army Ranger. Angel is a P.I. whose mission is to help the helpless. They’re both stand up guys, with a facility for the dryly witty clip. Let’s stipulate that they are both equally attractive David Boreanaz lookalikes. Both have their issues with women. Sex with his true love Buffy turned Angel into the diabolical Angelus. That led to the death of Buffy’s beloved teacher and the near destruction of the world. Once Angel was resouled, they were forced to settle for a disappointingly chaste relationship. On the other hand, at least Buffy and Angel’s relationship actually happened. Booth only had sex with Bones in a DREAM SEQUENCE. Then when he woke up he had apparent amnesia. Who would ever want to date a guy who cannot bring himself to pursue a girl in real life? And a guy who forgets all about the girl? Nobody, that’s who. Plus, Angel will sing Barry Manilow at karaoke. Watch full episodes of Bones here, and full episodes of Angel here.

Advantage: Angel

Stefan Salvatore and Chuck Bass (The CW)

STEFAN SALVATORE/Vampire Diaries ♥ CHUCK BASS/Gossip Girl
Both guys are hot teenagers who look and act wise beyond their years. Chuck uses his vast sums of money and lack of parental supervision to buy a burlesque club and attempt to run a multi-national corporation. Stefan is wise beyond his years because he’s a really, really old man who thanks to vampirism will always look young and beautiful. Sexy as he is, Chuck is a lousy boyfriend. For so long he torpedoed his relationship with Blair because he could not bring himself to tell her he loved her, and something tells us whatever is going on now is not bound to last. He handles stress with casual sex and drugs. He never met a taboo he did not delight in breaking. Stefan, based on the pilot at least, is a one - OK, two -woman man. He immediately fell for Elena because she looks just like his dead love Katherine. He is unafraid to show his feelings, immediately agreeing to attend a party with Elena and admitting that he keeps a diary. He is also polite, waiting for Elena to invite him inside before he enters her home. He even has a ring that allows him to go outside in the daylight. When Chuck wears jewelry he is merely accesorizing. Watch full episodes of Vampire Diaries here and full episodes of Gossip Girl here.

Advantage: Stefan

Bill Compton and Tim Riggins (HBO/NBC)

BILL COMPTON/True Blood ♥ TIM RIGGINS/Friday Night Lights
Bill and Tim are both small town heartthrobs with bad reputations. Every human in Bon Temps is suspicious of Bill just because he is a vampire. Sure, he used to kill people but he is reformed now that synthetic blood is available. No one gives Riggins credit for renouncing his partying ways, either. But Bill is a far better boyfriend. He is a stand up guy who is willing to risk his life for Sookie and frequently stand up to his fellow vampires. He is the poster child for personal responsibility, acting as a ward to the girl he was forced to turn into a vampire. Tim, not having hundreds of years of life experience, frequently lets Lila down. He resents Lila’s attempts to help him win a college scholarship. He makes a drunken @ss out of himself. Sure, his heart is in the right place, but in the long run he is always going to choose failure over success. Watch clips of True Blood here and full episodes of Friday Night Lights here.

Advantage: Bill

Mick St. John and Shawn Spencer (CBS/USA)

MICK ST. JOHN/Moonlight ♥SHAWN SPENCER/Psych
The millions of loyal Alex O’Laughlin fans will crucify anyone who says anything negative about their man on-line. Fortunately, his beloved character Mick St. John handily wins the battle of the TV P.I. boyfriends. Mick’s pursuit of Beth is mildly creepy since he has been watching over her since she was a child. But hey, it worked for Celine Dion and Rene. He is open about his identity and strives to protect her from the dangers of human-vampire lust. He tells her that he loves her before they kiss. In contrast, Shawn has pined for Juliet for years and never done anything about it. In fact, the wimp is currently dating his former high school girlfriend because he can’t bring himself to make a play for Juliet. He has never admitted to her that he is faking his psychic powers. Shawn would make for more entertaining company, but Mick is the man worth dating. See a Moonlight photo gallery here and watch full episodes of Psych here.

Advantage: Mick

Barnabus Collins and Don Draper (ABC/AMC)

BARNABAS COLLINS/Dark Shadows ♥ DON DRAPER/Mad Men
Don Draper has become the thinking woman’s fantasy boyfriend. This is ironic given that he treats women like dirt. His wife Betty is leading a life of quiet desperation in large part because he does not see her as more than a trophy. The numerous other women he has bedded are always left worse for the experience. Rachel, the one he actually loved, fled the country to avoid him. During the actual 1960s there was another man with a false identity who set women’s hearts aflutter: vampire Barnabas Collins, who appeared in the cult phenomenon Dark Shadows. Barnabas told the Collins’ family that he was their British cousin, when he was in fact a centuries-old vampire. Dick Whitman, eat your heart out. He originally was far worse than Don, killing people with aplomb. But over time, he came to feel genuine remorse for his actions and truly fell in love with Victoria. Still, he continued to revert to the dark side on occasion. More tormented then heroic, Collins could not be said to be good boyfriend material until Johnny Depp decided to play the role in the film version of Dark Shadows. As gorgeous as Jon Hamm is, Depp is always, always the better man. Watch a clip of Dark Shadows here and full episodes of Mad Men here.

Advantage: Barnabas — by a margin of Depp