The Hunger
A vampire as a separate species rather than a curse, and the arithmetic of outliving everyone you love.
Strieber’s 1981 novel gave the vampire a biology instead of a curse. Miriam Blaylock is not undead but a separate species, effectively immortal, and her human companions age and disintegrate on a schedule she cannot change however much she loves them. The 1983 film with Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie took the elegance; the book is colder and more interested in the loneliness of outliving everyone.
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Grady Hendrix
And then you had the Hammer films of the late ’50s and into the ’60s, where Dracula was still evil, but he was becoming this romantic, brooding, gothic presence; then came Dracula on Broadway with Frank Langella, and the comedy Love at First Bite in the ’70s, and Blacula. That was when Dracula fully became a romantic partner and someone who was sexually desirable.
Interview · April 2025
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