TW: 100Things #1 My 'In' to the Love of Vampires

[beren_writes]

So vampires are undead creatures who drink blood - not an overly appealing initial description, right? When I was little vampires terrified me just like all other horror tropes. I enjoyed the odd Hammer Horror film with Dracula, but I could take or leave vampires as much as any other girl.

Then "The Lost Boys" happened.



It was the mid 80s and suddenly vampires were sexy - bad, but still sexy. That was it, I was hooked and I have never looked back. I had never heard the term fanfiction, but I was definitely writing it at the time. I have notepads full of it and no, you can't see it, although I do have to proudly report - no Mary Sue ;) (that came later in my Star Trek writing :P).

I'm not sure what about this film so caught me, or why it sparked a life long obsession. Maybe it spoke to a spark of teenage rebellion (I hate to admit it, I was a terribly nice, conformist teenager). Maybe it was the cool supernatural stuff going on. Or maybe it was that Kiefer Sutherland, Brooke McCarter, Billy Wirth and Alex Winter were incredibly hot with glowing eyes and teeth. I was also totally down with their fashion sense :).

Whatever it was, I rooted for Michael and Star while watching to movie, but all of my fanfic is about bringing back David and the boys. The vampires were my obsession and I was quite disappointed Michael wasn't one any more, okay, make that a lot disappointed. I do have to admit, I always brought them back not so bad, just wild ;).

If you have not seen "The Lost Boys" you are a) missing out on a classic and b) missing out on pure 80s. It is a must see for every vampire fan. I have seen this movie in all it's forms, cinema cut, VHS cut, TV cut and DVD extra scenes. I can quote it :). If you haven't seen it, add it to your 'to watch' list now.

As for the 2 sequels:

The second movie "Lost Boys: The Tribe" is pure drivel. It's terrible and is ultimately boring. If you have to watch the beginning to get the characters and then skip to the end just to watch the big climax (which is more of a meh than a bang). The only good things about it are Corey Feldman and some of the background characters. This film should be buried and forgotten.

The third film Lost Boys: The Thirst is back on form and vampire fans should definitely watch it. Lots of fun with lots of vampire action. Not as good as the original, but well on the way :).

So, now you know what my "in" to the vampire genre was, tell me, if you are a vampire fan, what is yours. If you're not a vampire fan, tell me why not and let me convince you otherwise ;P.

Comments

[ex_sunshine457]

Although I consider myself a vampire fan, and have been reading books of the vampire genre for years, I've never actually seen The Lost Boys! I have it on DVD and intended to watch it, but then Twilight happened and killed my interest, so it is sat there languishing on the shelf.

My actual "in" to the vampire genre was Anne Rice. I watched Interview with the Vampire, picked up the book not long after and my obsession was born. Although I did prefer the second book to the first, as I found Lestat to be a much more interesting character than Louis.

I might put The Lost Boys on my "to watch" list for the weekend. I think this post has convinced me to give it a go. :)

Back when it was the SciFi channel..

[(Anonymous)]

Ever seen Forever Knight (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103417/)? I fell in love with vampires thanks to it. Not so much for Nick, though he was a decent guy. Lacroix, though.. now there was a great vampire. I loved to listen to his voice.

I'm still a fan of the Anita Blake series, though I admit I will walk away from it if Richard becomes too prominent. Jean Claude, Damien, Wicked & Truth... there are others I love but those are the ones I most easily think of and enjoy. Give me a vamp that's not quite good, but not quite evil either and I'm a happy gal.

Honestly, I think I watched Buffy before Forever Knight, but I don't count that. Much as I did love Spike the show was just a soap opera to me. So Lacroix of Forever Knight gets the honor of being my "in" to the vampire love. =)

[moth2fic]

I have never been a vampire fan. I prefer my fantasy to be set on other worlds or to ignore human society as far as possible and to come without the 'baggage' of myths and legends that vampires have accumulated though I have to say I don't feel the same way about werewolves or fae so maybe it's just the feeding aspect. I hate most vampire films - really hate - along with most horror films that make me 'jump' (and along with e.g. Supernatural...) I struggled through the Anne Rice vampires; I really tried because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. I read Laurell Hamilton's Merry Gentry books avidly but have so far avoided Anita Blake.

Now I'm being very slowly won over. I adored George R.R. Martin's Fevre Dream. I've read Deborah Harkness' A Discovery of Witches and must get hold of the rest of the trilogy. And your Alexander in Cat's Call is thoroughly appealing, possibly because he is from a different culture. I'm a serious fan of Being Human.

So you don't have to convince me but it still isn't normally my genre of choice!

[caffeinified]

Lost Boys! Good movie. I also love Dracula with Gary Oldman and Keanu Reeves. It's one of my favorites.