MOONLIGHT VAMPIRE SOCIETY

Well.....Vampires now make the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/fashi ... 1&emc=eta1

A Trend With Teeth

THE symptoms are unnerving: a taste for fresh meat — rare, if you please; an aversion to sunlight; and a passion for spectral-looking, fine-boned rakes. All are indications that the sufferer has been bitten by the vampire bug.

Sookie Stackhouse, the feisty young heroine of “True Blood” on HBO, risks doom whenever she visits with her otherworldly beau. And Oskar, the adolescent misfit of the Swedish art film “Let the Right One In,” a favorite in fashion circles, courts extinction each time he ventures out with Eli, the eerily ageless shape-shifter he befriends.

Sookie and Oskar are in the throes of vampire lust, a pop-culture contagion being spread via television, films and fiction. What began with the Twilight Saga, the luridly romantic young-adult series by Stephenie Meyer, followed by “Twilight,” the movie, has become a pandemic of unholy proportions.

Is it a wonder?

Rarely have monsters looked so sultry — or so camera-ready. No small part of this latest vampire mania seems to stem from the ethereal cool and youthful sexiness with which the demons are portrayed. Bela Lugosi they are not.

“The vampire is the new James Dean,” said Julie Plec, the writer and executive producer of “The Vampire Diaries,” a forthcoming series on the CW network based on the popular L. J. Smith novels about high school femmes and hommes fatales. “There is something so still and sexy about these young erotic predators,” she said.

This generation of undead prowls high school hallways and dimly lighted dance clubs as menacing — and as seductive — as they have ever been. The June premiere of the second season of “True Blood,” in which Sookie, played by Anna Paquin, is reunited with her imperious fanged suitor, drew 3.4 million viewers, making it HBO’s most-watched program since the “Sopranos” finale in 2007.

Charlaine Harris has just published “Dead and Gone,” the ninth novel in her Sookie Stackhouse series, variations on Southern Gothic fiction on which “True Blood” is based. The publishing world has been intrigued by “The Strain,” a first installment in a planned trilogy written by the film director Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, about bloodthirsty predators run amok in Manhattan.

The style world, too, has come under the vampire’s spell, in the shape of the gorgeous leather- and lace-clad night crawlers who have crept into the pages of fashion glossies.

Vampires, of course, are part of a hoary tradition that harks back to Nosferatu and Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” at least. Anne Rice updated the genre, introducing the ghoulishly aristocratic vampire Lestat. But the undead are returning with a vengeance, in part because they “personify real-world anxieties,” said Michael Dylan Foster, an assistant professor in the department of folklore at Indiana University in Bloomington.

“Especially during these post-9/11 times of increased vigilance, representations like the ‘Twilight’ series reflect a kind of conspiracy-theory mentality, a fear that there is something secret and dangerous going on in our own community, right under our noses.”

Given all that baggage, what keeps vampires so alluring?

One might point to their combination of deathless good looks and decadent sexuality. Their faces, as described in “Twilight,” “were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine.”

Vampirelike glamour figures strike come-hither poses in a flurry of recent fashion publications. Portrayed as androgynous creatures in the June issue of W, they affect killer glares, their menace accentuated by their chalky pallor. In the magazine’s current issue, Bruce Willis appears about to be raked by the talons of his new wife, Emma Heming, in a series of photographs by Steven Klein.

Italian Vogue has also succumbed to the vampire’s cold charms: In the June issue, the latest to arrive on American newsstands, models pose as willfully spooky night crawlers like those who once haunted Manhattan clubs; one image captures a female stalker whose supper, the smear of scarlet on her cheek suggests, has just been interrupted.

The vampire’s attraction is “all about the titillation of imagining the monsters we could be if we just let ourselves go,” suggested Rick Owens, a fashion bellwether whose goth-tinged collections sometimes evoke the undead. “We’re all fascinated with corruption, the more glamorous the better” and, he added, with the idea of “devouring, consuming, possessing someone we desire.”

That sort of predatory glamour is personified by Catherine Deneuve in “The Hunger.” In that morbidly stylish 1983 cult classic, directed by Tony Scott, Ms. Deneuve is Miriam, a bloodsucking seductress in sharp-shouldered suits married to a pallid David Bowie and drawn to Susan Sarandon, a tomboyish specialist in sleep and longevity. (According to Mr. Scott, a sequel is in the writing stage.)

