Why Do Vampires Turn Us On?

By Drew Nelles,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 18, 2009 10:58 AM CDT
Why Do Vampires Turn Us On?
In this image released by HBO, Anna Paquin, left, and Stephen Moyer are shown in a scene from "True Blood."   (AP Photo/HBO, Jaimie Trueblood)

Vampires have always been sexy, from Bram Stoker’s original smooth operator to Brad Pitt in Interview With a Vampire. But why have True Blood and Twilight sunk their fangs so thoroughly into today’s erotic zeitgeist? For starters, they're modern-day Romeos for angsty Juliets, Newsweek reports, a hypersexualized update on the feared and misunderstood outsider. "It's all about the classic, tormented relationship, the otherness," says one shrink who calls himself a "short Jewish guy" who loves vampires.

But it’s probably the danger that enthralls most readers: A researcher of vampire fandom finds that women want a break from being in control and get off on the fantasy of being the victim, not the vamp. “It's a metaphor for dangerous sex,” she suggests. “Because if it goes wrong, you're gone." And all that near-death fantasy can translate into real-life kink. “My husband is happy I like this show,” one giggling True Blood fan says.
(Read more vampires stories.)

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