Urbanization

The way Americans live has altered dramatically over the last one hundred years. The population of the United States has largely become made up of urban dwellers. According to the United States census that was conducted in 1990, an average of 68.84 percent of the American population lives in an urban setting (American). As such, urban living has become one of the most significant shaping forces of American culture in the last century. In the relative anonymity of these cultural centers, "death has become more terrible, [because] it can strike when we are among strangers" (Gordon & Hollinger, p. ix). And, as these urban areas have grown, their tightly packed confines have become "blood banks for those who seek blood" (Gordon & Hollinger, p. ix). The explosion of city living in the twentieth century changed the vampire radically. Instead of the solitary figure seen in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, vampires have adopted a more menacing gang-like appearance.

The fear of random, anonymous violence has permeated American culture in recent decades. Television news programs are inundated with stories of gang violence, school shootings, and other signs of urban decay. These threats are exacerbated by the fact that Americans "live in a society where physical mobility is essentially unchecked" (Simpson, p. 6). Unfortunately, these concerns became real over the course of the 1990s. Events like the World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City showed the American people that the threat of violence in American society is genuine. And, as the world wide web made finding "recipes" for building explosive devices relatively simple, they became all the more terrifying.

In the future, it is likely that vampires will continue to mirror threats experienced by the American public. In movies like Blade, vampires have developed a stranglehold on banks, properties, even the police. They lurk just beneath the surface of American society, much like the gangsters or mafiosos of the popular television drama The Sopranos. Vampires allow us to explore our fears in relation to these frightening new elements of late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century America.

The Internet

The vampire genre is developing in ways that have never before been witnessed. Life in the digital world has become a reality and the growth of the internet has revitalized vampire media and its relationship with its fans. Since the genre first appeared in literary form in the nineteenth century, it has almost exclusively been driven by professional artists. The evolution of fan websites, mailing lists, bulletin boards and chat rooms, and amateur fiction archives has altered this element of vampire media radically. Instead of being created for the fans, vampire media is now being created by the fans.

Fan Websites

Fan-sites are an important element of this new segment of vampire media. These official, artist-sanctioned websites allow fans to interact with one another and to interact with professional artists. For example, the official Anne Rice website (www.anne-rice.com) offers news and information about the author, her projects and fan organizations dedicated to her work.

Fan-sponsored websites are also very important. They allow fans to share information and new ideas with one another. For example, the site Pathway to Darkness (www.pathwaytodarkness.com) offers critical articles on vampire films, literature and television. It also offers information on vampire folklore and historic figures who have played a large role in the evolution of the vampire.

In some cases, fan support can substantially influence the viability of an artistic project. The Warner Brothers television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an excellent example of this phenomenon. The series, currently in its fifth year, has reached the end of its contract. Filming costs are extremely high and the show is not the network’s top performer. However, overwhelming fan support for this program, which includes fan sites numbering in the thousands, has led to a fight among at least three networks-Warner Brothers, Fox and ABC-for the future rights to the series (Tuned In).

Mailing Lists, Bulletin Boards and Chat Rooms

Mailing lists, bulletin boards and chat rooms allow fans of vampire media to interact with one another daily, hourly and, in some cases, minute-by-minute. A search of Yahoo! Groups (groups.yahoo.com), the official mailing list service of Yahoo! Incorporated, shows over 3,600 vampire-related mailing lists currently in operation. These lists cover a broad range of vampire media, including but not limited to films, television, animation, literature, visual art and role-playing games.

This form of communication allows fans to develop a dynamic rapport with one another. After watching a television show, reading a novel or viewing a film, they can turn to their computers and discuss their thoughts, feelings and questions about the art they have witnessed. Within these exchanges, fans of the vampire genre are able to communicate in ways never before seen. What was once relegated to a cultish corner of the entertainment industry has now become a powerful, mainstream fan network.

Amateur Fiction Archives

Amateur fiction, or fan fiction, is another important segment of modern vampire media. This fiction, sometimes inspired or driven by other artistic pieces in the genre, is quickly becoming one of the most active elements of internet fandom. Fans throughout the many facets of vampire lore have embraced this new creative endeavor. There are currently over 3,000 websites dedicated strictly to amateur vampire fiction. Some of these sites are quite large. For example, the Fanfiction.net website currently lists over 3,500 vampire-related stories.

These artistic endeavors are important because they allow fans to become active participants in shaping modern vampire lore. Though relatively few authors ever have the opportunity to publish their fiction through mainstream publishing houses, internet publishing allows fans to post new stories on a daily basis. These stories, many of which would never have been read in the past, now have an active life. In a recent personal email on this topic, one writer said that her fan fiction website averages at least one hundred visitors per day and that many of her stories have been read by thousands of visitors. As thousands of amateur writers publish stories, the genre becomes richer than it ever has been before. Not since the days when the vampire genre was strictly an oral art form has it been accessible to and used by this many artists.

As the vampire makes its way through the next millennium, it will continue to grow and change in many interesting and dynamic ways. It is hard to predict the definite future of the genre. However, it is safe to assume that the vampire will continue to be a vital and exciting archetype for years to come.