Bite Me--My Vamp Addiction

You could say I have a form of vampirism, if only literary. And ony if they looked like him..

As a child, I was terrified of vampires, beginning at the tender age of five when I stayed up late and watched Nosferatu on Scifi Theater on my 12 inch black and white. The sight of that thing crawling up the bricks and into the window to bite the neck of the lovely maiden had me huddling under the covers for over a year.

Just about the time I got over that and could sleep with my neck uncovered at night, along came a mini-series called Salem's Lot. Oh, Stephen, thou art the King of plumbing the depths of my psyche. This time the fanged ones were on a bigger screen and in technicolor. That tall green guy was the stuff of a 6 year old's nightmares. I put crosses on my neck.. I don't mean crosses as in a necklace, oh no, you people know me better than that by now. I drew them in magic marker on my neck. When I bathed them off, I drew them again. Thank God it was summer. I still won't watch it now. Though, I will admit, the parts I have seen are no longer as frightening as they once were, the little kid pecking at the window and the dude in the rocking chair with the glowing eyes still give me a big case of the heebs.

Score three for the King.. (1) no open curtains at night (2) no creepy strangers in my house after dark who can't enter without my invite (3) No corn (wait, that's another blog, sorry)

For six years I was terrified of vampires. Then three things happened almost at once.. Two movies Fright Night. (erm. wow) That man was seriously hot and I thought the words in my title for the first, but not the last time. You got it. "Oh yeah baby, bite Me." *sighs*

The other movie? Well, um, I'll admit to having a big old soft spot in my heart for Love at First Bite. George Hamilton may have had to wear clown white pancake makeup, but who cares? The drunkenly uttered line, "Renfield! They thought I vas a black chicken. *hic!*" will forever be next to the final nail in the coffin of my fear of vampires. (pun intended)

What was the death knell of my fear of the undead? Well, one day while I was in spending rainy recess in the library, I noticed a book on the shelf in my highschool library. While jr high kids weren't supposed to be able to check some books out, I was allowed as (a) I was special and (b) I was the librarian's pet. If you check out 10 books a week, this is sort of thing tends to happen *coughs* especially if you bring them all back again. The book was Interview With the Vampire. This opened a whole new world to me, a former fang-o-phobe.

The rest is history.. or

His and Her-story.

From Anne I progressed to..

Laurell K Hamilton-Anita Blake and Jean Claude
Jim Butcher-Dresden Files
Sherry Kenyon-Dark Hunters
MaryJanice Davison-Betsy the Shoe Vamp
Angela Knight-Mageverse and any other vamp she'll write for me (slurp)
Kim Harrison-I love her play on the Clint Eastwood movie titles!!
Charlaine Harris-The Dead as Series
Katie MacAlister-one funny lady

In other words, I'm addicted to fangs.. I love a story with bite. Gimme a good book with a dark broody hero who has a sharp smile, a taste for the red stuff, and an aversion to sunlight, and you've got a fan forever, literally. If you can add a sarcastic wit, some big action scenes and a few twists and turns in there, hey, you've got the makings of a hit television series. If you don't belive me, ask the Buffites who I didn't include because unlike most, I'm not a fan. Please don't stake me.. I liked the original movie better. But Spike would have made a way cool Harry Dresden for Jim Butcher's book to TV series.

So, now you know how one scared little girl made her way to the vampire romance aisle in the bookstore. It's a long and sorted story filled with pain, angst and yes, b-movies. I feel that it was a growing experience, and if it helps one fang-o-phobe come to terms with their fears then I know that I will not have blogged in vein. *winks*

Is that a stake in your pocket or are you happy to see me?

Jenna Leigh