Kweeny Joins in the Vampire's Day Soiree

Velcome foolish mortals! Today is a special day. A day of romance and forbidden passions. A day of lust and sensuality. What better day then the dreaded Valentine's day to celebrate the creatures of the night! Because who can be as romantic in the monster world as a vampire?

Of course, I could debate the merits of Frankenstein monster and is love story with the bride, as I find that to be a very compelling story, but honestly, I know it's not really a romantic one. The bride is chosen to be the monster's lover, not that in vampire stories women aren't manipulated into being play-things for vampires. But  if I had to choose between Dracula and The Bride and Monster as the best of the dark love stories, Dracula would win. There is actual romance in Dracula, despite all the other things going on. 

Today I will share with you my top favourite vampiric romances. The good, the bad, and the holy hell that's HOT!

KWEENY'S EPIC VAMPIRE ROMANCES

1. Dracula

Dracula will always be the top for me in vampire literature, cinema, everything. Dracula started the romantic ideal of the vampire. A creature of the night who is prince of darkness, who longs for the love he lost. My current favourite interpretation of this tale is the one Francis Ford Coppola did. It has some over the top moments, but it should! It's Dracula! The love story is played out so beautifully and taken to a whole new level in this movie, it's hard to not be drawn in. This is how vampires are done!

2. The Hunger

If you've never seen The Hunger, you should. It's a beautiful, tragic tale of a vampire woman and her lovers, and it's played out with such depth and emotion that if you still have a heart you'll weep. Her lovers are all doomed from the start, because once they change they only have a short time to be vampires compared to this ageless beauty. Eventually they will all decay, and she has to put them away in boxes like old discarded love letters. It's so sad. And if that doesn't sell you, there is woman on women love (that isn't played off for a gimmick and is an actual romance) and David Bowie in this! 

3. Interview with the Vampire

Be it the book or the movie, Interview with the Vampire is still one of my favourite love stories ever. Filled with plenty of love and lust tales, this story has all the tragic vampire angst you could ever want. From Claudia the immortal child with her two daddies, to Louise and Lestat, to Louise and Armand, all of Anne Rice's vampire's are so beautiful, static and eternally flawed. They are like walking porcelain dolls who try to touch the world but crack just a little more each time they do. Monsters with angels faces.

4. Let the Right One In

You've probably heard me rant about this book and movie before, but trust me, both are awesome and you should experience them both. Let the Right One In  is such a good adaptation of the book, and even captures the love story between Oskar and Eli. Yes, they are children, well, one is. The other is a vampire, and the way her story is told is brutal, visceral and yet still tragically romantic. True fans of the monster that is the vampire will adore this movie. 

5. Thirst

If you want a movie that goes deep into the fucked up nature of vampires and how they view relationships, let me introduce you to Thirst. Not only does a poor Catholic priest become a vampire after infecting himself with the virus, his lusts overcome him, and what he does to Tae-Ju and in turn, what she does to him later on is pretty horrific and intense. Definitely less traditionally romantic of the vampire tales here, but shows us the fucked up nature of romance and desire.

6. Buffy and her vamp Bois.

Yes, I am a Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan. It's a good show, and a guilty pleasure of mine. When I am sick I have marathons of it and then go on the the Angel show until I am well. It's one of the better shows in this style out there. If you have somehow missed what Buffy is about it's really simple: She's a Slayer. She is supposed to kill all manner of beasties that come crawling out of the hellmouth she lives in, especially vampires. But she ends up in relationships with some of the vampires. Angel was the first, and in a lot of ways, they had a beautiful, tragic and painful romance. Him having a soul forced on him helped with the love part, and I don't think Buffy ever got over him. But when his soul is taken, he becomes one of the worst killers to ever walk the earth at night. Makes having a long term relationship hard. 

Later in the series though Spike shows up again, but he's been messed with an now has a chip in his brain making him a little more human. And the poor bugger (who once had an epic romance with Drucilla. If you want fucked up vampire love, they had it in spades) becomes a sort of plaything for Buffy, who's so emotionally broken at the time their "love" happens, that they just end up showing us what a bad relationship can look like. There may be love there, but in my opinion, it's more lust. And I tell you, I was fanning myself over their lusty courtship. DAYUM Spike is a hawt bloke!

And that is my list of Vampire Love! I actually prefer my vampire romances over romantic comedies, because to me, romantic comedies are friggen scary! I can't stand them. They make me feel so uncomfortable. They are too fake and formulaic for my tastes, and while yes, vampire love also has it's formula, it's not pablum. It seems more real because it's more fucked up and crazy. To me, love is a wild ride. It's not cut and dried, and it can very much be dark and primal. Vampires in love just show us how terrible love can be mixed with monstrous urges. 

Please feel free to check out my fellow vamp lovers doing this blog event!

 Holly's Horrorland

Little Gothic Horrors
The Vampire Girl
Ms. Misantropia
Jenny's House of Horrors
Not This Time, Nayland Smith
The Gothic Embrace
Retro-Zombie