Vampires Are Not the Good Guys

There is a disturbing trend in literature today to glorify the paranormal, to raise evil to the level of respectability and vice versa. That may be one of the reasons I prefer vampire stories from the past. No matter what the plot was or who the characters were, one thing was certain. The presence of monsters meant something bad was going to happen. With pounding heart, you rooted for the main character as you sped through the pages, hoping everything would be all right in the end. But when monsters become misunderstood, sorrowful creatures or simply an alien race with a different set of cultural rules, two results can happen. We begin accepting unacceptable behaviors and we blunt our inner radar that alerts us to danger. Neither is good.