Vampires in popular culture
Encyclopedia
Vampires in popular culture includes vampire movies, literature, theatre, opera, ballet, music, paintings and video games.
The Vampire (1913, directed by Robert G. Vignola
), also co-written by Vignola, is the earliest vampire film.
These were derived from the writer Rudyard Kipling
who was inspired by a vampiress painted by Philip Burne-Jones
, an image typical of the era in 1897, to write his poem 'The Vampire'. Like much of Kipling's verse it was incredibly popular, and its refrain: A fool there was . . . , describing a seduced man, became the title of the popular film A Fool There Was that made Theda Bara
a star, the poem being used in its publicity. On this account, in early American
slang
the femme fatale was called a vamp, short for vampiress.
A real supernatural vampire features in the landmark Nosferatu (1922 Germany, directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
). This was an unlicensed version of Bram Stoker
's Dracula
, based so closely on the novel that the estate sued and won, with all copies ordered to be destroyed. (It would be painstakingly restored in 1994 by a team of European scholars from the five surviving prints that had escaped destruction). Nosferatu is the first film to feature a Vampire's death by sunlight
, which formerly only weakened vampires.
The next classic treatment of the vampire legend was in Universal's Dracula
starring Bela Lugosi
as Count Dracula
.
Five years after the release of the film, Universal released Dracula's Daughter
, a direct sequel that starts immediately after the end of the first film. A second sequel, Son of Dracula
, starring Lon Chaney, Jr.
followed in 1943. Despite his apparent death in the 1931 film, the Count returned to life in three more Universal films of the mid-1940s: 1944's House of Frankenstein
, 1945's House of Dracula
and 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
. While Lugosi had played a vampire in two other movies during the 1930s and 40's, it was only in this final film that he played Count Dracula onscreen for the second (and last) time.
Dracula was reincarnated for a new generation in the celebrated Hammer Horror series of films, starring Christopher Lee
as the Count. The first of these films Dracula
(1958) was followed by seven sequel
s. Lee returned as Dracula in all but two of these.
A distinct sub-genre of vampire films, ultimately inspired by Le Fanu's Carmilla explored the topic of the lesbian vampire
. The first of these was Blood and Roses
(1960) by Roger Vadim
. More explicit lesbian content was provided in Hammer
Studios Karnstein trilogy. The first of these, The Vampire Lovers
, (1970), starring Ingrid Pitt
and Madeleine Smith
, was a relatively straightforward re-telling of LeFanu's novella, but with more overt violence and sexuality.
Later films in this sub-genre such as Vampyres
(1974) became even more explicit in their depiction of sex, nudity and violence.
Beginning with the absurd Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
(1948) the vampire film has often been the subject of comedy. The Fearless Vampire Killers
(1967) by Academy Award winner Roman Polanski
was a notable parody of the genre. Other comedic treatments, of variable quality, include Old Dracula (1974) featuring David Niven
as a lovelorn Dracula, Love at First Bite
(1979 USA) featuring George Hamilton
and Dracula: Dead and Loving It
(1995 USA, directed by Mel Brooks
) with Canadian Leslie Nielsen
giving it a comic twist.
Another development in some vampire films has been a change from supernatural horror to science fictional explanations of vampirism. The Last Man on Earth (Italy
1964, directed by Ubaldo Ragona) and The Omega Man
(1971 USA, directed by Boris Sagal
), both based on Richard Matheson
's novel I Am Legend, are two examples. Vampirism is explained as a kind of virus in David Cronenberg
's Rabid
(1976 Canada
), Red-Blooded American Girl (1990 Canada, directed by David Blyth) and Michael and Peter Spierig's Daybreakers
(2009 United States
).
Race has been another theme, as exemplified by the blaxploitation
picture Blacula
(1972) and several sequels.
Since the time of Bela Lugosi's Dracula (1931) the vampire, male or female, has usually been portrayed as an alluring sex symbol. There is, however, a very small sub-genre, pioneered in Murnau's seminal Nosferatu (1922) in which the vampire is depicted in the hideous lineaments of the creature of European folklore. Max Schrek's disturbing portrayal of this role in Murnau's film was copied by Klaus Kinski
in Werner Herzog
's remake Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
(1979). In Shadow of the Vampire
(2000, directed by E. Elias Merhige
), Willem Dafoe
plays Max Schrek, himself, though portrayed here as an actual vampire. Dafoe's character is the ugly, disgusting creature of the original Nosferatu.
The main tradition has, however, been to portray the vampire in terms of a predatory sexuality. Christopher Lee
, Delphine Seyrig
, Frank Langella
, and Lauren Hutton
are just a few examples of actors who brought great sex-appeal into their portrayal of the vampire. Latterly the implicit sexual themes of vampire film have become much more overt, culminating in such films as Gayracula (1983
) and The Vampire of Budapest, (1995
), two pornographic all-male vampire movies, and Lust For Dracula (2005), a pornographic all-lesbian
adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic.
A major character in most vampire films is the vampire slayer, of which Stoker's Abraham Van Helsing
is a prototype. However, killing vampires has changed. Where Van Helsing relied on a stake through the heart, in Vampires 1998 USA, directed by John Carpenter
, Jack Crow (James Woods
) has a heavily-armed squad of vampire hunters, and in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
(1992 USA, directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui), writer Joss Whedon
(who created TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and spinoff Angel
) attached The Slayer, Buffy Summers
(Kristy Swanson
in the film, Sarah Michelle Gellar
in the TV series), to a network of Watchers and mystically endowed her with superhuman powers.
The 1973 Serbian horror film Leptirica
("The She-Butterfly") was inspired by the story of Sava Savanović
.
series is the longest running series which uses the Dracula legend, though its writers have made their own alterations to the legend. An exception to this trend is the Legacy of Kain
video game series, which features vampires set in an entirely fictional world called Nosgoth.
Other vampires seen in games include:
'The Vampire' (1897) by Philip Burne-Jones
depicts an alluring female vampire crouched over a male victim. The model was the famous actress Mrs Patrick Campbell
. This femme fatale
inspired a poem of the same name (also 1897) by Rudyard Kipling
. Like much of Kipling's verse it was incredibly popular, and its inspired many early silent films whose 'vampires' were actually 'vamps
' rather than being supernatural undead blood-suckers. The poem's refrain: A fool there was . . . , describing a seduced man, became the title of the popular film A Fool There Was (1915) which made Theda Bara
a star, and the archetypal cinematic 'vamp'.
Shtriga
Wurdulac
Mario Bava
made a 1963 portmanteau film of it starring Boris Karloff
called Black Sabbath
.
A wurdulac is also the subject of Monster in My Pocket
#116.
Strix
The Stirge was presented as a popular monster in Dungeons and Dragons. In the game it took the form of a many-legged flying creature which sucked the blood from its victims through a sharp, tubular beak.
A version of the striga makes an appearance in The Witcher (video game) based on the works of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski
. As a demonic undead creature, which transforms from the corpse of a dead child conceived via incest, striga in the Witcher's universe doesn't look like insects or vampires but looks similar to a ghoul with a muscular quadrupedal body, big claws, and a fang-filled mouth.