The undead of “The Hunger” were blessed — or cursed — with riches, hauteur and the kind of indestructible good looks aspiring glamazons can only dream of. Their modern counterparts come from every stratum of society and appeal to an array of psycho-sexual preferences.

Comely upper-crust demons haunt the corridors of Duchesne, the Upper East Side private school of “Blue Bloods,” a young-adult vampire series by Melissa de la Cruz. In “The Strain,” Mr. del Toro’s gory tale, which is framed like a police procedural, the vampires are lowlifes, unremittingly vile. Saya, the eternal schoolgirl of “Blood: The Last Vampire,” a supernatural action film that will open July 10, is a reluctant monster in a middy blouse, living a Spartan existence. Eli, the bloodsucking waif of “Let the Right One In,” based on a much-talked-about novel of the same name, is gorgeous but apparently destitute and needs only the occasional sanguinary fix to keep from shriveling. (Vampires, too, can be done in by their addictions.)

The most up-to-date — and least menacing — of this nocturnal breed are, well, deathless romantics who pine like their mortal companions for a love that lasts through eternity. Stefan, the handsome archfiend of “Vampire Diaries,” which will be broadcast on the CW network in September, keeps his lust for the human Elena resolutely in check.

In “New Moon,” the “Twilight” sequel that will open in November, the lead vampire Edward is a noble swain, performing feats of valor usually reserved for Superman. Seductive as he is, he, too, is a model of restraint. More than once in the original film Edward stops short of draining Bella, his mortal girlfriend. “I don’t want to be monster,” he tells her urgently (though it seems she wouldn’t mind).
“Edward has rejected all humanity, but he is struggling to be human,” Ms. Plec said, adding: “There is always the question, ‘Does this person have it in him to be good, to make the right decision?’ It’s a theme that works like gangbusters in films and television.”

Impulse-control is an especially resonant theme in the current era of conflicts and cutbacks. “Periods of war, economic downturns and cultural turmoil all give rise to the production of vampire and fantasy fiction,” said Thomas Garza, chair of the department of Slavic and Eurasian studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and a specialist in vampire lore. “With a recession and war, the conflict has indeed seemed to turn inward, as we question our fiscal, political and moral status. ‘Have we been too excessive? Do we need to be more restrained?’ We seem once again to be questioning these very fundamental values.”

And, at the same time, renewing a flirtation with the dark side. Emily Rose, a performance poet in Chicago, is a devotee, she said, of “the wantonness, the gorgeousness that is the vampire.” She went on to catalog its exquisite charms: “eternal youth, invulnerability and, of course, the night life — staying up way past your bedtime.”

Surely there are worse things. “There are monsters so much bigger and more realistic in our day-to-day lives,” Ms. Rose said. “Having somebody clamp onto your neck and drain you — that doesn’t seem so scary anymore.”

“It wouldn’t be on my top 10 list of ways not to die,” she added, “especially if that vampire is at all attractive.”

Thanks D! Great article. Nice to know that MVS was on the bleeding edge (pun intended) of this craze!

This is another long read but funny!

Reality Shows That Would Be Improved With Vampires
The current trend on reality television seems to be to take existing genres of shows and add plus-size people to them to make it more interesting. This is how we ended up with shows like More to Love and Dance Your @ss Off. We like to try and stay ahead of the curve and since vampires are so hot right now, most especially True Blood and the forthcoming Vampire Diaries, we predict that it isn't long before vampire contestants start making their ways into the world of reality TV. Most of these shows have fallen into a rut, so some bloodsucking contestants could actually breathe some much needed eternal life into them... you know... if they could breathe.

The Bachelor/Bachelorette
Forget Jake or Kiptyn or whomever inevitably gets cast for next season's Bachelor, let's get a vampire in that role. Girls totally love those undead guys, so there should be plenty of volunteers for his dating pool. The girls could still get roses, but the ones who don't get picked get the life sucked out of them. (Wouldn't it have been awesome if Jill could have just drained Wes instead of letting his douchebag self ride off in a limo?) The last girl standing gets to be turned and exist forever with the chosen fella. It would be more lasting that most of these "relationships," so it could be worth a shot.

The Biggest Loser
Instead of personal trainers like Bob and Jillian standing around yelling at people to diet and exercise, a new vampire trainer could be brought in. They'd be able to suck the blood and fat right out of someone. Extra gum could still get ads, as the trainer will need to have some minty breath after chowing down on the overweight contestants. The fatties might actually put the die in this diet but they'd sure look thin when they got buried, and those who survived could get skinny without having to survive solely on Subway sandwiches and purified water.

