‘Sucked’ into Vampireland

I have tried hard to not pay heed to creatures of the night, but I failed miserably.

You guessed right. I have been literally ambushed, by the not-so-latest fad in the entertainment world. Don’t judge me, but I let myself be ambushed by this craze. A girl can’t help but be curious about what the fuss is all about. When everyone around you goes gaga over supernatural creatures, when terms like bloodlust and undead enter local vernacular, you can’t do anything but surrender yourself and let yourself be taken away by the giant fictitious wave of glam-dazzling vampires on the loose.

It started innocently enough. In 2007, I picked up a copy of (no points for guessing) Twilight, the ultimate mother of vampire fiction. Three more books and 2,195 pages later I was still confused about what I’d read, and why I had read it in the first place. It defied all that I knew about vampires; they didn’t turn to ash in sunlight, they shimmered. They hang out with humans instead of staying hidden and garlic has no effect on them. The movies didn’t help either — they just tarnished my image of these fanged immortals even more. It was all lame but I went along with it; In fact I enjoyed it.

But then I grew up and got tired of supernatural creatures. But unfortunately, maturity was short-lived in my case.

Soon on our TV screens, came another series about these fanged paranormal creatures, “The Vampire Diaries”. Initially, I steered clear of this story about two male vampires and a mortal girl; it seemed predictable to say the least. Turning a deaf ear to all the swooning and the sighing over Damon and Stefan, I went on with my life, positive that I wouldn’t be lured into the lair by these two bloodthirsty creatures. How wrong was I. Curiosity, yet again, got the best of me. I downloaded the entire series — the books by L J Smith, not the TV series based on them — and set about reading all four in quick succession. Initial reaction: Stop me, somebody.

But no one did, so I gave in and watched the TV series too. (And yes Stefan is swoon-worthy.)

And then there was “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “The Vampire Academy”, “Blue Blood”, “Night Worlds” and “Night Huntress” — all read and mentally digested by me. But after doing so, I hang my head in shame. I never claimed to be a strong person, but even curiosity needs to be curbed sometimes. But in my defense, most young adult novels nowadays have nothing but supernatural creations, twisted love triangles and endless ‘bloody’ coolness.

I personally feel vampires have been done to death, it’s time authors (and readers, too) moved on to some other creature of the night: Zombies, maybe? I’m not sure how that would go with the audiences but it’s worth trying to dampen the massive wave of vampire-centered entertainment.

But with all the hackneyed storylines, stories on vampires are in vogue. Most of us love them, an equal amount hates them, but at the end of the end we simply can’t ignore them. But in hindsight, I want Dracula back, at least there was an intrigue factor to him.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2012.