Romancing the Vampire/Vampire Romance

The modern vampire tale signified the shift not only in readership but also in cultural conventions about characters, relationships, and eroticism. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, vampires have pervaded every aspect of popular culture: vampires became a part of mainstream culture. With the rise of modern vampire fictions, authors revitalized and reworked vampire fiction.  These vampire purveyors drew a new and deeply committed audience: women, to whom the publishing industry markets much of the newest vampire fiction, marking a shift in the demographics of readers.   The emergence of paranormal women’s literature demonstrated this audience shift.  Often dismissed by literary critics, the romance novel, particularly the paranormal romance novel, became the new “penny dreadful,” considered tasteless tripe to placate the uneducated masses and with romance novels that mass of readers is largely female.  While literary critics discount the vampire romance novel, the sales of vampire romance novels increased.  Vampire fiction, particularly vampire romance novels, became a fixture for female readers as these novels grabbed the attention of women through marketing and through their appeal to women’s socialization and by focusing around a strong woman.   Furthermore, vampires have acted as romantic figures with vampire romance novels focusing on relationships, emotions, and sexuality, particularly positive images of female sexuality.  I will explore the evolution of the vampire from folklore to these modern romance novel heroes via written and visual texts. 

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Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2009