Emer Schlosser: What’s the Deal with Vampires?

How and why did a creature that was once the source of nightmares turn into fodder for fantasy?

In a time when it was taboo to kiss, I understand the allure of a virile monster sinking sinister teeth deep into the sensitive flesh of the neck to nestle into a pulsing vein and suck the very essence of your life. Sexuality was repressed and here was an escape. But what is repressive about today’s North American society? We have celebs flashing snatches to paparazzi, porn out from behind the beaded curtain in the back of the bygone video store and on cable, sex is a subject splattered in big glossy letters across the majority of magazine covers at grocery checkouts, and just Jersey Shore alone should be enough to demonstrate how uninhibited people have become. And yet, the bloodsuckers are back like fangbusters.