Books, television and movies. Everywhere you turn there’s a vampire waiting for you to fall in love with. Television created vampires as the tortured hero as early as 1967 when the Soap Opera Dark Shadows introduced Barnabas Collins. A melodramatic, mysterious vampire who boosted ratings for the soap the very week his character was written into the story line. Many of Barnabas’ scenes ended with him morphing into a bat and flying away to his cave to hang upside down until his next appearance.
But times changed, writers and readers became more sophisticated and the undead flying away as furry-looking things with webbed wings was no longer attractive. Then, almost ten years later Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire was published and became a phenomenon. Interview With The Vampire was the first in a series entitled The Vampire Chronicles, creating a stunning portrait of vampires that hadn’t been written before. After eleven books the series came to an end, but the vampire plot was hatched and it’s been growing ever since. Romance novels were filled with the new undead, tragic hero. Christine Feehan, Lynsay Sands, Laurell K. Hamilton, J.R. Ward, and dozens, and dozens of writers began creating vampire heroes with new and interesting mythologies. And we the readers clamored for more, more, more. We found the undead sexy, tragic, tortured, romantic, strong, and most of all, a hero we could fall in love with.
Romance writers with their ingenious styles, complicated plot lines, and unique mythologies have created worlds that envelop us and keep paranormals a top selling genre. I believe it’s the difference in mythologies from writer to writer that keeps readers adding new books and new series to their TBR pile.
Christine Feehan’s long running Dark Series featuring the Carpathians. An ancient race of vampires who use their telepathic abilities to call humans, feed upon them, and then erase their memories. Tragically, the race is dying out due to the lack of females being born. The males of the race must meet their life mate before their 200th year or be doomed to a life of the darkest evil. Characteristics include being able to fly and shapeshift into various animal forms.
J.R. Ward created a brotherhood of vampires who must fight a group of baby-powder smelling soulless men to keep their race alive. Characteristics include drinking blood from a vampire of the opposite sex to survive and the ability to dematerialize.
The Chicagoland Vampires Series by Chole Neill is set in contemporary Chicago featuring vampires who are sleek, chic, powerful, and wealthy. They’re out of the closet and want to live along side humans peacefully. But they must first fight vampires within their group that have a different agenda as well as mortals who would rather see them burned to a crisp then have a drink with them at a Lakeshore charity dinner. Characteristics include, drinking blood delivered in bags, eating as much food as they like, superhuman strength and speed.
With the abundance of mythologies and characteristics we have to choose from when reading a paranormal romance featuring vampires, it doesn’t look as if romance writers will be putting them in coffins and having them sleep for the next century. No, the undead are living amongst us and prominently featured in some of our favorite books.
Which of the various vampire mythologies are you most drawn to? What are some of your favorite traits in a vampire?
Maria Lokken is an avid romance reader and an award winning television producer.
Hi Maria!
OMG! There are so many vampire series! Well, after reading countless recommendations about the Black Dagger Brotherhood, I went out and bought all 6 of them. I haven't been disappointed yet. I just love them! Dark, deadly and gorgeously intelligent Vishous! Oh, boy!
Then there's Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunters. They are to die for! I have 4 more books to read in the series and I haven't found one yet that I don't love. The word drool was made for these guys. Acheron is just ... a hero like no other! I absolutely adore him!
Also, Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed Series. Holy moly! Their delicious! The mysterious Tegan is my favorite! I fell for him in Book 1 and I hadn't even read his book!
I love the fact that all of these vamps are tortured and dark. They think there's no hope or love for them. They all have these redeeming qualities inside of them. It just takes that one special woman to set these things free. No matter how many I read, I love the part where the hope is accepted in the form of the heroine's love and trust. It never fails to move me. Plus, the stories are just down right good. There's mystery, action, mistrust, confrontation, danger, sexual tension and sometimes revenge to name a few things that happen. It's all there! I'm totally addicted! 
