It's that time again!!! Unwritten and some 1000 other blogs participated last year, and this year looks to be even bigger! Just like last year, I've opened up the blog to host 26 fabulous writers, with each day of the challenge representing the letters of the alphabet from A-Z. I've asked each writer to focus on something that is personal to them, so we can learn more about each other.
Please check out some of the other blogs in the challenge here:
A-Z BLOG CHALLENGE 2013
THE
THIN RED LINE, PART II: VAMPIRE SEDUCTION
by Tara Fox Hall
V
is for vampire, yes. But what other v-words have to do with our favorite
seductive men and women of the night? Vespertine, which means of or pertaining
to the night. Vicissitude, a variation in conditions and fortune at different
times in a life, a marked part of most vampires’ tales. And we can likely all
agree on virgin, victim, villain, vigorous, vengeful, vigilante, vindictive, vicious,
voracious, and violator as also pertaining to the vampire legend. It’s the last
I want to focus on here.
The seductive power of the vampire
has been part of the legend since the beginning. In Stoker’s Dracula, we see
the inability of the virginous—and sometimes not so virginous—to resist
becoming Dracula’s victims. Again and again, the heroine Mina pleads to be
spared, only to eventually succumb to the fateful bite of our villain of the
night. Its left up to her vigorous and vengeful truelove Jonathan Harker the solicitor
turned vigilante, to save the day. Part of the zeal that Harker draws on to
confront his foe is vindictive; he is defending his wife from a monster that
has taken her against her will, not to mention endangered her very soul. By
Stoker’s version of events, Mina did not want or ask to be seduced; Dracula
forced her--through beguilement, strength and magic—to accept his embrace, to
endure him to enter her body with his own in a manner that has a sexual aspect
to it. We say that he seduced her, but is that really what happened?
There is a thin red line between
what we see as violation and what we see as seduction. Rape in a strong word
that evokes immediate strong feelings from most anyone who reads it. A forced
sexual attack cannot be condoned by anyone with a shred of decency. But we
vampire fans view seduction differently, don’t we? The true definition of
seduction is “to lead astray, to corrupt, to entice with false promises into a
course of action that is against proper conduct (ie, wrong)”…which sounds
pretty dark. So why are we vampire fans cheering for what amounts to a voracious
defiler? The complicated answer is because we no longer see the vampire as a determined
violator, ugly with evil intent. Instead, he is the handsome prince of our
dreams, one who pushes us to the limits of ecstasy, but no further than we in
our secret hearts want to go. This dark hero merely wants to show us the
delights that immortality has taught him, the undreamt pleasures our bodies are
capable of if only we permit his touch. He is “safe” even as his smoldering
gaze promises he’ll make all our fantasies real. He would never truly endanger
or hurt us…right?
***Comment on this post to win this Gothic
cross necklace and earring set!***
****
Tara Fox Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, action-adventure, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal action-adventureLash series and the vampire romantic suspensePromise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.
Email: tarafoxhallATgmailDOTcom
Tara's Facebook Page:
I enjoyed this post a lot, as I am a fan of Vampires....can't get enough of the stories and movies about them. It is funny how we have crossed this thin fine line.
ReplyDeleteHi Julia. This is take 3, as my responses will not upload.
DeleteYes, its odd how so much about morality and acceptable behavior depends on our own point of view...and how much our culture determines what that POV should be. Good luck in the contest!
That was posted on behalf of Tara, whose posts aren't coming through for some reason...
DeleteHi Tara, I enjoyed your post. I've read a number of vampire tales lately, and boy have they changed from the tales of old. Stephen King's vampire characters were really scary, but now it seems like the seduction part overrules fear by a landslide. I read one a few days ago that was enough to make me blush, and I don't blush easily anymore. lol
ReplyDeleteI remember being hooked to the Dark Shadows TV series way back when. Barnabas Collins held us glued to the set in his struggle to regain his humanity. He was not a happy camper at being a vampire.
Thanks for a good read.
Posting on behalf of Tara: Hi Leona Glad you enjoyed the post. Yes, Mr. Barlow is a far cry from the sexy vampires of fiction today. Instead of dominating the world, or easier goals like turning human or seducing their mortal love, vampires have succumbed to our expectation of having it all: power, immortality, AND sex appeal! Thanks for commenting!
DeleteThis sounds great! And the jewelry is gorgeous! Sign me up! ;)
ReplyDeletePosting on behalf of Tara: Hi Rebecca you are signed up! Glad you liked the necklace. I'ts sure to keep the vampires away. And if you change your mind, you can always slip the clasp! :)
DeleteI like vampire books
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
Posting on behalf of Tara: Hello BN100 Hope your week was fabulous and good luck in the contest! :)
DeleteI just downloaded the first Ch in Taken in the Night! :D TY for the giveaway too! The necklace and earrings are so pretty!
ReplyDeletexeno_turtle(at)yahoo(dot)com
Posting on behalf of Tara: Good to meet you, Sayomay. I hope you like Taken in the Night! Good luck in the drawing! :)
DeleteWhen I wrote Snowflake Girl, I kept in mind the Bram Stoker metaphor and applied as I figured he would today. The vampire's biting and feeding against the victim's will was a sexual assault. Adding to that, the legacy of vampirism in the main character was liken to a disease that spread as a result of the attack, and so it's something the victim has to deal with and be reminded of every day. From there she is denied help from society- for effectively being dead in the eyes of the law. The society casts the aspersion that she somehow is at fault.
ReplyDeletePosting on behalf of Tara: You've got a interesting question there, John. What would Stoker think of our romanticizing the vampire today instead of seeing him as an evil parasite? But I do have to say that I think Stoker had his own fantasies...those 3 brides of Dracula didn't have that scene seducing Harker just for character development...hehe
Deletelol, this reminded me of a school vocabulary assignment where you had to use all the vocab words in a paragraph. I think you would get an A+ for yours My teenage daughter would LOVE this jewelry set! thanks :) sstogner1 at gmail dot com
ReplyDeletePosting on behalf of Tara: Hi Sharon, lovely shepherdess of Sheep Yes, I looked up words with the letter V, took out a handful of the ones that pertained to vampires, listed them in the blog, then used them in order. That last was the hard part...it took me a good hour to make that work Thanks for noticing!
DeleteI watched the old Dark Shadows series too. And I am a big Angel fan. I had a secret desire to be Buffy! The necklace and earrings look like something she'd wear.
ReplyDeletePosting on behalf of Tara: Hi Catherine Lee Are you any relation to Christopher? Sorry, had to ask..he's one of my favorite actors! I am also a big Angel fan. All I had to do to get hooked was watch one episode of Buffy...which happened to be the one where Faith shot him with the arrow. I was an addict from that point on! With his undying love...and then Spike's affection...I wanted to be Buffy, too! Thanks for commenting and good luck!
DeleteCongratz to Sayomay!!! You won the Gothic jewelry!!
ReplyDelete