Science fiction tends both to illuminate and obscure many issues related

to human nature and its relationship to the animals below it and the spiritual

natures above it.  Our science fiction

literature and film are filled with creatures with supernatural qualities as

well as hybrid human qualities, not all that different from the ancient myths’

depiction of a universe bursting with gods, demi-gods, and human-animal hybrid

monsters.  Early in the creation of

modern science fiction, the vampire was created (or perhaps borrowed from medieval

mythology), an immortal monster who preys on human blood and is possessed with

the magnetism and predatorial instincts necessary to succeed both in the hunt

and in disguising its reality.  Since

those early 19th century depictions of vampires, a steady evolution

of what vampires “are” has occurred, to the point where some of the more recent

vampire story arcs such as The Twilight Saga render the vampire heroic

and attractive, leading to our question for today: why are we drawn to

vampires?