Dr. 90210
The California plastic surgeons add a new doctor to their practice, and he's got the hottest new treatment on the market that makes Botox irrelevant. A little bit of vampire blood is rumored to make people look hotter and heal faster, so combine that with a bit of a face-lift and low and behold, these guys would have a booming practice. The one draw back? The new doctor only works nights.

Top Chef
Just imagine the creative challenges they'd have to face. Cook an entire Italian meal without using garlic. All forms of protein would be raw meat. The chefs would be required to make blood sausage and blood pudding. All meals would have to be designed to compliment Bloody Marys. Can you imagine Padma and Tom trying to choke some of this stuff down?

American Idol
If Taylor Hicks can win this show... anyone can. Plus, vampire rockers aren't unheard of -- just look at Lestat. And with a simple black t-shirt and pale skin, a vampire contestant is sure to impress Simon Cowell. And you know Randy Jackson is powerless to resist a hot trend. He'd reference Twilight at least once an episode.

The Amazing Race
In an attempt to make up for the fake vamp staking during last season's trip to Transylvania, an all vampire team would be allowed to compete in the global trek. All the challenges would have to take place between sunset and sunrise, and in an effort to keep the playing field level, instead of traveling in coach, all teams would be required to find space in the luggage compartments and travel via coffin. Phil and his eyebrow could stay as is, though he'd have to wear turtlenecks all the time, so as not to tempt the vamps with his long, slender neck after particularly arduous legs of the race.

Survivor
One vampire. Fifteen human contestants. It's a battle to see who truly can outlast the other to become the real sole survivor. The vampire might be at a disadvantage during the day, but surely there's one human who will go against their alliance who'd be willing to throw the humans off the scent of the pulse-challenged player. Though it might be hard for the human sympathizer to hide the tell-tale puncture holes in their neck... and eventually the bloodsucker will turn on them -- it is only a game after all -- and vampires certainly aren't around to make friends.

Project Runway
While this show has often focused on creating cutting edge designs, during this season, the contestants would be required to design funky fashions that will last vampires through their entire lengthy life span. They'd have to create the new long black duster, find a modern take on gothic gowns, utilize blood-stain-resistant fabrics, incorporate stake-proof bodices into the clothing and find ways to make an all black wardrobe look stylish. Nina will clearly need to either be turned, or replaced with a judge from the vampire community.

18 Kids and Counting
Every time the show gets a little sluggish in the ratings, Jim Bob Duggar sires another vampire child and raises it to think that the world outside is a dangerous place.

Big Brother
A vampire in the house would certainly shake things up a little, though unless it was like those sparkly Twilight ones, they might want to avoid sunbathing too much in the backyard. But the vamp could use their mind-controlling abilities to help sway the public vote and convince their fellow houseguests to keep them off of the nomination block. Instead of PB&J or slop, bags of blood would be an option, and the producers would have the challenge of designing an HOH room for an undead houseguest. Plus: Chenbot vs. vampires. That's a battle that's been a long time coming.

America's Next Top Model
Tyra would be drooling over a tall, ethereal girl with translucent skin who owned her inner beauty since she never was able to look at herself in the mirror. All the other contestants would be trying to figure out the cold one's secret for staying so thin, and stealing her O-positive out of the fridge, leading to some fabulous screaming match and some fierce fang-bearing. And if the contestant didn't like Tyra's critiques she could always just go for the jugular. We'd all want to see that.

I want to see a vampire themed Survivor and The Bachelor. That would be great!

OMG Drea that's hilarious! This is my kind of humor and an awesome twist on those darn reality shows that seem to be taking over TV.

For the most part I loathe reality shows so this article had me crying I was laughing so hard.

They could do the Real Housewives of Nosferatu.....

I think my favorite was "18 Kids and Counting
Every time the show gets a little sluggish in the ratings, Jim Bob Duggar sires another vampire child and raises it to think that the world outside is a dangerous place."

Oooh the Real Housewives would be hysterical! When the hair pulling, name calling and table flipping don't work they could just BITE each other and END IT! Brilliant idea! Someone call the BRAVO network.

