What Is with the Vampires?!

Christy Hewitt
ENGL 299
Critical Essay, Option #4

Alright, I’m going to say it, I am a Twilight Fan. Though I do not take any shame in being a fan of sparkling vampires I understand that many people are probably rolling their eyes. Authors write books for people to read them, they write books to attract a fan base. Stephanie Meyer is one of these authors (even though some people wouldn’t even call her an author), and she has also paved the way for authors that just so happen to write about vampires.

A fan base is defined as “the regular supporters and enthusiasts of a team, musician or musical group, entertainer, or other celebrity.” I have been a fan of vampires since 1997 when Buffy the Vampire Slayer came onto television. Anything and everything that has to do with vampires I am usually tuned right in.

I first heard about Twilight in the summer of 2008, I saw a name on the Internet, Edward Cullen and I wanted to learn more about it, so I googled him and got his Wikipedia page. I immediately thought, “It’s a vampire series, perfect,” so I ordered the first two books and started reading them. Within the first three chapters I was already in love (probably because I’m a girl). I finished the four book series by the end of summer and eagerly awaited the arrival of the first movie. While I do credit myself for many people reading this series I only think I expanded the fan base a little. By the end of 2008 Twilight was a name everyone knew. They knew about the sexy vampires and the love story and even though there were plenty of people who wanted nothing to do with it, there were plenty more that wanted every piece of this series as I did.

The fans were growing and growing and soon the name “Twi-hards” was coined. This name was given to us and we embraced it. We stood in line at midnight to buy Breaking Dawn, we stood in light at midnight when the first movie was released and we bought every trinket imaginable that could relate to this series. I convinced as many friends as I could to read the books and they jumped on the bandwagon as well.

The question that has haunted me for the past two years (and I’m sure others) is why vampires, why now? They have been around in history and entertainment forever, literally, they don’t die. All of a sudden in the past 2-3 years they have become one of the most admired things in TV, movies, books, even music. Along with Twilight came the surge of TV shows like True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries (both based on a book series). Movies like 30 Days of Night, Underworld, Daybreakers, and even Wolfman became extremely successful. Other book series like House of Night, Vampire Academy, and even spoof novels on vampires are popular. I’ve been trying to come up with a reason why all of these things are so popular now and the only thing that makes sense is that it is the new pop culture phenomenon. With the rising popularity of fantasy fiction, vampires have jumped on its coattails and helped progress the genre as well. At first it was The Hobbit and Chronicles of Narnia, then it was Harry Potter, now it’s vampires, specifically Twilight. There have been thousands of fantasy novels made in the past ten years but only a couple have caught the eye of the public.

Honestly, I think half of it has to do with gender. Ninety-nine percent of the fans of these vampire series are women and even if men are fans it’s not like they would tell people that. There are very few females out there who don’t watch, read, or enjoy at least one of these vampire series. Another thing that helps is the extremely good-looking men cast to play these vampires. These actors are being chased around the mall because women genuinely want the men to bite them. The stories that accompany these novels are well written (even though some people believe they aren’t), and they are portrayed in film and TV very well. The suspense factor keeps us on the edge of our seats. With all of that said it seems as if the entertainment industry is the one to thank for the progression of this new obsession. We love vampires, we have made that clear, so what do they do? They push out as many vampire series as they can and the public just eats it up. The make sure the series has a cast of good looking actors that brood very well, they make sure the stories will keep an audience on edge, and they made sure we want to come back for more.

Something else that I am sure Hollywood knows it that people watch most of these series because they want to escape the norm, to get away from everyday life and dive into something completely unnatural. These vampire series allow them to do this. Twilight lets its fans jump into the world of supernatural vampires.

Fans also want something to continue following. Whether you are a fan of a music artist, a celebrity, or a book series the most important thing that a fan needs is material and that is what Twilight gave. The fans aren’t obsessed with this book just because of the love story. There is a really cool supernatural element that captures the attention of each of its readers. They escape into this world of vampires and as soon as they come out of it, five more vampire series are at their fingertips.

Stephanie Meyer created a phenomenon whether people like to say it or not. How did she do it? She simply wrote a love story about a vampire and a human. There have been plenty of these types of stories in the past, like one of the originals, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When Buffy the Vampire Slayer went off the air I was certain that there wouldn’t be anything like it, but then Twilight came along I was taken back by the material and story that accompanied this author.

So what if Stephanie Meyer was influenced by Joss Whedon and the Buffy universe, who takes the ultimate prize? In my book that’s easy, Buffy…hands down. Buffy the Vampire Slayer lasted for seven seasons on the air and help the audiences attention during that whole time, maybe a disappoint season here or there. All Stephanie Meyer did was take what she knew about vampires and created a world around it proving these facts true or false. Joss Whedon created a world, in which vampires existed, and they were evil, and there was one girl who could stop them. A girl that both fell in love with vampires and killed them on a daily basis, which got me thinking…maybe this is where some women fell for the idea of vampires. Maybe back in 1997 the entertainment industry caught wind of this vampire phenomenon and they’ve been shoving it in our face since then. The fact that there are very few stories told in which a girl is the heroine may have influenced Joss Whedon to make this kick ass character. Buffy has a take no prisoners mentality and a confidence that most women should have and there just so happened to be vampires involved in her world. The vampires were really the icing on top of a great concept for a show (I mean really, has anyone seen the musical episode)! Stephanie Meyer may have developed a huge hit and she may have changed the face of the entertainment business when it comes to stories about vampires but lets be honest, Joss Whedon will always be king of vampire stories in my book.

