Bloodsucking Feminists

In 2005, Little, Brown published a vampire book that rocketed to the top of the bestseller charts and became a record breaker. Actually, there were two, one of which was The Historian, a doorstopper of a novel (240 000 words!) that had people devouring the adventures of three generations of academics, as they try to solve the mystery of where Dracula really is.

Sounds exciting, right? Well, as the Bloodsucking Feminists discover upon their reread of the book, some promises are never quite delivered. But hey, at least the episode’s much shorter than the book.

Title: The Da Racula Code

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When we picked a book entitled “Hotel Transylvania”, we expected three things: a hotel, Transylvania, and vampires. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that, while a real place, the titular location is neither a hotel nor in Transylvania. Thankfully there is a vampire, and watch us as we try and figure if this is a vampire book or a book with a vampire.

So join us for powdered hair, Satanists that are not actually Mormons, false yet true advertising, and vampires that don’t wangst! (OMG!)

Title: Now With Actual Satanism

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We’re all about the vampire pop culture here at The Bloodsucking Feminists and so no movie is more fitting for us to discuss than one about using pop culture as your reference point when fighting bloodsuckers. So what could make it better? A remake with a more female-friendly eye – not to mention David Tennant in leather trousers.

So gear up for a discussion of a remake that does work, dropped plotlines and the performance of masculinity in the episode we’ve rated five crotches out of five.

Title: As Slain On TV

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It’s iconic, to blame for a number of major vampire tropes, and widely considered one of the greatest horror movies ever made. And yet if a copy had not escaped destruction after a suit by Bram Stoker’s estate, what would vampire fiction be like today?

In this episode of Bloodsucking Feminists, we tackle the original Nosferatu, its 1979 remake and the 2000 metafiction film Shadow of the Vampire about the making of the original film… with one major difference.

So join us for some German expressionism, discussion of plagues, the agency of women, and the relationship between vampires and animals. Including what would Dracula call his pet armadillo.

Title: 500 Shades of Grey

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Break out the Bowie and the Bauhaus because this month we are looking at The Hunger by Whitley Strieber and its movie adaptation. In this episode we’ll be discussing sexual violence, white Egyptians, and the male gaze (and how an adaptation can correct this). So in honour of the late great David Bowie, put on your best black for what can basically be described as “The 80s: The Vampire Movie”.

Title: There’s Male All Up In This Gaze

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Every so often a text comes along that is a game-changer for a genre or topic. Carmilla. Dracula. Nosferatu. Buffy. Twilight (sigh). In 1976 another vampire game-changer was released: Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire. A tale of immortality, violence, grief and abuse – not to mention homoeroticism – Interview With The Vampire was released to a mixed reception but soon found its own collection of die-hard fans. Today it has cult status, not to mention a movie adaptation and many sequels.

Are we going to be interrogating the text from the wrong perspective? No. Just the Bloodsucking Feminist perspective.

(We apologise for any sound issues in the first part of this episode.)

Title: Shut Up, Louis

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Vampires are metaphors for many things, and in no place is this more true than in Rachel Klein’s 2002 novel The Moth Diaries. In the pages of a journal written by a girl in the 1960s, the claustrophobia of a boarding school fuels the obssessions of teenage girls to gothic horror heights. Whether you believe this is a story about vampires or not, this YA novel (and sleek update of Carmilla with a heavy dose of Dracula) is worth looking at for its insights into teenage girls – not to mention a vampire tale focussed on Jewish (and not Christian) identity.

Title: Boarding School Sucks

Yes, Virginia, meat raffles are actually a thing. Why? “Because,” our resident New Zealander Catherine explains, “you can win meat”.

While more well-known for sweeping epic movies with loving panoramic shots of its beautiful landscape, New Zealand’s film industry also has quite the history of horror – not to mention horror comedy. Its second major vampire film, What We Do In The Shadows is a loving send-up of vampire tropes as well as the unique nature of New Zealand culture (see: meat raffles). But on top of all that, it’s a deconstruction of the alpha masculinity one often sees in vampire stories these days.

(Because as much as we love Rhys Darby, “alpha werewolf Rhys Darby” is not something we would ever have imagined.)

Title: Really Small Countries Like New Zealand

Viago and the Hurricanes perform “Poi E”. Because why not.

Hallowe’en episode, everyone! Take a trip with us to Austria, birthplace of Mircalla Karnstein and resurrection place of… a German-language musical adaptation of a Roman Polanski film with music by Jim Steinman?

Really, there’s no way to describe Tanz der Vampire in a way that does it justice. So be prepared, starchild, for discussions of women, Drew Sarich, a terrible Roman Polanski movie, epic rocking, tragic sunbathing accidents, and a Broadway bomb so big it could only be saved by your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

The Bloodsucking Feminists will be making a donation to their local trans-friendly rape crisis centre. We encourage you to do the same.

Title: Vampire Musicals Suck