Sink Your Teeth Into This

As we started The Crucible in class, Mr. O'Connor mentioned how mythological creatures became popular because of something that was occurring in society. I immediately began thinking about the vampire phenomena that seems to be sweeping over the world. With movies like Twilight, TV shows like True Blood and the Vampire Diaries, and novels like the Vampire
Academy series (and Twilight of course), vampires seem to be everywhere. So why are we so obsessed with these bloodsucking creatures?
One theory is because of the AIDS epidemic. In an interview, writer Neil Gaiman addressed this claim by saying, " I think then the thing that changed everything and that gave vampire fiction a new lease on life and death was AIDS, because you hit the early ‘80s, and suddenly you have something in the blood that is an exchange of blood that kills and is altogether fundamentally about sex. And vampirism essentially came out of the closet as a metaphor for the act of love that kills. "

Gaiman brings up a very interesting point. So if AIDS is what created a vampire hysteria in the 80s and 90s, is it still responsible for the rebirth of the vampire obsession?

I don't believe so. I do think that AIDS originally created this whole infatuation with these deadly creatures, but I don't think it's what's fueling the attraction these days. I think vampires are outsiders, and it's something many people can relate to.

Gaiman touches on this notion when he said, "I don’t think vampirism, at least from my point of view, is ever about power, because it’s always about people exiled to the fringes. Vampires, I think, should be outsiders."

I completely agree with the idea that it's about people being "exiled" or even ostracized; however, I disagree with him in the fact that he doesn't think vampirism is about power. I do think it is. I think it's about having complete control over another person. Otherwise, why else would they give vampires mind reading powers or hypnotizing gazes? People fantasize about being in control and vampires assist that fantasy.