Proliferous in contemporary fiction, the vampire has become an all-out craze, which is reflective, I argue, of innate desires within us humans. Vampire need and crave blood, and while key to the story is the vampire requiring blood of the human to live, a broadening emphasis in this narrative is the human sucking blood from the vampire. The blood ingestion often creates a special and severe bond among the parties.
I propose that this experience of sharing blood, in particular when the human is ingesting blood from the vampire, is tremendously relatable to a modern audience because it parallels two very primal, natural desires in us: one, breastfeeding and the desire to suck; and two, communion with God through a blood covenant. In other words, it represents our desire to bond with our earthly, tangible maker (our mother) and our spiritual, heavenly Maker (God).
In this paper, I expound on the latter—the vampire story a reflection of our desire to connect with God: to feed from him, to love and feel love, and to thereby establish a bond which satiates us, heals, comforts, and affirms. This can only happen by way of a blood covenant, blood being an essential feature of the vampire texts and Christianity alike.
About the presenterAmy Williams Wilson
I am a West Virginia girl, domestic violence awareness advocate, and momma to 17 year old Nathan and five well-intentioned pets. My book, “The Bite, The Breast, and The Blood: Why Modern Vampire Stories Suck Us In,” was released by McFarland in September 2018. I have been lecturing on West Virginia college campuses for over 20 years but feel a strong calling as the Amtrak Cafe Car lady.