Welcome back for part two! In this post, I'll be discussing what seems to me to be the defining moment for each of our monsters, that cemented them in the public consciousness, and inspired multitudes of further adaptations.
So let's get started with Dracula. I mean Dracula. I mean vampires. But... Dracula. This one is obvious. Dracula is the quintessential vampire. Blood sucking, harmed by religous artefacts and the sun, strengthened by blood and transylvanian soil. He can transform into a wolf, a dog, a cloud of mist, or a bat (but not during the day). He has a power of mesmerism, and can hold humans he drinks from regularly under his control. He turns others into vampires by feeding them his blood. He is.... Dracula.
I think there is a more deep routed something in Dracula, however. For me, this is the moment when vampires and zombies definitely become separate entities. Until Dracula, both were undead human eaters. Now, vampires were elevated, intelligent, suave even. This is the moment that blood suckers became associated with elegance, polite society, ritual and high society. This, and I hate to say it, is the beginning of the road that led to Twilight.
For zombies, the defining moment is a little harder to pin down. Frankenstein immediately comes to mind, but is he a true zombie? While some would argue that he's somehow separate, I think he is. He may be a collection of different body parts rather than a single individual, but I think he is a bridging point between the zombies of today, which tend to have the most scientific origins of the momsters we're discussing, and the historic zombies I discussed last post. He is massive and strong, like the bloated corpses of the originals, but also has human-like mental abilties, like some modern zombies (think Skulduggery Pleasant or iZombie). The theme of a zombie trying to fit in to human society is also commonly found in some modern zombie stories.
Of course, some modern zombie tales take them as completely mindless. Interestingly, although in the original novel Frankensteins monster is eloquent and can speak and communicate well, in subsequent films he becomes much more animalistic, often unable to speak at all, or barely managing short sentences or grunts. For me, this is birth of the true modern zombie. Frankenstein's monster's chaning representation shows the evolution of the lumbering undead, creating a spectrum modern authors can draw from. One of the appeals of zombie literature is that every zombie is unique, and the range is from the almost living human, to the crawling, rotten corpse.
And finally we get to the werewolf. Interestingly, I would say this is the monster that is without a single defining novellisation. Much of the lore dates back to the ancient Greeks, and werewolves, it seems, have always been popular inclusions in myths, legends and literature. However, if you're creating a line-up beginning with Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, it must surely end with the Wolfman.
The Wolfman is probably less well known than his vampire and zombie counterparts. He is created when he is attacked by, and kills, a wolf-like creature, but is bitten in the process. The Wolfman is then created, and finds himself transforming at night and going on a killing spree. When he comes to, he has a vague memory of what he did during the night, but is fully human. He is finally killed with a silver-topped walking stick. This film cements a few clear ideas into our minds. For one, the curse is transmitted by a bite, and is therefore passed from person to person. There is also an element of ritual, with local poems and legends telling of the wolf. Transformation is not limited to the full moon, a trait which seems to become popular later, but is tied to the flowering of the wolfsbane plant. If that sounds familiar, wolfsbane potion is what is used in Harry Potter to allow Lupin to retain control over himself at the full moon. The Wolfman brought ideas together from all over the world, combining an out of control human on a killing spree with the idea of transformation, animalistic tendencies, weakness to silver and transmission by a bite, creating the roots of our modern werewolves.
And there we have it. Next time, I think we'll be moving on to discuss the most important questions, which of these monsters is the most powerful, and which makes the best monster in our stories today?
(Obviously the answer to both of these is obvious. Dragons. Dragons are the best.)
So let's get started with Dracula. I mean Dracula. I mean vampires. But... Dracula. This one is obvious. Dracula is the quintessential vampire. Blood sucking, harmed by religous artefacts and the sun, strengthened by blood and transylvanian soil. He can transform into a wolf, a dog, a cloud of mist, or a bat (but not during the day). He has a power of mesmerism, and can hold humans he drinks from regularly under his control. He turns others into vampires by feeding them his blood. He is.... Dracula.
I think there is a more deep routed something in Dracula, however. For me, this is the moment when vampires and zombies definitely become separate entities. Until Dracula, both were undead human eaters. Now, vampires were elevated, intelligent, suave even. This is the moment that blood suckers became associated with elegance, polite society, ritual and high society. This, and I hate to say it, is the beginning of the road that led to Twilight.
For zombies, the defining moment is a little harder to pin down. Frankenstein immediately comes to mind, but is he a true zombie? While some would argue that he's somehow separate, I think he is. He may be a collection of different body parts rather than a single individual, but I think he is a bridging point between the zombies of today, which tend to have the most scientific origins of the momsters we're discussing, and the historic zombies I discussed last post. He is massive and strong, like the bloated corpses of the originals, but also has human-like mental abilties, like some modern zombies (think Skulduggery Pleasant or iZombie). The theme of a zombie trying to fit in to human society is also commonly found in some modern zombie stories.
Of course, some modern zombie tales take them as completely mindless. Interestingly, although in the original novel Frankensteins monster is eloquent and can speak and communicate well, in subsequent films he becomes much more animalistic, often unable to speak at all, or barely managing short sentences or grunts. For me, this is birth of the true modern zombie. Frankenstein's monster's chaning representation shows the evolution of the lumbering undead, creating a spectrum modern authors can draw from. One of the appeals of zombie literature is that every zombie is unique, and the range is from the almost living human, to the crawling, rotten corpse.
And finally we get to the werewolf. Interestingly, I would say this is the monster that is without a single defining novellisation. Much of the lore dates back to the ancient Greeks, and werewolves, it seems, have always been popular inclusions in myths, legends and literature. However, if you're creating a line-up beginning with Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, it must surely end with the Wolfman.
The Wolfman is probably less well known than his vampire and zombie counterparts. He is created when he is attacked by, and kills, a wolf-like creature, but is bitten in the process. The Wolfman is then created, and finds himself transforming at night and going on a killing spree. When he comes to, he has a vague memory of what he did during the night, but is fully human. He is finally killed with a silver-topped walking stick. This film cements a few clear ideas into our minds. For one, the curse is transmitted by a bite, and is therefore passed from person to person. There is also an element of ritual, with local poems and legends telling of the wolf. Transformation is not limited to the full moon, a trait which seems to become popular later, but is tied to the flowering of the wolfsbane plant. If that sounds familiar, wolfsbane potion is what is used in Harry Potter to allow Lupin to retain control over himself at the full moon. The Wolfman brought ideas together from all over the world, combining an out of control human on a killing spree with the idea of transformation, animalistic tendencies, weakness to silver and transmission by a bite, creating the roots of our modern werewolves.
And there we have it. Next time, I think we'll be moving on to discuss the most important questions, which of these monsters is the most powerful, and which makes the best monster in our stories today?
(Obviously the answer to both of these is obvious. Dragons. Dragons are the best.)
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