Just thought I would start this off and see how it goes. I have always been fascinated by the stories about them. When I was young, the films used to scare the hell out of me. Now I watch these films for entertainment.
Vampires are very popular at the moment. Sexy and big business, especially for the book, film and TV industry. We seem to be living at a time when people are throwing away what I would have seen as a traditional view of vampires and making up new versions, new rules. Or is that just my ignorance? Compare, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Blade, Selene, Angel and Edward Cullen for instance. Lots of differences - what they can do, what they feed on, what harms them, what you need to do to destroy them (perhaps, not so much with this aspect), effect of light and mirrors etc. Vampire slayers are also different - van Helsing (different versions), Buffy, Blade, various werewolves, Dhampires etc.
There is a lot of stuff aimed at the teen market too. Darren Shan for example. My teenage son has read all the books over and over again and watched the film. He is now working his way through Anne Rice's books. My daughter read all of the the Twilight Saga and has seen the films that have come out. Darren Shan and Stephenie Myer are very different - lots of violence in one, more philosophy, reflection and emotion in the other.