The strix make an appearance in the Vampire: the Requiem
historical book Requiem for Rome. In contrast to the more traditional vampires presented in the line, the strix are disembodied spirits who commonly take the shape of owls and can possess both humans and torpored vampires. It's rumored that the strix restored Remus
to undeath, and corrupted a sixth clan of vampires who were destroyed en masse. The strix believed themselves to be betrayed by the vampires of Rome, especially those of the Julii clan, and swore to bring about their ruin. They reappear in Night Horrors: Wicked Dead as heralds of disaster, mainly unbound by their former oath (although they still occasionally pursue such activities for personal reasons). Immensely amoral libertines, they view vampires clinging to humanity as weak, and as such will often serve as tempters in order to make them lose themselves to the Beast.
Strix are also described in the GURPS third edition Sourcebook for Vampires Blood Types. They are described as witches who, having made pacts with dark entities gained the ability to become blood drinking birds at night. What their pacts with these dark forces require of them is not described.
Both Penanggalan and Mystics in Bali feature actor
W.D. Mochtar as the priest who fights the Penanggalan. Both The Witch With Flying Head and Mystics in Bali
depict an innocent transformed into a Penanggalan against her will. In the former film, there is an effort to save her, and her attempt at suicide
upon learning her condition is thwarted. In the latter film, she is considered irredeemable, and her neck is spiked to destroy her. Both characters are monstrous only at night and unaware of their nocturnal behavior until informed.
Moroi
Movies
Robert G. Vignola
Robert G. Vignola Robert G. Vignola Robert G. Vignola (August 5, 1882 - October 25, 1953 was an Italian-born American actor, screenwriter and film director in American cinema. He made a handful of sound films in the early years of talkies but his career essentially ended in the silent era...
), also co-written by Vignola, is the earliest vampire film.
These were derived from the writer Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
who was inspired by a vampiress painted by Philip Burne-Jones
Philip Burne-Jones
Sir Philip Burne-Jones, 2nd Baronet was the first child of the British Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones. He became a well-known painter in his own right, producing more than 60 paintings, including portraits, landscapes, and poetic fantasies.-Life and career:He was born in London,...
, an image typical of the era in 1897, to write his poem 'The Vampire'. Like much of Kipling's verse it was incredibly popular, and its refrain: A fool there was . . . , describing a seduced man, became the title of the popular film A Fool There Was that made Theda Bara
Theda Bara
Theda Bara , born Theodosia Burr Goodman, was an American silent film actress – one of the most popular of her era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" . The term "vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman...
a star, the poem being used in its publicity. On this account, in early American
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
the femme fatale was called a vamp, short for vampiress.
A real supernatural vampire features in the landmark Nosferatu (1922 Germany, directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm "F. W." Murnau was one of the most influential German film directors of the silent era, and a prominent figure in the expressionist movement in German cinema during the 1920s...
). This was an unlicensed version of Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
's Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
, based so closely on the novel that the estate sued and won, with all copies ordered to be destroyed. (It would be painstakingly restored in 1994 by a team of European scholars from the five surviving prints that had escaped destruction). Nosferatu is the first film to feature a Vampire's death by sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...
, which formerly only weakened vampires.
The next classic treatment of the vampire legend was in Universal's Dracula
Dracula (1931 film)
Dracula is a 1931 vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
starring Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
as Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
.
Five years after the release of the film, Universal released Dracula's Daughter
Dracula's Daughter
Dracula's Daughter is a 1936 American vampire horror film produced by Universal Studios, a sequel to the 1931 film Dracula. Directed by Lambert Hillyer from a screenplay by Garrett Fort, the film stars Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill and, as the only cast member to return from the...
, a direct sequel that starts immediately after the end of the first film. A second sequel, Son of Dracula
Son of Dracula (1943 film)
Son of Dracula is a 1943 American horror film directed by Robert Siodmak - his first film for Universal studios - with a screenplay based on an original story by his brother Curt. The film stars Lon Chaney, Jr. and his frequent co-star Evelyn Ankers. Notably it is the first film where a vampire...
, starring Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
followed in 1943. Despite his apparent death in the 1931 film, the Count returned to life in three more Universal films of the mid-1940s: 1944's House of Frankenstein
House of Frankenstein (1944 film)
House of Frankenstein is an American monster horror film produced in 1944 by Universal Studios as a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man the previous year. This monster rally approach would continue in the following film, House of Dracula, as well as the 1948 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet...
, 1945's House of Dracula
House of Dracula
House of Dracula was an American horror film released by Universal Pictures Company in 1945. It was a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein and continued the theme of combining Universal's three most popular monsters: Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula and The Wolf Man...
and 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable...
. While Lugosi had played a vampire in two other movies during the 1930s and 40's, it was only in this final film that he played Count Dracula onscreen for the second (and last) time.
Dracula was reincarnated for a new generation in the celebrated Hammer Horror series of films, starring Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
as the Count. The first of these films Dracula
Dracula (1958 film)
Dracula, also known as Horror of Dracula in the United States, is a 1958 British horror film. It is the first in the series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Carol Marsh, Melissa Stribling and...
(1958) was followed by seven sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s. Lee returned as Dracula in all but two of these.
A distinct sub-genre of vampire films, ultimately inspired by Le Fanu's Carmilla explored the topic of the lesbian vampire
Lesbian vampire
Lesbian vampirism is a trope in 20th century exploitation film that has its roots in Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novella Carmilla about the predatory love of a female vampire for a young woman :...
. The first of these was Blood and Roses
Blood and Roses
Blood and Roses is a 1960 vampire film directed by Roger Vadim based upon the novella Carmilla by Irish writer Joseph Sheridan le Fanu...
(1960) by Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim was a French screenwriter, director, and producer as well as a journalist, author and actor, who launched Brigitte Bardot's career in the film And God Created Woman.-Early life:...
. More explicit lesbian content was provided in Hammer
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
Studios Karnstein trilogy. The first of these, The Vampire Lovers
The Vampire Lovers
The Vampire Lovers is a 1970 British Hammer Horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, Kate O'Mara, and Jon Finch. It is based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla and is part of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy of films. The other films in...
, (1970), starring Ingrid Pitt
Ingrid Pitt
Ingrid Pitt was an actress best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Background:Pitt was born Ingoushka Petrov in Warsaw, Poland to a German father of Russian descent and a Polish Jewish mother. During World War II she and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp...
and Madeleine Smith
Madeleine Smith
Madeleine Hamilton Smith was a 19th century Glasgow socialite who was the defendant in a sensational murder trial in Scotland in 1857...
, was a relatively straightforward re-telling of LeFanu's novella, but with more overt violence and sexuality.
Later films in this sub-genre such as Vampyres
Vampyres (film)
Vampyres is an erotic and bloody lesbian vampire film directed by Spanish film director José Ramón Larraz on location in England.-Plot:...
(1974) became even more explicit in their depiction of sex, nudity and violence.
Beginning with the absurd Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable...
(1948) the vampire film has often been the subject of comedy. The Fearless Vampire Killers
The Fearless Vampire Killers
The Fearless Vampire Killers is a 1967 comedy horror film directed by Roman Polanski, written by Gérard Brach and Polanski, produced by Gene Gutowski and co-starring Polanski with future wife Sharon Tate...
