Hunter and Prey. These, according to Susan Sizemore, are some of the essential ingredients of a vampire tale. If vampires are immortal, so, apparently, is our fascination with them.
Vampires are malleable creatures.
They can be villains, heroes, anti-heroes, antagonists, and protagonists, dark lovers, parasites, protectors, masters and victims. They are the symbols and stand-ins for the things we fear or the things we want to be. We can use vampires as metaphors for gays or AIDS or foreigners or whatever the era finds most fearful and fascinating. They speak of loneliness and alienation, or freedom without ethics. They can be soulless, or pure soul.