Another Vamp related article that compares vamps from Twilight, True Blood and Angel! Interesting...
BTW, you gotta click the link to see it as it is in spreadsheet form and I can't figure out how to get it here without messing it up...

In vampire world, the rules keep changing

By Jayme Deerwester, USA TODAY
On HBO's True Blood (Sundays, 9 ET/PT), Lafayette asked vampire sheriff Eric to turn him. And Twilight found Bella Swan begging immortal beloved Edward Cullen to make her a vampire.
Before folks swear off sunlight, they should know the basics, which would be easier if the rules didn't change in every film, book and TV show.

USA TODAY offers a guide to life (and after).

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-07-01-vampire-rules_N.htm?csp=34

Vampires: From Dark Prince to Dark Knight

From Twilight to True Blood to the CW's fall adaptation of The Vampire Diaries, vampires have been taking a bite out of the pages and into the box office, getting viewers' heart pumping week after week. Hailed as rock stars, vampires are now the talk of the town. They're dark, brooding, mysterious, dangerous, and sexy -- the bad boys and bad girls that your parents warned you about. Since probably the dawn of time (excuse the pun), vampires have been portrayed as the stereotypical evil monsters -- the nightstalkers that preys on the blood of the innocent. However, in recent years, vampires have been de-fanged due to their newfound morality.

For instance, ABC's Dark Shadows (1966-71) was the first supernatural daytime soap opera, where the character Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) became the first vampire with a soul, who desires to regain his humanity. His predecessors have included Louis of Interview with the Vampire and police detective Nick Knight of Forever Knight (1992-96), who became the first crime-fighting vampire. Since then, Angel, Moonlight, and Blood Ties have filled that void, with the premise of the vampire seeking atonement for his sins through helping people as a private investigator. When not solving crimes, they're romancing their true love: the virtuous mortal woman that brings light into their world of darkness.

Now, vampires have went from being one-dimensional antagonists to romantic and tragic: less of an villain and more of an hero. They remain as bad boys, but now bad boys with hearts of gold -- dedicated to protect the people of night while fighting against the evil that remains within them. Though they still see their immortality as a curse, vampires can now see it a blessing: an advantage to use their powers for good in an effort to make amends for their bloody past.

POLL: Which Hottie with Fangs Do You Favor?

Sure, the mere sound of Robert Pattinson's name can send Twilighters into attack mode, while recessionistas are paying HBO subscription fees to hear True Blood's Stephen Moyer whisper Sookie's name in his classical Southern drawl.

But it's time to call attention to a fresh crop of forbidden baddies getting viewers' blood pumping:

Ian Somerhalder as Damon
The 30-year-old star, best known for his role as Boone on ABC's Lost, brings some bloodsucking action to network TV on the CW's new series, The Vampire Diaries – out this fall. As smug vampire Damon, Somerhalder gets in between his younger vampire brother Stefan and his mortal teen crush Elena.

Kellan Lutz as Emmett
Playing ripped big brother Emmett to Pattinson's Edward Cullen can't be the easiest job, but Lutz – who also stars on 90210 – has his own set of "Twilighters" screaming. The 24-year-old hunk, who landed on PEOPLE's "Hottest Bachelors" list, has girls (and their moms!) ogling over his steamy shirtless shots.

Alexander Skarsgard as Eric
As Eric Northman, the brooding vampire "sheriff" presiding over Bill Compton's Louisiana area, Skarsgard, 32, brings a commanding presence to HBO's cult hit True Blood. The blond Swede's character also owns hotspot Fangtasia.

I'm all about Emmett & Kellan, darn that man is F.I.N.E. ! So which vampire hottie do you want to be bitten by?

I'm thinking . . . ALL of them! (We definitely need a vampire emoticion.)

Here ya go Jess

I had to post this article, if for no other reason, the author calls CBS stupid!!

Obsession with the Vampire

By Karri Peifer | Richmond.com

The smartest thing I ever saw a television channel do was last year when TNT starting airing old episodes of "Angel," that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spinoff.

This was last fall, I believe, when "Twilight" mania was in full swing, with the impending release of the movie and the end-of-summer publication of the last novel in the series.

The stupidest thing I ever saw a television channel do was about four months before that, when CBS announced that it would be canceling "Moonlight," its vampire / romance / drama that had tepid ratings but a cult-like following.

Something happened in that window. Actually, something’s been happening all over this country in the last year or so. We’ve become all-out obsessed with vampires.