(1967) by Academy Award winner Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
was a notable parody of the genre. Other comedic treatments, of variable quality, include Old Dracula (1974) featuring David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
as a lovelorn Dracula, Love at First Bite
Love At First Bite
Love at First Bite is a 1979 comedy horror film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by Robert Kaufman, using characters originally created by Bram Stoker. It stars George Hamilton, Susan Saint James, Richard Benjamin and Arte Johnson. The original music score was composed by Charles Bernstein...
(1979 USA) featuring George Hamilton
George Hamilton (actor)
George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
and Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Dracula: Dead and Loving It is a 1995 comedy film starring Leslie Nielsen, directed by Mel Brooks. It is a parody of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, and of some of the films it inspired....
(1995 USA, directed by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
) with Canadian Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
giving it a comic twist.
Another development in some vampire films has been a change from supernatural horror to science fictional explanations of vampirism. The Last Man on Earth (Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
1964, directed by Ubaldo Ragona) and The Omega Man
The Omega Man
The Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It is based on the novel I Am Legend by American writer Richard Matheson...
(1971 USA, directed by Boris Sagal
Boris Sagal
Boris Sagal was a Ukrainian-born American television and film director.-Early life and career:Born in Yekaterinoslav, Soviet Union, Sagal emigrated to the United States where he attended the Yale School of Drama. Sagal's many TV credits include directing episodes of The Twilight Zone, "T.H.E...
), both based on Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
's novel I Am Legend, are two examples. Vampirism is explained as a kind of virus in David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
's Rabid
Rabid
Rabid is a 1977 horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. It features Marilyn Chambers in the lead role, supported by Frank Moore, Howard Ryshpan, Joe Silver and Robert A...
(1976 Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), Red-Blooded American Girl (1990 Canada, directed by David Blyth) and Michael and Peter Spierig's Daybreakers
Daybreakers
Daybreakers is a 2009 science-fiction horror film written and directed by Australian filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig. The film takes place in 2019, where a plague has turned most of the planet's human population into vampires. A vampiric corporation sets out to capture and farm the remaining...
(2009 United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
).
Race has been another theme, as exemplified by the blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
picture Blacula
Blacula
Blacula is a 1972 American horror film produced for American International Pictures. It was directed by William Crain and stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is both turned into a vampire and locked inside a coffin by Count Dracula...
(1972) and several sequels.
Since the time of Bela Lugosi's Dracula (1931) the vampire, male or female, has usually been portrayed as an alluring sex symbol. There is, however, a very small sub-genre, pioneered in Murnau's seminal Nosferatu (1922) in which the vampire is depicted in the hideous lineaments of the creature of European folklore. Max Schrek's disturbing portrayal of this role in Murnau's film was copied by Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early...
in Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
's remake Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Nosferatu the Vampyre is a 1979 West German vampire horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog. Its original German title is Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht...
(1979). In Shadow of the Vampire
Shadow of the Vampire
Shadow of the Vampire is a 2000 horror film directed by E. Elias Merhige and written by Steven Katz, and starring John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, and Udo Kier. The film is a fictionalized account of the making of the classic vampire film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, directed by F. W....
(2000, directed by E. Elias Merhige
E. Elias Merhige
Edmund Elias Merhige, known as E. Elias Merhige, is an American film director born in Brooklyn.Merhige is best known to mainstream audiences for the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire, and to underground audiences for the cult-classic 1991 film Begotten.As he says in his audio commentary to the...
), Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
plays Max Schrek, himself, though portrayed here as an actual vampire. Dafoe's character is the ugly, disgusting creature of the original Nosferatu.
The main tradition has, however, been to portray the vampire in terms of a predatory sexuality. Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
, Delphine Seyrig
Delphine Seyrig
Delphine Claire Beltiane Seyrig was a stage and film actress and a film director.-Early life:...
, Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
, and Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
are just a few examples of actors who brought great sex-appeal into their portrayal of the vampire. Latterly the implicit sexual themes of vampire film have become much more overt, culminating in such films as Gayracula (1983
1983 in film
-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
) and The Vampire of Budapest, (1995
1995 in film
-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....
), two pornographic all-male vampire movies, and Lust For Dracula (2005), a pornographic all-lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic.
A major character in most vampire films is the vampire slayer, of which Stoker's Abraham Van Helsing
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...
is a prototype. However, killing vampires has changed. Where Van Helsing relied on a stake through the heart, in Vampires 1998 USA, directed by John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
, Jack Crow (James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
) has a heavily-armed squad of vampire hunters, and in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 American action/comedy/horror film about a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. The original script for the film was written by Joss Whedon, who later created the darker and more acclaimed TV series of the same name...
(1992 USA, directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui), writer Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
(who created TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and spinoff Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
) attached The Slayer, Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
(Kristy Swanson
Kristy Swanson
Kristen Nöel "Kristy" Swanson is an American actress best known for playing Buffy in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she also played Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger in the movie version of the V.C...
in the film, Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...
in the TV series), to a network of Watchers and mystically endowed her with superhuman powers.
The 1973 Serbian horror film Leptirica
Leptirica
Leptirica is a 1973 former Yugoslav horror TV movie based on the story After Ninety Years written by Serbian writer Milovan Glišić...
("The She-Butterfly") was inspired by the story of Sava Savanović
Sava Savanovic
Sava Savanović is one of the most famous vampires in Serbian folklore.-Legend:Sava Savanović was said to have lived in an old watermill on the Rogačica river, at Zarožje village in the municipality of Bajina Bašta. It was said that he killed and drank the blood of the millers when they came to...
.
Video games
Video game series featuring vampires primarily use Dracula or Dracula-inspired characters. Konami's CastlevaniaCastlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
series is the longest running series which uses the Dracula legend, though its writers have made their own alterations to the legend. An exception to this trend is the Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain is a series of action-adventure video games developed initially by Silicon Knights in association with Crystal Dynamics. After a legal battle, Crystal Dynamics continued the series without Silicon Knights and Eidos Interactive became the publisher...
video game series, which features vampires set in an entirely fictional world called Nosgoth.
Other vampires seen in games include:
- The Elder ScrollsThe Elder ScrollsThe Elder Scrolls is a role-playing video game series developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.-History:...
game series involves vampires created by demon lord. They have all the typical attributes, but some (though not all) can walk in sunlight if they have fed on a victim. - Mortal Kombat series, there's a species of vampires, although Nitara is thus far, the only vampire known in the series.
- In the tabletop wargame Warhammer FantasyWarhammer Fantasy BattleWarhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting....
: Vampire CountsVampire CountsVampire Counts are one of the two factions of the Undead playable in the tabletop wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the other being the Tomb Kings, from the sixth edition onward when Games Workshop divided the old Undead forces...
are one of the playable forces. - Role-playing gameRole-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s such as Vampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
(1992), in which the participants play the roles of fictional vampires (for specifics, see vampires in the World of DarknessVampire (World of Darkness)A vampires is a fictional creature in the role-playing games and books based on the World of Darkness setting by White Wolf Game Studio. The concept of a vampire in WoD takes many elements from the folklore surrounding traditional vampires in Western culture, and adds a number of specific features...
