Writing and Reading

It’s been something I’ve been meaning to do for an eternity but never got to doing it–

My own personal top ten list of….

VAAAAAMPIRES

[cue in scary organ music]

Disagree with me if you want on the order these come in. But you have to agree–these are pretty damn cool vampires . And we’re talkin’ both from literature and film.

So to start off–

10

Isn’t it obvious that she be in the top ten? This lovely beauty of darkness appeared in “From Dusk Till Dawn” as quite arguably the sexiest female vampire, at least on a physical level. I mean, look at her, for cryin’ out loud!

9

I have to admit–the dude looked intimidating. And that’s a primary characteristic of vampire culture mythology. He was a scary-looking pale-faced piece of work. You saw the guy. You run. And don’t look back. Oh, and his name is Valek, in case you were wondering, of “John Carpenter’s Vampires” fame. The pinnacle of the modern-day vampire laced with badlands and good ol-fashioned bloodshed and broken body parts. Yum yum.

8

First off, Aaliyah (God rest her soul) was to die for. Her body itself made the Greek goddesses cower in shame. “The Queen of the Damned” was centered around Akasha, the mother of all vampires. And believe me–if you saw her and marveled at her ability to move, to seduce (namely Lestat himself, which is an accomplishment all its own), it would mesmerize you a thousand times till sunrise (or sunset).

7

“Forever Knight” definitely got a bad rap for, first of all, being too far ahead of its time, and secondly, the series itself was just plain short-lived. Which is unfortunate. Because good ol’ Nicholas Knight definitely was a charmer. He was a ‘good’ vampire. The idea of that was stunning–that a vampire can be ‘good’. Or I should say… A GOOD GUY. What a novel idea!

6

BOO! There he is, the “lost boy”, hiding away in that tiny corner. Effectively mixing bad ass and rock-and-roll with the supernatural, “The Lost Boys” actually really did bring in the whole vampire story out of the classics and into pure American culture. Plus that theme song, “Cry Little Sister”….. Oh, yeah. To. Die. For.

5

You’re looking at Dracula himself. Or I should say Judas Iscariot from the Bible. A clever twist on the classic Dracula story. And actually one of the small inspirations spurring me to research THE CAIN LETTERS. The reason why I liked Gerard Butler here in “Dracula 2000″ was, one, he does have classic sex appeal (obviously, right, ladies?), and two, he actually has that modern look as well. He is, in essence, a modern-day Dracula.

4

Forget Louie. Forget Lestat. Forget ‘em all. I know, the ladies damn me to Hell. But, in all honesty, the vampire Armand played by Antonio Banderas was the pinnacle of a seduction very typical of vampirism. He had a bisexual quality, too. Anne Rice, you got to love her. Those vampires and that New Orleans and classic European charm–sheer beauty of a Victorian and romantic nature. Nothing better.

3

I am and always will be a lover of classics. As much as I dig the modern mythologies, I will always be grounded by what began the myth. What started it all. Bram Stoker’s Dracula was the root to a very large tree with tons of different branches. Although Bela Lugosi will always be in my heart, I never had the immersion in the classic “Dracula” as I did with Francis Ford Coppolla’s version. Gary Oldman. Not only did Oldman do Dracula justice, he gave the great man color, vision and emotion. Just the look on his face is enough to cower in compassion that this man has gone through hell in losing his long lost love….

2

Don’t ask me why–maybe it was because I never came across a good, awesome vampire TV series, and when I found “Moonlight”, I was immediately glued to the screen (shame on you, CBS, for cancelling it). Plus good ol’ Mick St. John played by Alex O’Loughlin really did squash the crap that was “Angel” (sorry, Buffy. He just didn’t cut it). He was the superhero detective who refused to be an indulgent feeder/killer. Sacrificial, noble. Very attractive, right? He was like Nicholas Knight from “Forever Knight” only with an updated mythology and a whole lot of style to boot. And you and I both know–vampires have STYLE.

Aaaaand NO. 1

This, my friends…is the no-brainer of the century. Of all famous vampires, the one and only, the bold and beautiful SELENE, played by the absolutely stunning Kate Beckinsale, of “Underworld” fame takes the top spot for a number of reasons. Where do I start?? One, she’s absolutely freakin’ hot as Hell. Two, she can kick major ass with kicks, punches, guns and just about anything else (homage to “The Matrix”). Three, she’s got that British edge (a little touch of the classic there). And Four. Well, let’s face it, people–

Her personality and style was basically an inspiration for my main character .

You can’t compete with that.