DID A 1748 POET PAVE THE WAY FOR VAMPIRES??
Cathryn Stout from Memphis Commercial Appeal wrote this short article about the oral and then written history of vamps:
Charlaine Harris’ books are part of a rich history of vampire literature. Urban fantasy followers are familiar with the recent “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer and the Anne Rice books including the 1976 classic “Interview with the Vampire.”But the vamp’s first literary incarnation came in “The Vampire” published in 1748 by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, said Dr. Heide Crawford, professor of Germanic languages and literatures at the University of Kansas.
Before the German poem, these “human seeming monsters” were confined to oral folklore, she said. She credits Ossenfelder with establishing many of the motifs found in the work of Harris and others.
“Seduction. Eroticism. The familiar, but the hidden secret is that this character will cause your death,” she said.
“The reason why this particular figure has been popular for so long and in such similar ways is because it has been adapted over and over again to express the contemporary fears of a culture,” Crawford added.
Interesting take on vamp stories and how they have adapted over time. Does Twilight express our current fears? Do you think Stephenie read older vamp stories before writing the Twilight series?