). - The Darkstalkers (1994) fighting gameFighting gameFighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
series (known as Vampire Savior in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) features a vampire along with other mythological and horror-themedHorror fictionHorror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
characters. - ShadowrunShadowrunShadowrun is a role-playing game set in a near-future fictional universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy fiction, horror, and detective fiction.The original game has spawned...
features vampires whose existence is explained by a resurgence of the Human Meta-Human Vampiric VirusHuman Meta-Human Vampiric VirusHuman Meta-Human Vampiric Virus, commonly called HMHVV, is a fictional disease from the game Shadowrun. The virus has been known to cause changes which often resemble abominations that are no longer human and are occasionally not even sentient....
. As such, the afflicted are not undead, but instead are still alive but radically changed by the retrovirusRetrovirusA retrovirus is an RNA virus that is duplicated in a host cell using the reverse transcriptase enzyme to produce DNA from its RNA genome. The DNA is then incorporated into the host's genome by an integrase enzyme. The virus thereafter replicates as part of the host cell's DNA...
. They normally do not suffer from the supernatural limitations such as crosses, but still are vulnerable to sunlight. - The comedy game Conker's Bad Fur DayConker's Bad Fur DayConker's Bad Fur Day is an action-platform video game developed and published by Rare. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in 2001 and was Rare's last game published for the console. The game was in development for four years; it was originally intended for a young audience, but was redesigned and...
features a DraculaDraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
-like vampire who is often insulted by Conker. He dies by falling into a grinder due to extreme blood drinking. - The Sims 2: NightlifeThe Sims 2: NightlifeThe Sims 2: Nightlife is the second expansion pack for The Sims 2, which was released on September 13, 2005 and September 16, 2005 . It was released for Mac OS X on March 27, 2006...
, the second expansion pack for popular series The Sims 2The Sims 2The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims, which debuted on February 4, 2000. It was first released on September 14, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. A port to Apple Mac OS X...
, introduces vampires to the game. These vampires in this game follow many fictional conventions, such sleeping in ornate coffins, wearing gothic clothing, and being able to transform into bats. Vampirism can be spread between game characters through biting. If caught outside during the day, a Sim Vampire's will soon die. In The Sims 3: Late NightThe Sims 3: Late NightThe Sims 3: Late Night is the third expansion pack for the strategic life simulation computer game The Sims 3 and is similar to previous expansions The Sims 2: Nightlife for The Sims 2 and The Sims: Hot Date for The Sims...
, Vampires makes a return. Unlike in Nightlife, these vampires live longer than normal Sims, won't die in the Sun but will suffer burns, get sick from eating Sim Food with Garlic, and drink Plasma either by biting a Sim, Plasma pack, or Plasma Fruit. They still can die from noraml deaths that happans to Normal Sim, with the exception of Hunger in where it's replaced by Thirst. - The video game series CastlevaniaCastlevaniaCastlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
establishes a new origin for Dracula and chronicles the never ending struggle between him and the Belmont clan of vampire hunters stretching from the 11th century all the way to the 21st century. - The video game series Shadow HeartsShadow Heartsis a series of role playing games for the PlayStation 2. The original Shadow Hearts was developed by Sacnoth and released by Midway in the United States on December 11, 2001. The sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant , was also made by the same group, although Sacnoth reformed itself into a company...
have four known vampires (Three playable) in the games (though hardly stereotypical). - The video game series BoktaiBoktaiBoktai is a video game series developed by Konami for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS handheld consoles. The title is an abbreviation of the series' full Japanese title Bokura no Taiyō or Our Sun. They are recognized for using a solar sensor that is a key element of gameplay...
revolves around the Vampire Hunter Django. However, even though the games sometimes equalize the terms of Vampire and Immortal, there are only a few true vampires in the games, such as the Count of Groundsoaking Blood. - The scrolling shooter Embodiment of Scarlet Devil features two vampire sisters as the final boss and the extra stage boss. The older of the two, Remilia Scarlet, became playable in two later games of the Touhou ProjectTouhou ProjectThe , also known as Toho Project or Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese dōjin game series focused on bullet hell shooters made by the one-man developer Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member, known as ZUN, is responsible for all the graphics, music, and programming for the most part...
. - Video game series such as KonamiKonamiis a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
's CastlevaniaCastlevaniaCastlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
and role-playing gameRole-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s such as Vampire: the MasqueradeVampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
have been especially successful and influential. - Video game series Metal Gear Solid include a character in it called Vamp, who drinks blood and appears to be immortal (though in Metal Gear Solid 4, it is discovered that this is due to nanobots in his body). At first glance, it could be noticed that his name stems from his Vampiric abilities, but actually comes from his bisexuality.
- Several Buffy the Vampire SlayerBuffy video gamesSeveral official video game adaptations of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer have been released:-Buffy the Vampire Slayer :Released in 2000 for Game Boy Color. Set in the fourth season...
video games have been released. - In the Guilty Gear series, Slayer is introduced in Guilty Gear XX as the first, and currently only, vampire so far in the series. He is a Nightwalker, though unlike other vampires, he seems to be unaffected by sunlight. He is also seen drinking blood from his own wife Sharon before a match, although Sharon is immortal.
- BlazBlue: Calamity TriggerBlazBlue: Calamity Triggeris a fighting game developed by Arc System Works. The game's name is a portmanteau of "blaze" and "blue," with the "z" sound omitted in the Japanese pronunciation, rendering it similar to the word "brave" in pronunciation....
features Rachel Alucard as a vampire who carries a cat-like umbrella named Nago and is occupied by a red bat familiar named Gii. - In Rosenkreuzstilette, regardless of whether the player is playing Spiritia or Grolla, the player meets Graf Michael Sepperin, who is vampiric in appearance and acts like Dracula in the Castlevania series, as the boss of Sepperin Stage 4.
Comic books and graphic novels
- Comic bookComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s and graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s such as VampirellaVampirellaVampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and costume designer Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 . Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostess, in...
(1969), Tomb of DraculaTomb of DraculaThe Tomb of Dracula is a horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces...
(1972), the aforementioned BladeBlade (comics)Blade is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
(1973), 30 Days of Night30 Days of Night30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic book mini-series written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property....
(2002) Anita Blake Guilty Pleasures, and Dracula vs. King Arthur (2005). In addition, many major superheroSuperheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es have faced vampire supervillainSupervillainA supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s at some point. - Many comic bookComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s featuring Buffy the Vampire SlayerBuffy comicsBuffy the Vampire Slayer comics refer to comic books based on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While many of these comics were published when the television show was on air they are not all considered canonical and often deal with characters who do not appear on in the television...
and its spin off Angel have been released, including the official eighth season of Buffy the Vampire SlayerBuffy the Vampire Slayer Season EightBuffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote the...
.
