2023’s Best and Worst Cities for Vampires

We know from TV and movies that sunlight and garlic repel vampires. What elements draw them in?

The easiest way to lure a vampire in is simply to welcome them. According to much of traditional vampire lore, they can’t go anywhere they haven’t been asked to go.

What are some easy ways to identify a vampire?

This is a tough question because vampires have taken so many forms (including bats and wolves). These days you’ll usually identify them in a couple of different ways: sometimes they’ll be suave (see Bela Lugosi’s portrayal in the 1931 Dracula movie or Anne Rice’s creations) but sometimes they’ll be a little more jarring to look at (see Max Schreck as the frightening Count Orlok in 1922’s Nosferatu or Reggie Nalder in Salem’s Lot). In the past, they were often seen as a little more akin to ghouls.

What are the best resources (books, TV, movies) for studying up on the habits of vampires?

There are a few important books to make sense of vampires:

1. A great comprehensive starting point is Rosemary Ellen Guiley’s The Complete Vampire Companion.
2. To track the development of today’s popular idea of the vampire, I recommend John Polidori’s The Vampyre, Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, and of course Bram Stoker’s Dracula. There’s a handy Riverside Edition that collects all three of these.
3. And last, for those interested in “the historical Dracula,” Dracula, Prince of Many Faces by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally is a comprehensive biography of Vlad the Impaler, whose infamous legend inspired Bram Stoker’s portrayal of Dracula.

Stake, cross, or sunlight? What’s the most efficient way to dispatch a vampire?

Crosses and garlic are usually seen as a proactive way to keep vampires away. For those in search of a more permanent solution, a stake is highly recommended but can be messy and unpleasant. One interesting solution is to throw a bunch of rice in a vampire’s path because vampires will get distracted by counting all the grains (this motif has shown up in a certain famous piece of children’s entertainment, ah-ah-ah!).

The handy thing about sunlight is that it tends to be inevitable, but then you rely on a vampire being easily lured into the sunlight. I might take it on a case-by-case basis and suggest consulting a specialist such as Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.

What is vampirism?

Now, this is a tricky question. At the end of the day, it’s about the undead feeding off the living, but not in quite the same way as ghouls and zombies do. Vampires these days are generally seen as transforming their victims, not just consuming them. Perhaps at its undead heart, vampirism is simply a myth playing on the common fear of death.

From Dracula to Buffy to Lestat to Twilight and True Blood — what’s the best vampire movie/series and why?

One of my favorite vampire movies is George Romero’s Martin, the haunting story of a young man who may or may not be a vampire in the modern world. I’m also fond of Carl Th. Dreyer’s atmospheric Vampyr.

The vampire community is notoriously discrete, so trends in new vampire residency can be hard to track. However, there are various indicators of undead presence, such as an uptick in unexplained cases of exsanguination. Based on these signs, longtime known favorites, such as New Orleans, favored for its conducive atmosphere, and Forks, Washington, which offers 163 overcast days per year and excellent sporting opportunities, seem to be losing ground.

In their place, trendy upstarts include Omaha, Nebraska and Hereford, Texas which offer excellent dining options for the growing numbers of ‘meatatarian vampires,’ as well as Cape Disappointment, Washington, which “out fogs” neighboring Forks by 2 days per year. California remains a tough sell for vampires, as it has entirely too much sun and a bountiful garlic crop.

We know from TV and movies that sunlight and garlic repel vampires. What elements draw them in?

Vampires are particularly attracted to communities with large numbers of wistful, attractive young people who are open to mesmerization with whom they can mingle. A lively fashion scene is also attractive to vampires, with favored trends including black woolens, red silks, and long, flowing white nightgowns.

What are some easy ways to identify a vampire?

Because of the ease of identifying vampires through their lack of reflection, they will avoid mirror stores, fun houses, and the homes of excessively vain people. Given this, along with their general dislike for sunny California, you might think that they would avoid Hollywood. However, the many job opportunities open to vampires in the movie industry are nevertheless a draw.

Other identifying characteristics include pallor, coldness to the touch, and a tendency to wear “I’m allergic to morning” t-shirts.

Stake, cross, or sunlight? What’s the most efficient way to dispatch a vampire?

The effectiveness of crosses is greatly overstated; most vampires are too clever to be caught out in broad daylight, and really, who carries around wooden stakes anymore? Therefore, the most efficient way to dispatch a vampire is the same as with most people –– start a conversation about finances, politics, or how smart your children are.

From Dracula to Buffy to Lestat to Twilight and True Blood — what’s the best vampire movie/series and why?

There are so many great vampire movies and shows out there. Some interesting examples over the years include Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Dark Shadows (1967/’68), Blade (1998), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), Lost Boys (1987), Near Dark (1987), True Blood (2008-2014), Being Human (2011), The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017), Twilight (2008), Let the Right One In (2008), and the hilarious vampire parody What We Do in the Shadows (2015).

But seriously, the enduring interest in monsters in popular culture, including recent waves of vampire, werewolf, and zombie-related stories, suggests the powerful hold that these figures have on the modern imagination. The study of popular monsters can provide an understanding of how our society has dealt with questions of death, youth, religion, sexuality, addiction, delinquency, disease, and a wide variety of other social issues. Understanding monsters in literature, film, and television helps us to better understand the culture that has produced them.