To be sure, there was interest in vampires before last year. Just ask any teen or tween girl in the country. But consider this. This time last year – the week before "Breaking Dawn," Stephanie Meyer's final book in the Twilight series, came out – the books had sold 8 million copies worldwide.

Less than a year later, that number is 53 million copies worldwide – and counting.

That’s a heck of a jump – and I have a theory on why. It’s been widely reported that teen girls have been passing the books around for years and even sharing them with their mothers. But the last people to jump on the "Twilight" bandwagon were 20-and-30-something women.

I’m talking about those of us who had no excuse to be picking up Young Adult fiction. We don’t have double-digit-aged kids, we don’t normally browse the YA section at the bookstore, and we certainly don’t need to be spending the best years of our life fantasizing about a romance with the undead.

Or so we thought.

In my opinion Twilight Mania turned into a nationwide Vampire Obsession when we Gen-X and Gen-Y women wrenched the books out of our younger sisters’ hands, devoured the teen drama, and then went searching for more.

At least that’s how it happened for me.

I blew through the "Twilight" books over the course of a long weekend, periodically surfacing for air when my boyfriend asked me some inane question like; do you want something to eat? Or are you ever going to get some sleep?


Then I went through what I like to call the Twilight Hangover. That’s those first days or weeks, after you finish all of the books, when you sort of walk dreamlike through your life, wondering why you have to do ridiculous things like report to work and shop for groceries.

The Twilight Hangover is really a withdrawal of sorts. The books become an addiction and the best way to treat it, in my opinion, is to find another fix.

And that’s when I found something better than "Twilight." That’s right, I said better. I’m talking about Sookie Stackhouse.

The Sookie Stackhouse books, also called "The Southern Vampire Series," by Charlaine Harris, are exactly like "Twilight" in the sense that they’re about vampire romance, but better because no mother in her right mind would let her tween daughter pick up a copy.

The Sookie books are for us, they’re for Gen-X and Gen-Y women. They’re what I like to call, Vampire Porn. And, best of all, they’re still in production. The 10th book will come out in May 2010.

And then there’s "True Blood," which I count as separate from the Sookie books because Alan Ball has made the show his own. That counts as double points for those of us with a Vampire Obsession.

HBO’s "True Blood" is a delicious hybrid of the books, general vampire fantasies and great drama. In fact, I’m beginning to think it’s even better than the books.

But here’s my question. Where do we go next? What’s a Gen-X girl with a full-blown Vampire Obsession to do once she’s checked "Twilight," Sookie and "True Blood" off her list?

I find myself in an uncomfortable position. I’m not ready to give up my Vampire Obsession and I can’t wait till spring for the next Sookie book. So what do I read in the interim?

These days I find myself roaming through a section of the bookstore that I never dared enter before. That section with short paperbacks that cost $5 and feature pictures of muscled men with too long hair … that’s right, I’m talking about the romance section.

And it mortifies me. Still, I push on.

The recommendations are all over the place. Katie Macalister’s Dark Ones books; Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series; The Dark Series by Christine Feehan; Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter; The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward; and of course Anne Rice.

Those are the unofficial recommendations. The official recommendations, from publishers and booksellers, focus on the teen and tween audience. The problem is, once you’ve read a vampire book with some teeth (forgive the pun, I mean sex) there’s no going back.

Ha that's a great article Drea! Very funny and very true! I'm sure the "Twilight hangover" is a phenomenon experienced by many of our members, myself included!

A poll from EW... Gee I wonder what Drea's answer will be???

PopWatch poll: Who's the hottest 'new' vampire?

Jul 24, 2009, 08:00 AM | by Mandi Bierly

Categories: 'True Blood', Twilight



You don't have to be at Comic-Con to participate in this poll, but it might help since you can catch each of the nominees in the flesh in San Diego. Tell us: Has the reign of Twilight's Edward Cullen finally come to end? Is the choice for hottest "new" vampire (sorry, Angel fans!) now between Bill and Eric on HBO's True Blood? Are you counting the days until the brothers begin duking it on The CW's The Vampire Diaries (premieres Sept. 10!)? Or is it BBC America's Being Human (premieres July 25!) being marked on your calendar? That show is about a vampire sharing a home with a werewolf and a female ghost. We're already wondering if a vamp would be able to have sex with a ghost -- do ghosts have sex? -- so don't count him out... Vote now!

Want to vote? Go here: VAMP POLL