Theatre
- First performed at the Limbo Lounge in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's East VillageEast Village, ManhattanThe East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
in 1984, the play Vampire Lesbians of SodomVampire Lesbians of SodomVampire Lesbians of Sodom is a satirical play written by Charles Busch. It features a series of vignettes that deals with the lives of two eponymous immortal vampire lesbians, a creature known as The Succubus who is also known as La Condessa or Magda Legerdemaine, and the virgin-turned-vampire who...
became so popular it was moved Off-BroadwayOff-BroadwayOff-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in June, 1985. It ran five years at the Provincetown Playhouse. - Dance of the VampiresDance of the VampiresDance of the Vampires is a musical remake of a 1967 Roman Polanski film of the same name . Polanski also directed the original German production of this musical...
(1997) is a musical from Jim SteinmanJim SteinmanJames Richard "Jim" Steinman is an American composer, lyricist, and Grammy Award-winning record producer responsible for several hit songs. He has also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer...
. - Making its off-Broadway debut in the Fall of 2009, "THE CURE" is a rock n roll graphic novel, written by Mark Weiser, about two friends who discover the last surviving vampires.
Manga
- JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
features vampires in several titles, including JoJo's Bizarre AdventureJoJo's Bizarre Adventureis a manga written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. Every main character's name in each part can be read as JoJo. The manga, published by Shueisha, first ran in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1987 to 2002, before being transferred to the seinen magazine Ultra Jump in 2004. The current story...
(1987), Vampire Princess MiyuVampire Princess Miyuis a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally presented in a 4-episode OVA licenced by AnimEigo in 1988, and was later adapted into a 26-episode television series licensed by Tokyopop and...
(OAV 1988, TV series 1997), Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective (1998), Vampire Hunter DVampire Hunter Dis a series of Japanese novels written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano since 1983.To date, twenty-two novels have been published in the main series, with some novels comprising as many as four volumes...
(2000), Blood: The Last VampireBlood: The Last VampireBlood: The Last Vampire is a 2000 anime film produced by Production I.G and SPE Visual Works and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. The film premiered in theaters in Japan on November 18, 2000...
(2000), HellsingHellsing (TV series)is a Japanese anime television series based on Kouta Hirano's manga series of the same name. The series is directed by Umanosuke Iida, from a screenplay by Chiaki Konaka, and produced by the Gonzo animation studio...
(2002), Vampire Host (2004), Tsukihime, Lunar Legend (2003), Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-is a manga series by Keitarō Arima about a young vampire girl named Hazuki and a Japanese freelance photographer Kouhei Morioka whom Hazuki attempts to make into her servant....
(2004), BleachBleach (manga)is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Noriaki "Tite" Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a —a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki...
(2005), Blood+Blood+Blood+, pronounced as "Blood Plus", is an anime series produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed by Junichi Fujisaku. The series premiered in Japan on Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax, as well as on terrestrial networks such as MBS, TBS, and RKB on October 8, 2005. The final episode...
(2005),Trinity BloodTrinity Bloodis a series of Japanese light novels written by Sunao Yoshida with illustrations by Thores Shibamoto and originally serialized in The Sneaker. Set 900 years after an apocalyptic war between humans and vampires, the series focuses on the on-going cold war between the Vatican, the human government,...
(2005),Vampire KnightVampire Knightis a shōjo manga and anime series written by Matsuri Hino. The series premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa magazine and is still on-going. Chapters are collected and published in collected volumes by Hakusensha, with eleven volumes currently released in Japan. The manga series is licensed in...
,'(2005)'KarinKarin (manga)Chibi Vampire, originally released in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuna Kagesaki. The story is about an unusual vampire girl, who instead of drinking blood must inject it into others because she produces too much...
(2006), and Black Blood BrothersBlack Blood Brothers, also known as , is a light novel series written by Kōhei Azano and illustrated by Yuuya Kusaka. In 2006, Studio Live and Group TAC produced an anime based on the series. It is directed by Hiroaki Yoshikawa...
(2006).
Paintings
Philip Burne-Jones
Sir Philip Burne-Jones, 2nd Baronet was the first child of the British Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones. He became a well-known painter in his own right, producing more than 60 paintings, including portraits, landscapes, and poetic fantasies.-Life and career:He was born in London,...
depicts an alluring female vampire crouched over a male victim. The model was the famous actress Mrs Patrick Campbell
Mrs Patrick Campbell
Mrs Patrick Campbell was a British stage actress.-Early life and marriages:Campbell was born Beatrice Stella Tanner in Kensington, London, to John Tanner and Maria Luigia Giovanna, daughter of Count Angelo Romanini...
. This femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
inspired a poem of the same name (also 1897) by Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
. Like much of Kipling's verse it was incredibly popular, and its inspired many early silent films whose 'vampires' were actually 'vamps
Vamps
Vamps is a Japanese rock band formed in 2008 by Hyde and K.A.Z, and signed to Hyde's record label Vamprose.- History :...
' rather than being supernatural undead blood-suckers. The poem's refrain: A fool there was . . . , describing a seduced man, became the title of the popular film A Fool There Was (1915) which made Theda Bara
Theda Bara
Theda Bara , born Theodosia Burr Goodman, was an American silent film actress – one of the most popular of her era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" . The term "vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman...
a star, and the archetypal cinematic 'vamp'.
Music
- Alternative rockAlternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band HIM has a song called "Vampire Heart" on their Dark Light album. - Concrete BlondeConcrete BlondeConcrete Blonde is an alternative rock band based in the United States. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2004, and once again in 2010.-Biography:...
has a song titled "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" on their Bloodletting album. - My Chemical RomanceMy Chemical RomanceMy Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
has a song titled "Vampires Will Never Hurt YouVampires Will Never Hurt You-Music video:The music video consists of My Chemical Romance tightly packed into a room where they play their instruments in very little color. In the video, Frank Iero is seen singing backup for Gerard Way along with lead guitar player Ray Toro. Gerard Way has said this song, "Skylines and...
" on their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your LoveI Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love-Track listing:-Music videos on re-release editions:-Charts:-Release history:-Credits:My Chemical Romance* Gerard Way — lead vocals* Mikey Way — bass guitar* Ray Toro — lead guitar, rhythm guitar , backing vocals...
. - AshAsh (band)Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide.-Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 :...
has a song entitled "Vampire Love" on their album Meltdown. - Nox ArcanaNox ArcanaNox Arcana is an American dark ambient musical group, formed in 2003 by Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski. Nox Arcana specializes in concept albums based on gothic fiction and classic horror literature. Such literary references include: H. P. Lovecraft, The Brothers Grimm, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar...
recorded the album Transylvania based on Bram Stoker's DraculaDraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
. - The folk band Antsy PantsAntsy PantsAntsy Pants is an American band featuring Kimya Dawson on lead vocals and Leo Bear Creek on vocals & ukulele. The band contributed two songs to the soundtrack of Juno...
has a song entitled "Vampire" on their debut album "Antsy PantsAntsy Pants (album)-Track listing:#"Big City"#"Henry Kelly"#"Little Johnny"#"Marche Du Cote Brilliant"#"Vampire"#"Leo's Mouth"#"Amazing Kids Doing Amazing Shit"#"Tree Hugger"#"The Mission"#"Sometimes"#"Sleep"...
