On Writing Vampires: Breathing New Life Into Eternal Monsters

Vampires have been around forever. Okay I’m being cheeky, but it’s true! There have been evil vampires, sparkly vampires, funny but dull energy-sucking vampires, vampires tropes done to death (can’t stop, won’t stop). Yet somehow the monster—and our appetite for them—endures.

(How to Write Scary Novels Infused With Fun and Humor.)

I don’t believe vampires need to be reinvented every time. But I do believe it’s worth examining why vampires. When you set out to write vampires, how do these vampires serve the story you’re trying to tell?

When I began writing what would become So Thirsty, I didn’t think “I want to write a vampire book.” I wanted to write a book about women aging, and our complicated relationship with the mirror. While I was agonizing over my reflection one morning, it occurred to me that vampires don’t have them, a realization that came with both envy and horror. What would happen if aging wasn’t something I had to worry about? What joys and terrors would that invite into a life?

Vampires were the perfect vehicle to explore my angst about aging and questions about the balance between guilt and indulgence that plague many of our mortal lives.

Of course, the answer to, “why vampires” can be, “Because I feel like it!” That’s also totally valid, and worth acknowledging before you put pen to paper.

I think the next question to ask when writing vampires is what lore do you want to include, leave behind, invent, or possibly reinvent? And how does this lore serve or hinder the vampires in your story?

Are your vampires sensitive to sunlight? Do they have fangs? Is a wooden stake through the heart enough to take them out? What’s most compelling to you about vampires, and why?

As I was writing So Thirsty and interrogating ideas of aging and desire, I found it really fascinating that vampires cannot deny themselves. They want blood, they need it, it’s intrinsic to their survival. It’s been my personal experience as a woman that I’ve often been discouraged from indulgence. Not to eat too much, drink too much, talk too much, be too loud, or take up too much space. What would it be like to have to reckon with a shift inside me where deprivation became a threat to my survival? How would I cope with all the guilt ingrained into me?

Another compelling facet of vampires is their immortality. What would you do if you had all the time in the world? In a society that covets youth, it can be difficult to stop looking back at years already gone by and fall in love with our futures, with all the time we still have. But also, forever sure is a long time! How would you stave off boredom?

By leaning into your own fascination with the monster, you will find the right avenues to explore in your story, and inevitably create a version of vampires that serves both your story and satisfies your own personal fascination.

Check out Rachel Harrison's So Thirsty here:

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And lastly, the question I think it’s most important to ask yourself before writing anything; who are you? Turning inward, toward the uniqueness of your voice, of what makes you you, will differentiate your vampires from all other vampires. The tone of your voice and your story will determine if your vampires are ruthless and terrifying monsters, or if they’re quirky and cursed and trying their best.

Crafting vampires is less about the creature and more about the creator, in my humble opinion. Prioritizing your voice and your story will lead to the most compelling characters—monsters included.

Some recent vampire novels that succeed in utilizing the monster in new and insightful ways include Liz Kerin’s Night’s Edge duology; House of Hunger, by Alexis Henderson; and Nestlings, by Nat Cassidy.

So go forth into the night and have some fun with these eternal creatures. As far as I’m concerned, vampires are forever in vogue.