Tuesday, April 26, 2011

V is for Vampire

V is for Vampire.

Not many people know this, but it was vampires and not witches that were my first love in horror.  Maybe it was my steady diet of Hammer Horror, Dark Shadows and the Night Stalker in the 70's that would later influence how I approached my games and later horror games.
My first character was a Cleric (an odd choice for an atheist gamer I know) but he described as a hunter of the undead.  I thought clerical turning was about the coolest thing ever back then.  I had written a number of "house rules" on vampire based on the books I would get from my local library and all the old Dracula movies I'd watch.  It also helped to have a mother and father that liked that sort of stuff too.

I recall one summer during high school, I had bought myself a VCR and hooked it up to my parents VCR and I did nothing but rent vampire movies and make copies.  Bad, I know. But in my defense...well I have no defense really I was just a kid.  But I copied everything I could and watched and rewatched them all.  I still have them oddly enough, 13 VHS tapes in black plastic cases with no names on them.  I would watch whatever I popped in.  I have versions of Dracula that have never made it to DVD as far as I know and some that maybe shouldn't have.  The tapes are nearly worn out now and my faves I have on DVD.  But that was not the end of my obsessions.

Read tons of books, most of questionable literary quality, and pretty much played nothing but Ravenloft all through college.  Yes I did wear a lot of black, had a black trench coat and liked to hang out at the only thing that passed for a goth bar in town.

And then one day I got tired of it all.  I kept the books, the clothes and the game stuff, but I was not as obessesed with it anymore.  In fact by the time that Vampire the Masquerade came around it barely got a notice from me.

Every so often I get that old itch.  I watched nothing but vampire movies for the first few weeks of October back in my Horror Movie Challenge.  I still post a lot of vampire related material here including the stats of the girls from Vampyres and Dracula, nothing like the stuff I was doing in the 80's.  Most of that is not even suitable to be re-read by me, let alone re-post for the public at large to see.  But maybe if I find something good.

10 comments:

Stefan Poag said...

What's not to like about Vampires? Unlike most monsters, they are so fucking suave. They don't just burst down the door and go "rawww rawww!" and eat you --- they toy with their food. Plus they can convert other people to vampirism... which, for disaffected teenagers probably seems a big draw.
My one complaint is the 'nice' vampires that keep cropping up. AFter shows like 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (where we had a couple 'reformed' Vampires) and 'Trueblood,' I'm finding that we have moved further and further away from the conception of vampire as an inbred aristocrat up in his castle who literally feeds off the people under his power. I understand 'Twilight' moved the vampire even further into the 'nice' by making them a bunch of dewy eyed seductive shoe-gazers who just want a girl to love. Bah! I'll take my vampires as decadent sexual (and literal) predators without scruple, please!

Donna K. Weaver said...

It's easy to burn out on something.

Pontifex said...

Tim is not a very good name for a vampire. Maybe that is why you left the genre, because you realized you could never be one! ;)

"And I shall call him.... TIM!"

The Jovial Priest said...

Oh I don't know Greg. Tim the Enchanter worked for Monty Python.

Why not Tim the vampire, or Tim the wicked wizard of the wild west (said with a German accent).

doreen said...

I love vampires! I used to run home from school to watch Dark Shadows. I never slept at night because I also scared the heck out of myself but could not stop watching.

JB said...

I'm just waiting for tomorrow's "W" post...what's it gonna' be?
; )

paul said...

Fans of old-school predatory vampires should find a lot to like in 'Twilight'. It's exactly the kind of movie that would be made by a cruel, decadent monster.

It's a recruitment film for vampires! After it comes out, your food would be chasing you, begging to be eaten!

Timothy S. Brannan said...

@Paul. LOL. Yeah, you might be on to something there.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Believe it or not, I'm currently shooting the book trailer for my vampire novel, which has a possible release in the fall (dependent on a few factors - all good.) It's been awesome in the extreme meeting my characters in the flesh! Okay, so they're actors, but still...

エイプリル said...

Vampires are hella cool. I think they're the coolest of the monsters. Really good post!