". - The death metalDeath metalDeath metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band DraconianDraconian (band)-External links:* at Napalm Records...
is a metalMetalA metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
band with issues facing vampires. - XandriaXandriaXandria is a German symphonic metal band, founded by Marco Heubaum in 1997. The band's music combines elements of symphonic metal with light electronic elements and rock....
, plays a song called vampire. - Blue Öyster CultBlue Öyster CultBlue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
have a song titled "Nosferatu". It is the last track on the original release of their SpectresSpectres (album)Spectres is the fifth studio album by Blue Öyster Cult, released in November 1977. The album was certified gold in January 1978 and contained the album rock hits "Godzilla", "Death Valley Nights", "R.U. Ready 2 Rock" and "I Love the Night"...
album. - The Vocalist (Kamijo) of the Japanese Visual Kei band, Versailles, says his look is influenced by the appearance of a vampire.
- Cuban singer LissetteLissetteLissette Álvarez is a singer, songwriter and record producer from Peru. She is best known for recording a Spanish language version of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 1985.-Early life:...
has a song title "Vampiro" on their 1989 album Maniqui. - Theatres des VampiresTheatres des VampiresTheatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band with strong black metal influences, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics.-History and background:In 1994, Alessandro Nunziati form Theatres des Vampires....
is a Gothic Black Metal band fully concentrating on vampire themes. - Cult dark punkPunk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
group Vampire Lovers (band) recorded a live videoVideoVideo is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
clip during 1988 of their song "Drink my blood, Suck my veins".
Other
- In Magic:The Gathering, vampires are quite iconic creatures of the color black. Most of them share the ability to fly and to grow stronger (via +1/+1 counters) by dealing mortal damage to other creatures (according to the idea of gaining power from the blood of their victims).
- In Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card GameYu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card GameThe is a Japanese collectible card game developed and published by Konami. It is based on the fictional game of Duel Monsters created by manga artist Kazuki Takahashi, which is the main plot device during the majority of his popular manga franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and its various anime adaptations...
, vampire are all zombie-type monster cards: "Patrician of Darkness", "Vampire Lord", "Vampire Lady" and "Red-Moon Baby" ("Vampire Baby" in Japanese version). In Yu-Gi-Oh! RYu-Gi-Oh! Ris a Japanese manga series that is a spinoff of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise.Yu-Gi-Oh! R is published in Shueisha's monthly magazine V-Jump in Japan. The manga is made by Akira Ito. Yu-Gi-Oh! R is an alternate plotline which takes place after the defeat of Marik Ishtar.In Yu-Gi-Oh! R, the kōhai...
manga, the character Tilla Mook uses the card monster "Curse of Vampire". - The Sava SavanovićSava SavanovicSava Savanović is one of the most famous vampires in Serbian folklore.-Legend:Sava Savanović was said to have lived in an old watermill on the Rogačica river, at Zarožje village in the municipality of Bajina Bašta. It was said that he killed and drank the blood of the millers when they came to...
was used in Milovan GlišićMilovan GlišicMilovan Glišić was a Serbian writer, dramatist, translator, and literary theorist. He is sometimes referred to as the Serbian Gogol.-Biography:...
's popular story "Posle devedeset godina" (90 years after) - Third Edition GURPSGURPSThe Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
supplement Blood Types lists 47 different "species" of vampires describing 30 of them from both folklore and fiction in 23 listings (several are simply different names for the same type of vampire; for example the Burma's Kephn is considered a male version of the Penanggalen)
Other vampire references
Many regional vampire myths, or other creatures similar to or related to vampires have appeared in popular culture.ShtrigaShtrigaThe Shtriga , in Albanian folklore, was a vampiric witch that would suck the blood of infants at night while they slept, and would then turn into a flying insect...
- The TV series SupernaturalSupernatural (TV series)Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
features a shtriga in the season 1 episode "Something Wicked". In a homage to the Simpsons the shtriga in 'Supernatural' was said to have moved through Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook, the same towns taken in by the monorail conman in the episode Marge vs. the MonorailMarge vs. the Monorail"Marge vs. the Monorail" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsonss fourth season and originally aired on January 14, 1993. The plot focuses around Springfield's purchase of a monorail from a conman, and Marge's dislike of the purchase. It was written by Conan O'Brien and directed by Rich Moore...
.
- Shtrigas also appear in Andrzej SapkowskiAndrzej SapkowskiAndrzej Sapkowski, born 21 June 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy writer. He is best known for his best-selling book series The Witcher.-Biography:...
s The WitcherThe WitcherThe Witcher, or , by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski is a cult series of fantasy short stories and five novels about the witcher Geralt of Rivia...
short stories and saga.
Television
- A group of strigoi appeared in the episode "Bite Father, Bite Son" in the animated series American Dragon: Jake LongAmerican Dragon: Jake LongAmerican Dragon: Jake Long is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The show had premiered on January 21, 2005 and ended on September 1, 2007. The show currently airs on Disney XD in the United States...
. - Strigoi are the featured enemy in the 1999 episode "Darkness Visible" of the show Hercules: The Legendary JourneysHercules: The Legendary JourneysHercules: The Legendary Journeys is a television series, filmed in New Zealand and the United States. It was produced from 1995, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles...
. - In the ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series Scariest Places on EarthScariest Places On EarthScariest Places on Earth is an American paranormal documentary reality television series that originally aired from October 23, 2000 to October 29, 2006. The program was produced by Triage Entertainment for the Fox Family Channel, which is now ABC Family and owns the rights to the show...
, strigoi are discussed in an episode called "Return to RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
Dare." The episode originally aired on April 21, 2002. - The strigoi was featured in the Animal Planet TV series "Lost Tapes".
- HBO released a popular series about vampires called True BloodTrue BloodTrue Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
based on the The Southern Vampire MysteriesThe Southern Vampire MysteriesThe Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris that were first published in 2001 and now serve as the source material for the HBO television series True Blood...
. - The CW television network released a popular series about vampires called The Vampire DiariesThe Vampire DiariesThe Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...
based on the book series with the same name.
Movies
- In the DraculaDraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
(2000) movie, Count Dracula calls his wolf pet by the names of "strigoi" and "moroiMoroiA moroi is a type of vampire or ghost in Romanian folklore. A female moroi is called a moroaică...
". - One of the villains in the 30 Days of Night30 Days of Night (film)30 Days of Night is a 2007 American horror film based on the comic book miniseries of the same name. The film is directed by David Slade and stars Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, and Danny Huston...
(2007) film is listed as "Strigoi" in the end credits. - The 2009 film StrigoiStrigoi (film)Strigoi is a 2009 British/Romanian comedy horror based on the Romanian mythology. The film is directed by Faye Jackson and stars Constantin Bărbulescu, Camelia Maxim, and Rudi Rosenfeld...
involves vampires in RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, which are referred as "strigoi".http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1117636
Books
- The term is used to describe vampires in general in the book series "The Hunt" by Susan SizemoreSusan SizemoreSusan Sizemore is an American author of both romance and science fiction novels.-Biography:Susan Sizemore began writing her own stories as a child. As an adult, she wrote fanfiction set in the Star Trek universe. She later began writing original romance novels...
