*~*Novelist Ann Rice*~*
One of my favorite novelists, She created some of the most famous vampire novels. Not only that, but she began to bring back the old gothic-type of writing about vampires. Portraying then as creatures with love, sadness, hatred, and a soul. Her first series of novels are called, "The Vampire Chronicles." She did not just create stories about vampires, she also has written novels about witches, which she called, "The Mayfair witches." She seems to make her novels almost like a supernatural soap opera, with drama around every corner, and never having a dull moment. I consider her writings to be a tale because of the way she writes. She changed the old ways of vampire thinking to something new. Just to let everyone know, I defiantly recommend reading some of her book... They're awesome!
*~*Slavic Vampires*~*
There are so many different countries that have references to creatures resembling vampires its unbelievable. Slavic vampires for instance, began to appear in the 9th century. The causes to be a vampire were you were born with teeth or a tail, conceived on a certain date, or you were excommunicated from your village or family. To prevent this all, you could place a crucifix in a coffin when burying someone, or you could put poppy seeds inside. Slavic people believed that vampires had a fascination with counting items. Evidence that there was a vampire in their midst was a shortage in livestock. Also a body of a dead person would seem to be alive, have long nails and hair, or be swollen. If you would like to get rid of one, an exorcism is always the best way to go, but a good old fashion stake through the heart wouldn't hurt either to the Slavic people.
*~*Today, Movies, and Novels*~*
Vampires have been fading out of the media for years now. But some horror monsters are beginning to come back into the light. For instance, they recently made a movie called, "The league of Extraordinary Men." This movie contains many old characters such as Captain Nemo from, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and the fair Mina Harker. Maybe in the future, we will be seeing more of vampires and old world monsters. Novels about vampires are also fading away, and not coming back into the light. It seems that to learn about vampires, you would have to search into the past... maybe to find a good novels, really far back. But, you never know.
