Tuesday, August 02, 2005
The Wicked Lure of the VampireO' Vampire! Why doth we love thy of the long, ferocious fang? Why, oh, why does your blood hunger fascinate us so?
Okay, by all rights...vampires? Euuww. They're (un)dead and their breath stinks like old blood. Not to mention, they MUST lisp sometimes when they're talking. I mean, you KNOW there has to be some lisping happenin' with those teeth. Not exactly a picture of romance and eroticism.
And, yet....
We love them. Well, I love them, anyway, and so do countless other erotic romance readers.
Why?
First, what sets the vampire apart from your basic butcher, baker or candlestick maker? In some cases, there's that whole undead thing, but not always. My vampires are not the undead kind, and neither are Lauren Dane's.
Our vampires are immortal, however, and powerful. They do things no ordinary mortal can. Those alone are seductive elements. Bottom line, vampires provide an escape from the ordinary, from the mundane. They provide a vacation from society, reality and all those pesky rules.
Plus, They're damned sexy. These days, they're no longer portrayed as shriveled-up, old, ugly monsters as they have in traditional vampire fiction. Now they're more commonly portrayed as handsome, beautiful, suave and seductive. They are eternally good-looking, youthful and will never suffer disease or death.
Oh, and they bite. *shiver* Ah, yes, The Bite.
Could it be that the eroticism of a vampire is somehow tied in with their bite being both attack and seduction? Perhaps it's that they choose an erogenous zone--the sensitive throat--making their victim feel at once aroused and endangered at the same time? Those are two powerful power emotional highs all rolled into one.
Traditionally vampires have been depicted as succubi and incubi who embody the very heart of sexuality. They represent the dark side of our desires--rape fantasies, sadomasochism, and bondage. They embody the deep fantasies some of us have, but never allow the light of day to touch.
Power. See, vampires have it.
Vampires have the ability to thrall even the most well-behaved woman. He can overpower her, have his wicked way with her and there's nothing she can do but enjoy it. Like bondage, the vampire takes away the little voice inside that tells us that enjoying such deviance is wrong, simply because under the vampire's power, we have no choice.
Vampires are creatures of the pure, unadulterated id. They represent sex, power, and wealth--things everyone desires. They represent all the darker sexual fantasies we have. They have no inhibitions, no reason to comply with societal expectations because they are so far removed from society.
Under the sway of a vampire's power, our ability to comply with the moral structures in our mind that prevent us from enjoying those darker sexual acts is completely dissolved.
Under their power, we're set free.
