It is a literary truth universal that upon their transformation, nearly all vampires turn into insatiable beasts with a hankering for biting and shagging.
Let's face it: sex sells. So does violence and mystery. Vampire literature presents the perfect package of sex and fear. Gorgeous creatures who live to fulfill their every whim and indulge all the senses with such inhibition it would make Anais Nin blush, cross herself, and retire to her boudoir with a nice cup of tea.
The current vamp heavyweights follow this maxim: Twilight is to emo courtly love as Interview with the Vampire is to erotica as the Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries are to a drunken fumble in a back alley.
Vampires have long been edgy sex symbols, filled with vim, vigor, and type O. Before the recent crop of vampire bestsellers, film pushed the sexiness of the creature. Blade heaves his fangs into a willing woman with all the rhythm of frenzied coupling, while scores of women heaved their not-so-delicate chests towards Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. Before that, Victorian-era Penny Dreadfuls literally screamed out the eroticism of a vampire's kiss. Vampires stalked their victims like crazed lovers, seducing their way towards destruction.
The shelves of bookstores are crammed with tales of seductive vamps looking for either lovers or soulmates and they're devoured by an insatiable public. Industries have sprung up, fat from sales of action dolls from Buffy, Bill, and Bella's beaus. But why do we find these animated cadavers so sexy?
The mode of vampire feeding is exceptionally erotic, if, well, a little bit bitey. Ravenous lips with sharpened teeth are sunk into erogenous zones on the human body. It's wet and just a bit rough. These are embraces filled with the ultimate passion, overwhelming the body and senses. The victim is wedged between ecstasy and potential annihilation by the Vampire's possessive kiss. In the words of William Blake in The Sick Rose" (Songs of Experience): "and his dark secret love does thy life destroy."
Vampires have now transformed themselves into boy-band heartthrobs for a new era.