Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe

Bunnicula is a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables. When he is adopted by the Monroes, their cat, Chester, convinced of this vampire nature attempts to kill Bunnicula in order to save his family. Their dog, Harold is our narrator. He is unconvinced that Bunnicula is a vampire and tries to talk Chester out of his madness. The books are fun and light for the youngest readers. There are several other books in the series as well. 

Forever Knight (1992-1996)

Nicholas Knight is an 800 year old vampire that is quite frankly sick of the lifestyle. During the course of the show he seeks a “cure” for his condition and works as a cop on the night shift of the Toronto Police Department seeking redemption. The mysteries are fun and interesting along with Nick’s constant battle with his vampire nature. I can forgive his whining a little because he is 800 years old and just sick of life. Some of his older flashbacks show that for many years he embraced his immortality and it’s only in the past 100 years that he has gotten tired of it. One of the running gags in the first season is his work partner, Don’s, insistence that Nick doesn’t know what it’s like to live with an addiction (Don is trying to quit smoking). Whenever Don says that, the look on Nick’s face tells the truth. He has been living with an addiction, for 800 years! There’s other times when you meet his ex, the vampire that introduced Nick to Lacroix, the vampire that “turned” Nick. They still get on well, and Nick will often go to her bar to talk to her. If you like mysteries and vampires I strongly suggest this show.  

Twilight

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Twilight is your typical teenage paranormal romance. Angsty teenagers, one being a vampire that never really grew up because he “died” so young, and one a mortal. The whole let me get into your room and watch you while you sleep is a little stalker behavior, but girls have always been drawn to that brooding, dangerous hero. Just look at Heathcliff and Mr. Rochester. The book follows the life of Bella Swann who has moved to Forks, Washington to live with her dad. Unbeknownst to her, a family of vampires also lives in the area. She falls in love with the mysterious Edward and the story moves from there. One benefit is that Forks has since become a tourist destination, when no one even knew the place existed before hand. The book is mindless and you get exactly what you expect from it.

Twilight (2008)

The movie follows the book pretty closely. I do not think Kristen Stewart is that great of an actress, but she played this part well. The wooden brooding female is exactly what the part required. Robert Pattison looked like he was constipated the entire time, but I think that was just him trying too hard to mimic an American accent. Hey England is also foggy and rainy. Couldn’t you have spent some time there as well? You get what you pay for in this movie, and if you liked the book you will probably like the movie too.

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Interview with the Vampire is based on the book by Ann Rice of the same name. I have not read the book at this time, so this will just be about the movie. The story revolves around Louis, played by Brad Pitt, Lestat, played by Tom Cruise, and Claudia played by a young Kirsten Dunst. Louis is telling the story of his life to Malloy, a reporter, thus the title of the movie. Louis is full of remorse and angst about his role as a vampire and whines the entire time. He is really quite annoying. My favorite characters were Claudia and Lestat. They knew they were vampires and didn’t care about those around them. This might sound horrible, but that’s kind of how I like my vampires. I don’t like the whiny vampires that go on and on about how horrible it is to be undead. I like the ones that take control of their destiny and accept their fate. Whether they choose to be good or bad doesn’t matter to me as long as they aren’t whining. In fact, I feel that way about any character… But if you’re looking for a good vampire movie for the season I would suggest this one.

Dracula

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula was written in 1897 and was the first introduction to this iconic character. It tells the story of Jonathan and Mina Harker, Abraham Van Helsing and others that help defeat the evil Dracula, the king of vampires, and kill him, sending him to hell where he rightly belongs. It is told in a series of letters and diary entries giving unique looks into the mind of these characters. It is a good story and well written.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Starring Gary Oldman in the title role this shows Dracula in a more sympathetic light as his quest to possess the lovely Mina is because she is the reincarnation of his lost love instead of just to spite the others.  In this version you actually feel sorry for Dracula and notice that he is not as evil as he is in the book.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995).

So it is Mel Brooks. Need I say anything more about the hilarity of this movie? It is the story as told in the book, but with a twist that only Brooks can give us. Leslie Nielsen gives a gifted performance as the title vampire.

An Old Friend of the Family by Fred Saberhagen*

In this version, Dracula is certainly the good guy. But what I love about it is that he doesn’t apologize for being Dracula. He takes an eye for an eye. In this version, the granddaughter of Mina Harker is herself a grandmother. When someone, or something, starts terrorizing her family, she remembers that Grandma Mina once told her that if she was ever at the uttermost end of need, she could summon to herself s protector unlike any other. Dracula does come to the family’s aid, but to the villains responsible that was their purpose all along. Will Dracula survive the encounter?

Hotel Transylvania (2012)

So there is a sequel to this movie, but it isn’t as good as the original. In this version, Dracula has taken his daughter to a remote corner of Transylvania where he has built a hotel for other Halloween creatures where they can be safe from the humans that want to kill them. But when a lone human stumbles across their hideout, how will Dracula react. Especially when his daughter starts to fall in love with him?

Love at First Bite (1979)

George Hamilton gives us a hilarious Dracula adaptation. In this version, Dracula’s castle has been claimed by the Soviet Union, forcing Dracula to immigrate to America. There he meets Cindy Sondheim, the latest incarnation of his lost love. Dracula then sets out to win her love anew and show her a good time. One of my favorite adaptations!

Van Helsing (2004)

Hugh Jackman plays the title character. An ordained monster hunter who is sent to Transylvania to save an ancient family and stop Dracula from an evil plan involving Frankenstein’s creature and a werewolf. Van Helsing himself seems to be immortal, remembering things long past, but not remembering his own origins. Dracula knows him though and calls him by name. It makes you wonder who Van Helsing actually is. That could be an interesting take on this character arc.