"Strewn with time's dead flowers. Bereft in deathly bloom..."

“It's better to die laughing than to live each moment in fear.”
― Michael Crichton

Why do we love vampires? What is our obvious obsession with blood sucking creatures of the night? With just a few more days until Halloween I thought it would be interesting to delve into a scary monster mystery and get us in the mood. Of course not all vampires give us nightmares. Take for example three of my favorite; the sweetly delicious Count Chocula, everyone's first spirited math instructor Count von Count. How can we possibly fear a vampire that taught us the value of addition and subtraction?  And the handsome howling host of  Monster Chiller Horror Theater, SCTV's Joe Flaherty as Count Floyd.

So, why are we so fascinated by Twilight's Edward Cullen and Anne Rice's' Lestat de Lioncourt? (Interview with the Vampire)? Psychologists speculate we may associate vampires with healthy rebellion. They are the "bad boys"(or girls) of ghoul, the masters of the undead. The blood thirsty adventurers that tempt our imaginations. Most vampires are portrayed as misunderstood loners who seek out their long lost eternal companions.

Vampires can be seen as dashing and sexy, the favorable ones like Twilight's Edward and True Blood's (HBO drama series)'Bill Compton love so passionately. They are flawed. They aren't fake, goody two shoes or respectable. They definitely struggle with being good over being bad. Most people desire a type of dramatic love story. Many couples live for the drama they create in their own relationships. Deep down when we get our fangs into the matter, none of us are perfect. Do we really want a perfect mate? Well, let that be your own mystery.

Vampires through time:

The historic first film vampire was portrayed by Max Schreck in Nosferatu, 1922.

 Charismatic British actor Christpher Lee played a vampire ten times in film and television movies.

Barnabas Collins of the '70's soap opera, "Dark Shadows" was recreated for the film of the same name by Johnny Depp in 2012.

Bram Stoker's Dracula - Gary Oldman

Hungarian born actor, Bela Lugosi was the inspiration for the brilliant, British Goth punk band Bauhaus's eerily defining tribute, "Bela Lugosi's Dead". This is one of my all time favorite hauntingly creepy songs. First released in 1979 the tune has stood the test of time and it's always perfect for Halloween. Portraying the character most notably, Lugosi played Count Dracula beginning in 1931 with the movie Dracula.