Vampire Overload?

I went to the movies last week and couldn’t help but notice the two movie posters sitting side by side – one advertizing The Vampire’s Assistant and the other Daybreakers. These are only two of the movies with vampires that are scheduled to come out in the next few months. After the movies, I happened to walk into a Borders book store and was completely assaulted by the sheer amount of paranormal titles, and yes, you guessed it…even more vampires with books like Mr. Darcy, Vampyre. Hello? Jane Austen and vampires??? Wow. I’m waiting with bated breath to see an installment of Jesus Christ, Vampire. No kidding. As a young adult author writing about a vampire (although not the main protagonist), I do admit that it’s a bit nerve-wracking. There’s a lot out there, including a lot of sub-par material.

So is the vampire trend staked for good? I sincerely hope not. I remain quietly optimistic that good writing and a great story, even with, *gasp* vampires, will remain ‘eternally’ alive in the end. Check out the recent article in United’s Hemisphere’s magazine – There Will Be Blood which predicts that “vampire lit is the genre that will never die.”