Behold: the culmination of four months of work. Believe it or not, I'm not sick of vampires yet, so let me know why your favorite vampire or vampire-ish character is!
I like Terry Pratchett's black ribboners, reformed vampires who find refuge in activities like collecting bananas and creating models of human organs out of matchsticks, because they believe hobbies will make them more human. 🙂
We've only occasionally seen you put out videos that were around an hour or so long, so to see a video this extensive is more than impressive and you should feel proud of yourself, Jess! The fact that it took four months definitely shows and you deserve as many views as possible. As for favorite vampire characters I would have to go with Pearl Jones and Skinner Sweet from the comic book series American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque (there are two omnibuses for the entire series btw) because they respectively embody the best and worst of America.
I liked Deadman Brucolac from The Scar. His benevolent tyranny gives it's residents public order, clean streets, education and health care and only levies a reasonable, and entirely survivable, tax. Kim Newman's Genevieve plays with the conventions to good effect.
I didn't like the fact Thuringwethil was not mentioned: technically speaking she would be a lulli before the lulli has replaced the human soul: alternatively she can be considered like Lilith or her children.
I just finished THE WHOLE VIDEO in one sitting and wow... what a ride! You started at the very, very, earliest beginnings and took us - gleefully - on the twisted journey of the vampire up to modern day. I'm blown away not only by the intricacies and detail of the research you did, but also it feels like you put something of yourself into this, making it feel so much more personal. I do feel that this video can be deemed essential viewing for anyone interested in vampires and your script could very well be the start of a text book. What I took away from your video is that, yeah, on the surface, vampires can be used as horror movie monsters that can shock and thrill, but more so than not, they're used as tools to explore the human condition. Bravo Jess, bravo!!! 💐💐💐 At this point in your journey, this can be truly considered your magnum opus.
Same, all in one go, doing house chores, chilling after a long night out. Excellent work! Shout out to Caitlin was great too, have seen that one already and agree. (Most of hers are really good stuff.)
@@Jess_of_the_Shire In your next vampire video, mention Thuringwethil: it is the third time you missed a Tolkien connection, with the first being Maiar inhabiting the bodies of orcs and dragons (Frankenstein), and the plagues of Middle Earth.
In the novel, Dracula, despite movie lines to the contrary, never said, " I do not drink... wine." What he said was, "I have dined already, and I do not sup."
@@alexmarsh8464 The words “down” and “dune” are doublets too but that doesn't mean the film _Dune_ is about descending somewhere. When Bram Stoker writes that a character dines or sups, he's saying that they ate dinner or supper. It means what it means. You can't make it mean something else because of some idea in your head about etymology. Next you'll be saying that Dracula is a dragon. It's right there in the title, right? 🤦🏻♀️
@@AmyThePuddytat I don't know why you want to argue so much about an inside joke that my fiancee and I have. Look up the definition of “sup” in the OED. The first two definitions that are from old English (which, to be clear since you’re being a pedant, I know is much older than Dracula) support what I said. Imo, it’s clearly a play on words “to ingest small amounts of liquids” as in to drink someone’s blood as well as to have supper ie a late dinner. Am I a scholar on this topic? No, this isn't my area of expertise, and I acknowledge I could be wrong. But that is the older meaning of "sup" which seems to be a play on words and also fits what you do when you eat soup. I honestly don't care what Bram Stoker meant. I’m not going to respond anymore, but please go have some fun
Jess, I want to thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this. And for always dressing the part. I sincerely enjoy the depth of your research.
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Technically the human vampires look like that because they are freshly deceased: for instance Irish vampires like Edward Cullen or Angel. A nosferau looks like that because he is relatively rotten and desiccated.
@@Jess_of_the_Shire I could see your reflection in the hand mirror on your bookshelf, so you aren't a vampire. Perhaps you can dress like a dhampire next time?
How is that even possible? Do you mean that Dracula was only a sperm in his father’s sack, and thus a part of Vlad Dracul? I get that you were just making a joke about being early, but I really wish to know how he was supposed to be his father?
Dracula is actually supposed to be descended from Vlad Tepes Dracula through his father, and Attila the Hun through Szkelelys who went to Iceland (when researching early immigration to the Americas, I discovered a few Hungarians did accompany a trading ship to Iceland).
I was one of the editors on the "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" comic book! Very cool to know people are still watching the movie. Now check out the comics! 🤘
You know, if you do two more long form video essays, it could become a full day trilogy viewing just like the proper way to watch LOTR. Fantastic video, very interesting, and I'd love to see more stuff like this!
What We Do in the Shadows was such a pleasant surprise, and the nods to Vampire movies of the past was very entertaining. The sandwich analogy to virgins always gets me rolling.
New subscriber who has blown through all your other content in a couple days here: this isn't what I came to the channel for, but damn if it isn't exactly the kind of content I want! I was literally looking for a longform video essay about vampires the other day!
She's become my favorite UA-camr over the past few months or so and I hope you will continue to enjoy her content. Her Veggie Tales video is hilarious is you need something light and breezy to watch.
You look adorable as a vampire btw. I have adapted both DRACULA and CARMILLA for the stage. I also edited together THE ANNOTATED CARMILLA. