Dark Fiction Goes Mainstream Again
I was born in the eighties and as a teenager in the ninties I was an active member of the "goth" movement. This was of course revived by interest in Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite who were writing hit pieces of dark fiction at the time, but it wasn't new. Despite what many uber goths of the time might tell you.
It was a group that made you feel like you belonged somewhere, if you were lucky enough not to be outed by some of the more powerful net goths of the time. With goth.net and the many newsgroups associated with the lifestyle, there was no end to the connectivity that people on the outside of normal were finally able to get at this time. I coudn't tell you all the sites that I frequently every day back then to try to keep up with the lifestyle.
IT truly was a lifestyle for those who were serious about it. There were conventions, balls, the whole thing. Most of which are still around today. At the height of it all was Anne Rice's annual Vampire Ball which happened every Halloween. Many of my older friends attended and enjoyed these balls. This too was recently revived as a Vampire Lestat Ball every year, without Rice who has now turned to religion and let her hair go white.
I went to Rice's house. I bought autographed books. I listened to the music that existed at the heart of the movement. Though most people will say that the goth movement is influenced and created by the goth music scene of the eighties, possibly the seventies, I think vampire culture has a lot to do with it.
You'll notice Whenever vampire culture hits the mainstream there are a lot more "goths" and a lot more people taking it very seriously. So in my opinion, Rice who started in the 70's with "Interview with the Vampire", the first novel to really sensualize and Americanize the vampire lifestyle is probably the mother of all of this.
What surprises me is how this has come about all of a sudden again. I guess it is true that fashion repeats itself every ten years or so. Maybe this means that they will re-open "Dark Entries" one of my favorite stores, lost to hurricane Katrina.
What's more surprising is the newcomer who has revived interest in the vampire lifestyle. Stephenie Myer's tame love stories have not only brought vampires into the mainstream more than ever before, but she has also led an explosion of interest in the darker side of things. That is where Myer leaves off and Sookie Stackhouse picks up. Though both these collection of books have been around when one took off it really made way for the other. I am not sure how it happened but there are some very happy women out there who are reaping the benefits.
This makes me wonder why Christopher Pike is the only male vampire fiction writer who has really made it in a slew of women?