The Novel The Domesticated Vampire - 2035 Words

The Domesticated Vampire In 1967 the American gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows (ABC 1966-1971) introduced a vampire, Barnabus Collins, to improve slumping ratings. Originally, he was merely meant to be a short-lived feature to boost viewer’s interest in the show before meeting a traditional vampire’s end. However, producers decided to go in another direction when Barnabus Collins began to get fan mail. Not only were viewer’s enticed by the show’s latest guest appearance, but they also â€Å"saw a tragic quality in Barnabus† which served to further intrigue them (Abbott). As a result, writer’s adapted his original storyline to include â€Å"an element of self-loathing into his character which subsequently fuelled his desire for a cure to his vampiric†¦show more content†¦These shows not only acquaint young children with this domesticized and friendly vampire, but also solicit a friendship between youthful audiences and vampires, generating an amicable friends hip that enables children to learn how to count, read, and furthermore, handle adolescent problems like exclusion and difference. This tendency in television has continued through teen shows such as The Vampire Diaries (CW 2009-), where â€Å"vampirism becomes a metaphor for teen angst, physical changes, and sexuality† (Abbott). The television vampire continues to grow with audiences, branching out further into more adult series’ like True Blood (HBO 2008-2014). In these more grown-up adaptions, vampires are the principal protagonists who manage mature problems surrounding family, ethics, redemption, sexual identity, and compulsion. Dating back to folklore, vampires were vicious night crawlers who endeavoured to greedily drink the blood from their victims. They were corpse-like with sharp fangs and monstrous features. Later, they evolved to the more regal, noble adaption that garnered the popularity that is so well known today, but more recently, the vampire has evolved