. - The Strigoi play a central role in Graham MastertonGraham MastertonGraham Masterton is a British horror author. Originally editor of Mayfair and the British edition of Penthouse, Graham Masterton's first novel The Manitou was released in 1976. This novel was adapted in 1978 for the film The Manitou...
's 2006 book, The Descendant. - The Strigoi play a central role in Dan Simmon's 1992 book, Children of the Night.
- Richelle Mead's Vampire AcademyVampire Academy (series)Vampire Academy is a best-selling series of six young-adult paranormal romance novels by American author Richelle Mead. It tells the story of Rose Hathaway, a seventeen-year-old Dhampir girl, who is training to be a bodyguard for her Moroi best friend, Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir. In the process of...
novels features Strigoi as villains. - A Strigoi appears in "Philologos; or, A Murder in Bistritia" by Debra DoyleDebra DoyleDr. Debra Doyle is an American author writing in multiple related genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. Many of her stories are co-written with her husband, James D. Macdonald...
and James D. MacdonaldJames D. MacdonaldJames D. Macdonald is an American author and critic who lives in New Hampshire with his wife and frequent collaborator, Dr. Debra Doyle. He works in several genres, concentrating on fantasy, but also writing science fiction, and mystery and media tie-ins.-Biography:Macdonald was born in 1954, and...
in the February, 2008 Fantasy and Science Fiction - In the Guardians of Ga' Hoole book series, an evil owl whose ancestors were witch owls called hagsfiends renames herself the Striga after her escape from the Qui' Dragon Palace.
- Guillermo Del ToroGuillermo del ToroGuillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
's 2009 Book "The Strain" references vampires as strigoi - Strigoi is the preferred name of vampires in Susan Krinard's Roaring Twenties series.
- Mike MignolaMike MignolaMichael Joseph "Mike" Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.-Career:Mignola...
's Right Hand of Doom, from the HellboyHellboyHellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
comic series feature's a female vampire proclaiming that the vârcolac (singular entity here) is the master of the moroii and strigoi.
Games
- The Sixth Edition (6 Ed.) of the Warhammer Fantasy BattleWarhammer Fantasy BattleWarhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting....
game gives the name Strigoi to a bloodline of monstrous vampires, similar to Count OrlokCount OrlokCount Orlok is a fictional character portrayed by Max Schreck in the silent movie Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens...
. - Underground adventure game, Ben Jordan: Case 3 features a Strigoi who goes by the name of Zortherus
- The video game Ace Combat 6 features an elite enemy fighter squadron called "Strigon Team" formally known as the "Vampire Team", whose insignia and paint scheme contains deathDeath (personification)The concept of death as a sentient entity has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. In English, Death is often given the name Grim Reaper and, from the 15th century onwards, came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood...
motifs and whose commander flies an experimental aircraft named "Nosferatu". - The 2007 Video game The WitcherThe WitcherThe Witcher, or , by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski is a cult series of fantasy short stories and five novels about the witcher Geralt of Rivia...
, based on the novels by Andrzej SapkowskiAndrzej SapkowskiAndrzej Sapkowski, born 21 June 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy writer. He is best known for his best-selling book series The Witcher.-Biography:...
, features a vampyric female creature known as a striga. - In the 2008 video game Soul Calibur 4, the French fencer (and vampire) Raphael Sorel has a move called the Strigoi Envelopment.
- In the 2008 adventure video game A vampyre story, one of the more prominent characters is named Madam Strigoi and although she is not herself a vampyre (as far as is known), she has great insight into vampires.
- In DisgaeaDisgaeais a video game series of tactical role-playing games created and developed by Nippon Ichi. The series debuted in Japan on January 30, , with Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, later re-released as Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness and Disgaea DS. One of Nippon Ichi's most popular franchises, it has branched...
video game series, there is a class of vampires called Strigoi. - In the video game Shin Megami Tensei: Strange JourneyShin Megami Tensei: Strange Journeyis a role-playing video game developed by Atlus and Lancarse for the Nintendo DS. It is a title within the Megami Tensei series of video games, and was released in Japan on October 8, 2009 and in North America on March 23, 2010...
, an enemy demon which can be encountered by the player is a Strigoi.
Music
- The term is used in a song from the black metalBlack metalBlack metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
band Dark FuneralDark FuneralDark Funeral is a black metal band from Stockholm, Sweden, founded by guitarists Blackmoon and Lord Ahriman in 1993. They are one of the bands to have emerged in Sweden during the Second wave of black metal....
the song is called "Ravenna Strigoi Mortii" and is on the album Vobiscum SatanasVobiscum SatanasVobiscum Satanas is Dark Funeral's second full-length album. This was the first album to feature longtime vocalist and lyricist Emperor Magus Caligula, and the only one to feature drummer Alzazmon , who would later be known for his work in Dissection and Gorgoroth.- Track listing :#Ravenna Strigoi...
.
WurdulacWurdulacThe Wurdulac, also spelled wurdalak or verdilak, is a type of Russian vampire that must consume the blood of its loved ones and convert its whole family. Alexei Tolstoy wrote most famously of one such family....
Mario BavaMario Bava
Mario Bava was an Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer remembered as one of the greatest names from the "golden age" of Italian horror films.-Biography:Mario Bava was born in San Remo, Liguria, Italy...
made a 1963 portmanteau film of it starring Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
called Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath (film)
The motion picture Black Sabbath, whose Italian title, I Tre volti della paura, translates as The Three Faces of Fear, is a 1963 Italian horror film directed by Mario Bava. Boris Karloff, in addition to appearing in the linking passages, has a role in "The Wurdalak" segment...
.
A wurdulac is also the subject of Monster in My Pocket
Monster in My Pocket
Monster in my Pocket is a media franchise developed by Morrison Entertainment Group, headed by Joe Morrison and John Weems ....
#116.
StrixStrix (mythology)Strix was the Ancient Roman and Greek word for owl. In folklore it was considered a bird of ill omen that fed on human flesh and blood, a product of metamorphosis...
The Stirge was presented as a popular monster in Dungeons and Dragons. In the game it took the form of a many-legged flying creature which sucked the blood from its victims through a sharp, tubular beak.A version of the striga makes an appearance in The Witcher (video game) based on the works of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski, born 21 June 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy writer. He is best known for his best-selling book series The Witcher.-Biography:...
. As a demonic undead creature, which transforms from the corpse of a dead child conceived via incest, striga in the Witcher's universe doesn't look like insects or vampires but looks similar to a ghoul with a muscular quadrupedal body, big claws, and a fang-filled mouth.
