Cardinal House - studio: June 2009

Friday, June 19, 2009

So, you're addicted to vampires?

Lately there seems to be a never-ending supply of vampire themed books lining the store shelves. Last year Twilight hit the theaters and HBO debuted True Blood. The second season of True Blood is now on (HBO, Sundays @ 9pm -est, yea!) & the next installment of the Twilight saga, New Moon, hits the big screen later this year. Apparently, I'm not the only one addicted to supernatural stories - though we all may have our various reasons for the intrigue.
My addiction began at an early age – and I blame my mom (although she denies it!). I remember watching the remake of Dark Shadows & mom then showing me the original version of the series. We went to go see Coppola’s Dracula in the theater; at home we’d watch Lee and Hamilton for a weekend scary movie night. I “inherited” her personal library collection, which heavily consisted of horror/thriller/murder mysteries that were drenched with the supernatural.
By the time that I discovered Anne Rice, I was an addict. After devouring her Vampire Chronicles I finally grasped why I was so especially drawn to them & similar works. More often than not, the books/movies/shows are really about humanity. Most of these supernatural characters depict us, as humans, at our best and our worst. Our greatest desires and fears. Issues of religion, morality, and politics are almost always on the menu. Okay, and toss in that sci-fi bit of trying out different super powers that would be really cool to have in real life!
Regardless of why we like the stories, I know that I’m not the only one out there that does get a kick from them. So for those of you interested, below is a list of various works that I’m familiar with. Please feel free to make comments with additional pieces & I’ll add them on!

While postings info below, I came across a website that has more info than I could dream for those interested. http://www.vampirelibrary.com/index.htm

Again, while typing the info....how could I forget Buffy - the movie & then the series! Geesh-I'm getting forgetful as I approach 30.....har har!

Books
•Anne Rice - The Vampire Chronicles:
(Adult)
1. Interview With The Vampire (1976)*
2. The Vampire Lestat (1985)
3. The Queen Of The Damned (1988)*
4. The Tale Of The Body Thief (1992)
5. Memnoch The Devil (1995)
6. The Vampire Armand (1998)
7. Merrick (2000)
8. Blood And Gold (2001)
9. Blackwood Farm (2002)
10. Blood Canticle (2003)
*movie info based on this book below

•Charlaine Harris - Southern Vampire / Sookie Stackhouse Series:
(Adult)
1. Dead Until Dark (2001)*
2. Living Dead In Dallas (2002)*
3. Club Dead (2003)
4. Dead To The World (2004)
5. Dead As A Doornail (2005)
6. Definately Dead (2006)
7. All Together Dead (2007)
8. From Dead To Worse (2008)
9. Dead And Gone (2009)
*HBO series info below

•Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novels:
(definately Adult!)
1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)
2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)
3. Circus Of The Damned (1995)
4. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
5. Bloody Bones (1996)
6. The Killing Dance (1997)
7. Burnt Offerings (1998)
8. Blue Moon (1998)
9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)
10. Narcissus In Chains (2001)
11. Cerulean Sins (2003)
12. Incubus Dreams (2004)
13. Micah (2006)
14. Danse Macabre (2006)
15. The Harlequin (2007)
16. Blood Noir (2008)
17. Skin Trade (2009)
FYI- There is a Marvel comic series based on the books too. http://marvel.com/comics/Anita_Blake

•Stephenie Meyer - Twilight Series:
(Teen/ Young Adult)
1. Twilight (2005)*
2. New Moon (2006)*
3. Eclipse (2007)
4. Breaking Dawn (2008)
*movie info based on this book below

•P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast - House Of Night Series:
(Teen/ Young Adult)
1. Marked (2007)
2. Betrayed (2007)
3. Chosen (2008)
4. Untamed (2008)
5. Hunted (2009)
6. Tempted (coming October 2009)
FYI-Rumor of movie adaption scheduled for 2011 (link here).

•Adrian Phoenix - The Maker's Song Series:
(Adult)
1. A Rush Of Wings (2008)
2. In The Blood (2009)
3. Beneath The Skin (coming January 2010)

•L. J. Smith - The Vampire Diaries & Nightworld Series:
-will update, I know that the Nightworld Series is more teen/ young adult

Television:
•True Blood on HBO:
- Season 2 now airing on Sundays @ 9pm (eastern): Based on Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
- Season 1 aired last fall: Based on Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/season2/
http://truebloodwiki.hbo.com/http://truebloodwiki.hbo.com/
http://true-blood.net/

•Angel (Spin-off from Buffy series)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162065/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_(TV_series)

•Buffy the Vampire Slayer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118276/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer
http://www.buffyworld.com/

•Dark Shadows
1991 series: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101075/
1966 series: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059978/

Movies:
Way too many to do a full list! I'll link to other pages with compilations & just list some of my fav's:
http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/top-70-vampire-movies-of-all-time/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_films
http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/vampirefilms.html
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=vampire.htm
http://twilightthemovie.com/
Dracula (1992)
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (1992)
From Dusk 'Til Dawn (1996)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Blade Series
Underworld Series

oiy vay.....that's enough for one night
-Kat