At GGA, we love a good trope but often wonder about its origins. That’s where this column, The Origin of Tropes, comes in. Today, we look at vampires: the origin of where vamps come from and the roots of some specific vampire lore.
Historical Roots of Vampires
Vamp-like creatures can be found in ancient mythology. There are Mesopotamian tales about blood-drinking spirits, while Greek and Roman myths featured Lamia/Empusae, early vampiric figures. Eastern Europe also contributed to the vampire legend. Creatures like the Serbian “vampir” and Russian “upir” — reanimated corpses feeding on the living. Slavic influences were instrumental in shaping the Western vampire narrative.
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Early Literary Influences
The European literary world significantly molded the vampire archetype. John Polidori’s 1819 “The Vampyre” tells the tale of a sophisticated, aristocratic vampire and is an essential precursor to Bram Stoker‘s 1897 Dracula. Stoker’s novel was key in establishing modern vampire tropes and popularity. He presents Count Dracula as a shape-shifting immortal with a thirst for blood and vulnerability to sunlight.
Nosferatu: Vampires’ Foray Into Film
Of course, vampires would not be what they are today if it weren’t for film and television. One of the earliest, most influential vampire films is 1922’s Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror). F.W. Murnau directed the German Expressionist horror film, and it’s not 100 percent an adaption of Stoker’s Dracula, but its lead is pretty similar.
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Unfortunately for Murnau, the film was similar enough that Florence Stoker (Bram’s wife) sued Murnau, and most copies of his film were destroyed, only surviving in bits and pieces. (I was lucky enough to watch them in film school.) One French dude had a copy of the film, and now that Nosferatu is in the public domain, you can watch it in its entirety on YouTube:
Vampires and Antisemitism
Unfortunately, vampire lore hasn’t always been bloody fun. Sometimes, it’s intersected with antisemitic tropes, particularly around the concept of blood libel, an antisemitic myth that accuses Jews of using Christian blood in rituals. Add to that, many films and stories have historically used negative Jewish stereotypes, both visual and personal. This has changed a bit in modern storytelling, but it’s a dark part of vampire history.
LGBTQ+ Themes
As with most themes around monstrosity, vampires equal “otherness,” which often gets used as a metaphor for LGBTQ+ themes. This hasn’t always been awesome. For example, during the Hays Code era in Hollywood, we got films like 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter. Queer-coded malicious sapphic vampires aren’t exactly a win in my book. But when you cannot show anything overtly homo-gay, maybe it is good enough. I’m not sure.
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Of course, later on, IPs like Interview With the Vampire and True Blood directly addressed queer themes in a (usually) less-problematic way.
Vampires in Modern Media
Speaking of Interview With the Vampire … the 1994 film was a touchstone in the evolution of vampire tropes. The film’s Gothic romance that twined love, desire and the draw of immortality diversified the genre. Other game changers include Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight.
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Buffy made sexy, soulful vampires a household thing. For better or for worse, Twilight introduced “sparkling” vampires into the zeitgeist.
The Origins of Specific Vampire Tropes
Different vampire tropes find their roots in different places. Bloodlust is a primal fear that traces its roots back to ancient mythology. Ideas about immortality are more modern inventions, explored in Interview With the Vampire and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
As mentioned earlier, Stoker introduced the idea of vampires’ vulnerability to sunlight. This contradicts earlier folklore. Fangs trace back to “The Vampyre” and Dracula; many people consider fangs to symbolize fear and eroticism.
The history of vampire tropes is long and varied and will continue to grow. We’ve only scratched the surface, but we hope this primer helped scratch an itch for the creature’s monstrous history. What was the most interesting fact? Let us know in the comments below!
This article was originally published on 1/8/24.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/the-origin-of-tropes-the-antihero/
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