The strix make an appearance in the Vampire: the Requiem
Vampire: The Requiem
Vampire: The Requiem is a role-playing game published by White Wolf, set in the World of Darkness, and the successor to the Vampire: The Masquerade line. It was first released in August 2004, together with a new core rule book for the World of Darkness...
historical book Requiem for Rome. In contrast to the more traditional vampires presented in the line, the strix are disembodied spirits who commonly take the shape of owls and can possess both humans and torpored vampires. It's rumored that the strix restored Remus
Remus
Remus is the twin brother of the mythical founder of Rome.Remus may also refer to:* Remus , a fictional planet in Star Trek* Remus , a moon of the asteroid 87 Sylvia...
to undeath, and corrupted a sixth clan of vampires who were destroyed en masse. The strix believed themselves to be betrayed by the vampires of Rome, especially those of the Julii clan, and swore to bring about their ruin. They reappear in Night Horrors: Wicked Dead as heralds of disaster, mainly unbound by their former oath (although they still occasionally pursue such activities for personal reasons). Immensely amoral libertines, they view vampires clinging to humanity as weak, and as such will often serve as tempters in order to make them lose themselves to the Beast.
Strix are also described in the GURPS third edition Sourcebook for Vampires Blood Types. They are described as witches who, having made pacts with dark entities gained the ability to become blood drinking birds at night. What their pacts with these dark forces require of them is not described.
Film
- Penanggalan aka The Headless Terror, a 1967 film by Tulsi Ramsay.
- The Witch With Flying Head (Fei taugh mo neuih, literally "Flying Head Devil Woman"), 1977 film by Lian Sing Woo (Though from Hong Kong, bootlegs are usually of the ThaiThai languageThai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
-dubbed version, which also is rescored with Basil PoledourisBasil PoledourisVassilis Konstantinos "Basil" Poledouris was a Greek-American music composer who concentrated on the scores for films and television shows...
music from Conan the Barbarian, which debuted several years after this film's first release. Principal photography had to have begun before April 1970, due to the presence of Peter Chen Ho, who died April 16, 1970.http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=2808) - Mystics in BaliMystics in BaliMystics in Bali is a 1981 Indonesian horror film directed by H. Tjut Djalil and based on the novel "Leák Ngakak" by Putra Mada. The original Indonesian title is "Mystik" or "Leyak", but the film is also known as "Leák" in some territories and "Balinese Mystic" in Australia.The film revolves around...
, (Leák), 1983 film by H. Tjut Djalil., from the novelNovelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Putra Mada - KrasueKrasueThe krasue is a certain female spirit of Southeast Asian mythology.This ghost has been the subject of a number of movies in the region, including Konm Eak Madia Arb , a Cambodian horror movie which has the distinction of being the first movie made in the People's Republic of Kampuchea after the...
, 2002 film by Bin Bunluerit - Gong Tau
Both Penanggalan and Mystics in Bali feature actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
W.D. Mochtar as the priest who fights the Penanggalan. Both The Witch With Flying Head and Mystics in Bali
Mystics in Bali
Mystics in Bali is a 1981 Indonesian horror film directed by H. Tjut Djalil and based on the novel "Leák Ngakak" by Putra Mada. The original Indonesian title is "Mystik" or "Leyak", but the film is also known as "Leák" in some territories and "Balinese Mystic" in Australia.The film revolves around...
depict an innocent transformed into a Penanggalan against her will. In the former film, there is an effort to save her, and her attempt at suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
upon learning her condition is thwarted. In the latter film, she is considered irredeemable, and her neck is spiked to destroy her. Both characters are monstrous only at night and unaware of their nocturnal behavior until informed.
Print media
- HellboyHellboyHellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
Premier Edition (an offer from Wizard EntertainmentWizard EntertainmentWizard Entertainment, formerly known as Wizard Press, was a New York-based publisher of Wizard and ToyFare magazines, along with various special issues for each magazine and the annual Toy Wishes holiday guide....
) features a story by Mike MignolaMike MignolaMichael Joseph "Mike" Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.-Career:Mignola...
, The Penanggalan (later collected in the Premier Edition volume 1 and Hellboy: The Troll Witch and OthersHellboy: The Troll Witch and OthersHellboy: The Troll Witch and Others is the seventh trade paperback collection in the Hellboy series and published by Dark Horse Comics on October 3, 2007...
) where Hellboy battles a penanggalan.
- The first book of the Malay Mysteries, Garlands of Moonlight, revolves around a Penanggalan http://www.shotopress.com/titles/malay_mysteries.php.
- The webcomic 5ideways features Penanggalans in the "interlude" chapter.
- The Penanggalan may be found described as a Dungeons and Dragons monster in the Fiend FolioFiend FolioFiend Folio is the title shared by three products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons...
(TSR, Inc.TSR, Inc.Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
, 1981).
- The Penanggalan may be found described as an example of a vampire as well as the Kephn (a male counterpart from Burma) in the GURPSGURPSThe Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
third edition supplement GURPS Blood Types (Steve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
, 1995)
- The vargouilleVargouilleIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the vargouille is a foul, disgusting, vampiric outsider from evil-aligned planes.-Publication history:The vargouille first appeared in first edition in the original Monster Manual II ....
in Dungeons and Dragons is similar to the penanggalan in that both are vampire-like creatures in the form of a flying, detached head.
- The short Guro/comedy manga story Head Prolapse Elegy by Shintaro KagoShintaro Kago, is a Japanese guro manga artist. He debuted in 1988 on the magazine COMIC BOX.-Style:Shintaro Kago's style has been called "fashionable paranoia". He has been published in several adult manga magazines, gaining him considerable popularity...
revolves around the travails of a Penanggalan who desires a normal love life with a man, but is constantly thwarted by her condition.
- A more recent Dungeons and Dragons penanggalan appears in the Oriental Adventures setting.
- Even more recent Dungeons and Dragons penanggalan appears in the Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale supplement.
- The Dragon WarriorsDragon WarriorsDragon Warriors is a fantasy role playing game system written by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson and published by Corgi Books between the years 1985 and 1986. In 2009 it was re-collected in a new hardcover edition by Mongoose Publishing...
RPG features a monster called the Death's Head, with a similar modus operandi to the Penanggalan, although the detached head has tiny wings and a horn.
Other
- Anime-based website Gaia OnlineGaia OnlineGaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social networking and forums-based website. Gaiaonline was founded in 2003. but the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2003 from go-gaia by its owner, Gaia Interactive...
has a Penanggalan as a companion or a self pose in the "Nightmare" evolving item.
MoroiMoroiA moroi is a type of vampire or ghost in Romanian folklore. A female moroi is called a moroaică...
- In the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Count Dracula calls his wolf pet by the names strigoiStrigoiIn Romanian mythology, strigoi are the troubled souls of the dead rising from the grave. Some strigoi can be living people with certain magical properties. Some of the properties of the strigoi include: the ability to transform into an animal, invisibility, and the propensity to drain the vitality...
and moroi. - Richelle Mead's Vampire AcademyVampire Academy (series)Vampire Academy is a best-selling series of six young-adult paranormal romance novels by American author Richelle Mead. It tells the story of Rose Hathaway, a seventeen-year-old Dhampir girl, who is training to be a bodyguard for her Moroi best friend, Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir. In the process of...
series features Moroi as the protagonists and Strigoi as the antagonists. - Mike MignolaMike MignolaMichael Joseph "Mike" Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.-Career:Mignola...
's Right Hand of Doom, from the HellboyHellboyHellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
series features a female vampire proclaiming that the vârcolac (singular entity here) is the master of the moroii and strigoi.