Poll: Who wrote the coolest vampires?

[Ninjaottsel]

I think Darren Shan does vampires in an interesting way.
12 books about them too.

i agree with you, i must say i did enjoy the way he made them out to be.

 

[Lexodus]

Other. Richard Matheson's vampires in I Am Legend.
The book is different from the movie.

i.e., it actually makes sense, and it's not the traditional (shit) American-dying-a-hero ending, it's a really good one. They almost put it in the film too, but the test audiences didn't respond well.

Darren Shan was also good.

 

[mikecoulter]

The Cullens were pretty hardcore.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Bram Stoker or the original vampire folklore

 

[Starke]

Personally I'm partial to the vampires from White Wolf's original World of Darkness. Not vampires created by people who actually play that game, as they tend to trend along the ridiculous angst-filled "Anne Rice" template, but the stuff from the background itself or the novels - even the 'good guys' are inhuman monsters, and the bad ones... well they're the stuff that nightmares would have in a nightmare.

Excellently stated. There's still characters from the setting that I remember, long after the world's been retired by the publisher.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

Who are those 8 who voted for Stephenie Meyer?

The world may never know.

But then again, if you could...would you really want to?

 

[Hydro Imp]

John Ajvide Lindqvist who wrote let the right one in, I thought the vampires in that were awesome, well worth a read

 

[wrajjt]

White Wolf oWoD fluff is some of the best vampire reading out there. Stoker's a good 'un (actually read it, not just saw the movie). Whoever wrote the Southern Vampire-books gets a few points aswell imo, plus it's got a pretty good TV show going in True Blood.

 

[Zand88]

How dare you, sir. I most certainly have.

Okay, okay; Let's say 95% of ones voting Stoker haven't.

 

[Jurassic Rob]

Stephen King in Salem's Lot.

Barlow is just super cool!

 

[JenXXXJen]

Gotta go with Rice, personally. Yes Stoker is the original and all that, but there's nothing wrong with a little personality in your characters. I'll concede that Bram was a better writer, but I just prefered Interview With The Vampire.

Besides, Lestat was awesome.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Bram certainly did a good job of popularizing them, though the idea of someone not getting over their wife after 3 brides and a century just seems so... Clingy. It's like Vlad Topes was some socially inept teen who can't get over that girl he sat behind in high school.

I don't recall this ever being mentioned in Dracula. Did you get that idea from an adaptation?

The movie with Keanu Reeves. I had heard somewhere that it was basically a the novel but in movie form and with Reeves, so I figured the book was also about him going after some lass because she reminded him of his wife... Was I misinformed? Guess I'd best edit that post either way.

Yeah, in the book, Dracula didn't have any humanizing characteristics. He was basically a monster terrorizing the protagonists for fun. I've heard that most adaptations tried to make him more sympathetic for some reason.

I guess that's the origin of today's "dumpling vampire". Making the monster sympathetic, then giving him a tragic love story and ultimatly turning him into a romantic hero. And unfortunatly the modern romantic hero is a creampuff.

My favourite vampire is still Nosferatu. A monster with white skin, pointy ears and soulless eyes who prowls the night ravaging the blood of the innocent.

 

[Wilbot666]

Thank christ I'm not the only one who remembers these

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I am Legend totally re-imagined the concept of the mythical creatures and made them terrifying in their reality and it's more about a lone survivor trying to find meaning than personal relationships. (except the dog) The modern zombie genre is pretty much taken from that book.

So it would be unfair to compare them to Rice or Stoker because they key off of different emotions and themes.

I personally thought Stephen King did a great job in Salem's Lot. He turned Vampires into blood thirsty monsters with a few notable manipulative ones. A great mix of spooky Dracula style horror and 30 days of night pants-shitting terror

 

[SlasherX]

imma have to say Kouta Hirano since he did hellsing, dude epic unkillable future vampires ftw

 

[RanD00M]

Who are those 8 who voted for Stephenie Meyer?

The world may never know.

But then again, if you could...would you really want to?

When you put it that.You're right.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Let's all vote from Bram Stoker, even though no one here has probably even picked up his work. xD

How dare you, sir. I most certainly have.

As have I. It's a decidedly mediocre book from a writing perspective, full of plotholes and contradictions (at one point, Dracula is even seen walking around during the day AFTER it's been established he can't do that!)

But it's interesting in what it popularized.

I would say the guy who writes Hellsing is the fellow with the coolest vampires.

Edit: Kouta Hirano. Thanks to the guy who posted the name before me.

 

[The Great JT]

Gotta give it to Bram Stoker.

Also, is it wrong to vote for Béla Lugosi (the actor who played Dracula in the late 20s/early 30s)?

 

[Dapper Ninja]

How dare you, sir. I most certainly have.

Okay, okay; Let's say 95% of ones voting Stoker haven't.

That seems a bit high. There are around 50 Stoker votes at the moment, so 5% means 2.5 people, or .5 after considering Lexodus and I. There's got to be at least one other person or bloody upper half of one here who's read Dracula.

 

[jmorourke80]

White Wolf. World of Darkness/Vampire the Masquerade is one of the most well fleshed out vampire stories I've ever read.

I also like the Legacy of Kain story, but I'm probably made somewhat biased by what is quite possibly the best voice acting in any game. Ever.

3rd place? Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.