Fantastical

The Devil Girl from Mars came to kidnap men. In the next decade we’d be warned that Mars Needs Women.

Ah, the progeny of Anne Rice and Joss Whedon.

As a boy I grew up on Hammer vampire movies: to me vampires were supra-mortal being as embodied in he films where Christopher Lee’s Dracula fought Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing. (I have a fondness for the old Lugosi movie but really think the best Dracula was Frank Langella.).

My fondness for vampires was mostly murdered by Interview With a Vampire, a book I was unable to read the year it was published. The book itself didn’t matter. But long before it became a movie the book sparked a number of revolting films in which the vampire was a wimp willing to die for his love of mortal bimbo, uh, woman.

Buffymania put the last nails in the coffin. The television actress’ popularity baffled me. But it was the fellow who played Angel that was beyond tolerance. That he was some sort of chivalrous supernatural stud of vast appeal defied everything I’d imagined about acting.

Not that I cared all that much: I adopted the simple expedient of not watching.

Mostly this all faded from my mind until the other day when I found my partner had bought a bunch of vampire and supernatural fiction that was more romance than horror. It was easy to discern that mainstream writers were being hired to pump crappy prose out to fill a niche. Sucker market as it were.

What does this ranting have to do with kink?

Vampires have long been erotic icons. They were creatures possessed of enormous erotic charisma. And sucking the blood out of someone’s throat can suggest great intimacy.

It brought to mind some of my own fantasies. Rather attempts at fantasy.

I remembered when I tried to imagine myself in the thrall of vampires, aliens, robots, androids and demons. Seemed like an obvious source of dark imaginings. To my surprise I never really could workup enthusiasm. Too implausible and silly. Wondering what it would be like with someone I’d seen in the grocery store checkout line was always a richer source.

Fantastical dominants just never worked for me.