Vampire novels are so successful today because Hollywood wanted them to be successful. They started off with Twilight and have moved on to other series. These series allow fans to escape into a world that is unnatural and that is what they keep coming back for. Joss Whedon and Stephanie Meyer created a stories that skyrocketed vampires into the forefront of today’s pop culture and whether people like it or not, vampires don’t seem to be going anywhere soon.

Creating Borders in Fantasy

With any genre, the question that comes to mind right away is one of borders. Where does one genre end, and another genre begin? No genre has as much controversy surrounding its borders as fantasy. There are numerous works that can be seen as fantasy, but could also be seen as Sci-fi or Horror, or even a detective story. However, in the case of fantasy, I think it is actually a needless argument.

The word fantasy has been corrupted through usage for thousands of years. If you look at the origins of the word Fantasy, it comes from the greek phantasia which means imaginary visions or perceptions. This is the basic definition I will be using for fantasy, as I find it eliminates many of the arguments about what is and isn't fantasy.

Science fiction is a genre that likes to be held separate from fantasy, especially by critics. It is often seen as being of greater value, despite the fact that it becomes dated so quickly. There are two things that make science fiction just another form of fantasy to me. Firstly, to quote Arthur C Clarke, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” For example, does it matter if it's magical healing pixie dust, or advanced medical nanite dust? Not really. In science fiction, technology serves the same purposes in a plot that magic does in any kind of fantasy. Additionally, the science used in Sci-fi is not usually real, or even possible by the technology of the era in which it is written. At that point, the plot is relying on something imaginary to function.

That right there is what makes it possible to classify a broad range of works as fantasy. I believe that for any kind of fantasy, the main criteria is that it relies on something that does not, and more importantly, to the best of our knowledge could not exist in our world. Through this system, it is easy to classify other things as fantasy as well.

For example, horror that is not of the psycho-killer du jour variety is pretty clearly fantasy when using this criteria. Dracula for example relies on the existence of a creature that eats people's blood to live much longer than humans. The same criteria of relying on imaginary things can be applied to the wolfman, and everything written by H.P. Lovecraft.

Lastly, and most unpleasantly, there are the godawful supernatural romances. These things sadly rely on magical creatures like vampires and werewolves to push their poorly written, often somewhat pornographic narratives ahead. It almost makes me regret making the fantasy categorization so broad, as it includes a lot of godawful rubbish. Examples of this style of fantasy include the Twilight series and the Anita Blake series.

Fortunately, this classification system does have a redeeming feature, and it is that it brings in the classic epics and romances, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh or the romances of Chretien De Troyes. These works are considered classics, and are taught heavily at many academic levels. The ancient epics nearly always feature magic and gods, with few exceptions, while the romances feature evil witches and wizards and love potions. These epics and romances are actually the foundation for what most people refer to when they think of fantasy.

The idea of classifying things is so prevalent in modern society, especially with things like books. Part of this came about as a result of the publishing industry trying to make it easier for people to find books they like in a bookstore. However, this systemic categorization by publishers has left a great deal of things poorly sorted, and does a great disservice to the name of fantasy. It is by looking back in time that we are able to see that many of the distinctions we create are just that--created. When the wisdom of the ancients is consulted, it becomes clear that any attempt to divide fantasy up into smaller categories like science fiction and horror and romance are just that--fantasy.

Fantasy versus Other Genres

Brittany sizes up fantasy's chances:

When it comes to comparing fantasy fiction to most other popular genres it just does not stack up very well. There are several factors that have an effect on why fantasy does not stack well up against the most popular genres. A few of those factors are how well readers actually know the fantasy genre, sales and fan bases.

There have however been a few very successful fantasy fiction books, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Twilight. For example as of November 21st Twilight was number seven on the list of Top 10 Children's Series for the New York Times and has been on the list for 170 weeks while Harry Potter is at number nine on the same list and has been on the list for 232 weeks. Each of these four series had major success and include well-known books to many readers.

Although the above seems great, when measured on a larger scale based on what is sold and highly marketed in stores the fantasy genre is not what is at the top. For example when you go to Walmart and look at the book section you see authors such as Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Nicholas Sparks and whatever new celebrity has written a book. Also when I asked friends and family who some of their favorite authors were I got some of the names just listed along with Mary Higgins Clark, Jodi Picoult, Lisa Jackson, and James Patterson. These both further support my statement even more that fantasy fiction does not stack up well against other popular genres.

