Vampire Sexuality

Of all the monsters of fiction, the only one primarily associated with sex is the vampire. However, the vampire of folklore was not a sexually attractive figure; he was a dead man who fed on blood. Bram Stoker changed all that with his novel, Dracula.

Stoker used the vampire as a metaphor for the Victorian view of sex as dangerous. In Dracula, sex with the Count transformed women into seductive sirens and horrific murderesses – the opposite of the Victorian ideal of chastity and nurturing womanhood. Originally, only female vampires were especially beautiful. Other such spirit-like vampires were always ugly in their true form, but had the ability to shift their appearance to that of a beautiful maiden, in order to lure men to them.

An interesting aspect of the vampire’s sexual nature is their freedom from rules and social restrictions. From the earliest myths, creatures we now recognize as vampires, by their behavior and supernatural qualities, were female entities determined to punish men. Their raw, untamed sexuality gave them the power of seduction, where they used this to corrupt the minds of men, and send good girls into demoniac possession. In societies demanding sexual restraint, nothing is more frightening than a liberal minded women.