Electronic Highways
Vampire allure
If you don’t have a favorite “vampire” of choice yet, have no fear—there are plenty of TV programs, films and novels featuring the land of the undead. According to USA Today, Stephenie Meyer, creator of the ever-popular vampire romance series Twilight, was one of the biggest-selling authors of 2008, having sold more than 29 million books. And 2009 proves to be another stellar year for the author.
Who’s considered the scariest or sexiest vamp in pop culture? Select your favorite neck-biting character by browsing Barnes & Noble’s vampire collection for books and DVDs.
Both teens and adults are fascinated with this genre. It seems like you cannot pick up a magazine or turn on the television without seeing some reference to bloodsuckers! Even the Nielsen TV ratings reveal that the premiere of the new TV series “The Vampire Diaries” didn’t trail far behind the NFL opener between the Steelers and the Titans. If you’re having a hard time keeping up with all of this vampire mania, check out Hulu, a Web site that offers free streaming video of TV and movies from major networks. You can even catch episodes of cult classics like “Dark Shadows,” the original vampire soap opera.
Fans of the defunct “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” should check out season eight—the Dark Horse comic-book continuation of the hit TV series. You cannot read the entire comic online, but take a look at the amazing cover art at Buffyworld. For a list of more graphic novels featuring vampires, click here.
Despite all the recent supernatural tales, Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula remains one of the most adapted horror books in English literature. There is even an entire online journal—The Journal of Dracula Studies—devoted to this topic. For a historical overview of fictional vampires in the 19th and 20th centuries, browse Blackwell Reference Online. Supplement these sources with The Literary Gothic, the Web’s premier guide to Gothic and supernaturalist literature written prior to 1950.
Novels and films available for your leisure can be located using the UB Libraries Catalog. Once you sink your teeth into this bloody phenomenon, you just might never return to the land of the living!
—Laura Taddeo, University Libraries
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