Another reason why fantasy does not stack up well is because even though fantasy has had the above-mentioned big successes most people do not identify those books with the fantasy genre. With the exception of Twilight because it is a newer book the rest of those books are classics and most people have read them but since a lot of people do not have background on the fantasy genre they do not classify them as fantasy fiction. I think if people had better knowledge of fantasy fiction, what it was and what books fell under the category it would help the genre to become more successful. For example people reading these classic fantasy fiction books without knowing it have boosted the fan base for fantasy fiction but if they liked these books and actually knew what genre they were reading they would probably be more apt to go out and buy more fantasy fiction books. This in turn would help fantasy stack up better to the more popular genres.

As previously mentioned I think that a lot of the problem is people not knowing much about the genre along with their many misconceptions. For example, as a new reader of fantasy fiction my thoughts on what the genre was were completely wrong. I thought fantasy fiction was about magical lands which ended up being correct but I also pictured it more like a Disney movie which was completely incorrect. Recognition of a genre is important in order to build a strong fan base which then moves into the genre becoming popular. Once those two things become stronger then fantasy fiction can better stack up to other genres.

I think that having more mixed fantasy would really help to boost it, for example using humor and romance. I know that we read a few good books this semester that did have humor in them but that was not used to help promote the book which I think may have helped. I also think adding in the romance would help too as long as it is not like Twilight. It would have to be actual romance, heartbreak and so on not the cheesy romance used in Twilight. Including these different aspects and using them to help promote fantasy fiction may attract more readers, such as readers who may never have picked up a fantasy book before. Which in turn could interest a lot of new people in this genre which would make it more popular and then the genre would stack up better.

Can Fantasy Stack up to Other Genres?

Zain Syed's answer:

The fantasy genre often is among the top tier of popular culture and conversation. Perhaps the most internationally recognizable film that has ever been made, Star Wars, is a fantasy story. Certainly the most recognizable children's stories of the past century, Harry Potter, are of the fantasy genre. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, both the original novels and the newer film adaptations, is immensely popular to people of all ages. Now, the Twilight series has over taken young women and has become a staple in popular culture. Just by looking at these examples alone, it is easy to see that fantasy is exceedingly prominent in terms of popularity. And that isn't the only area in which fantasy overcomes other genres.

One of the most disputed topics of discussion when talking about fantasy is its quality. Most people will side with the idea that fantasy is of a lesser quality than nearly all other genres, simply as a rule. However, this is not the case. Because fantasy is such a broad and appealing genre, more people write fantasy. And, since a great number of people write fantasy, there is a greater chance of there being bad fantasy, if only by rule of probability. Though, admittedly, there are plenty of bad fantasy works, there is just as much good fantasy. And luckily, just like those who write it, good fantasy always outshines the bad.

There is a great breadth of different types of fantasy created by many different fantasy authors, all of whom have their own distinct styles and contributions to the genre. Fantasy authors like J.R.R Tolkien lend to betterment of fantasy and literature as a whole. Tolkien, an English professor and philologist who taught at Oxford University, one of the most prestigious schools in the world, used his incredible knowledge of words and language to create several fully developed languages for The Lord of the Rings. He also made a timeline for all of the many different races and people in Middle-Earth as well as a complete history of the world in The Silmarillion. Tolkien's work proved that fantasy can be taken seriously and gave inspiration to future fantasy writers. H.P. Lovecraft also legitimized fantasy by writing horror and, like Tolkien, stories with darker themes. Writers like Piers Anthony have made the genre more appealing to the public by writing comedic fantasy. With Mark Z. Danielewski’s The House of Leaves and Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination, fantasy has implemented ergodic literature, an innovative writing style that breaks the fourth wall. Through writers like these and many more, the genre of fantasy has kept current and progressed along with, and perhaps even farther than, every other genre of literature.

Most important, fantasy does what other genres don't. That is, fantasy gives readers what they want. It doesn’t matter what a reader might want or how obscure their desire is, you can always find what you want in fantasy. This is because fantasy, unlike other genres, or rather, exponentially more so than other genres, gives back to the reader what the reader puts into a fantasy work. Readers always give their own thoughts and criticisms while reading a story, despite the genre, knowingly or not. However, fantasy is the only genre that actively recognizes this, that actively sells itself to the reader. Take relatability for example. A reader might read about a character and identify with certain traits of that character, such as courage or bravery. The character will certainly have other traits, but since the reader doesn't identify with those specific traits, the reader will ignore those attributes that they don't see in themselves. The same rule applies with the setting or plot of a fantasy story. The reader may relate to how the protagonist, say for example, has run away from his home, much like the reader may have gone away from home for an extended period of time. However, the reader will push away everything else that doesn't coincide with them, like, in this fake instance, the fact that the protagonist is a fish and that, in this hypothetical situation, if it doesn't flee from home, it'll be killed by a fisherman.

Fantasy knows this. Because of this, fantasy does match up to other genres. In fact, it surpasses them.