This article is “old hat” to me in many ways. But it may have more to offer you, readers, than I. Click the link to learn more!
Dracula Doesn’t Suck! – part 2
By Jacob Klatte
In part one of this two-part blog, I reviewed the story and themes of Dracula, but I opened the conversation by shooting a shot across the bow of common Dracula analysis.
I contend, with absolute seriousness, that the lusty or salacious elements of Bram Stoker’s Dracula are minor themes at best, and only present in service of a much more pious purpose by the author.
After a hundred years of reading into the text, secular commentators continue to transform the story of “Dracula.” This is part of a larger trend of turning European vampire folklore as such from examples of parasitic evil into a euphemism for promiscuity.
In this second blog post, I intend to take this preoccupation with sexuality in the novel Dracula to task, and reclaim Dracula as a work of Christian piety. Dracula is ultimately a book about Christian spiritual war, set during an age that was challenging traditional Christian norms.
A Song of Joy by Caroline Furlong 
Much needed clarification and reminder of the actual content of the novel vs. what our sex-obsessed culture tries to read in. Good for Mr. Klatte!
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I’ve always found it “interesting” what reviewers can find in an author’s work.
It’s especially “fun” when the author disagrees with the reviewers. LOL
He makes a good point about the “original” vampire as a symbol of disease spreading.
The folklore vampire is a deadly monster not a “romantic symbol”.
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I have seen someone insisting online that all the sexual references in old works really are there. The original culture where the work was written didn’t see them, all subsequent cultures didn’t see them, so they obviously were too innocent.
Ockham’s Razor said it was more likely her, but that didn’t penetrate.
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Barbara Hambly wrote a series of vampire novels which her vampires being very Non-Romantic.
They were monsters that needed to kill and generally didn’t have problems with killing.
In the second book, Barbara gave (IMO) her opinion of the “Romantic Vampire”. A married woman had recruited one “Not-So-Bad” Vampire to assist her in rescuing her husband from a potential trap.
For reasons of his own, the Vampire was willing to help BUT was shocked by the idea that he could travel alone with a married woman. In his opinion, she needed a female chaperone and for various reasons (including the safety of such of person) she refused to bring along one of her servants.
So he “played” the “Romantic Vampire” by using his mind powers to lure a lonely English woman into acting as said chaperone.
The main female character was sure that the chaperone would come to a bad end and she did although not at the “fangs” of the vampire.
But the point was that Barbara’s vampires could/did play the Romantic Vampire to lure their prey into their power.
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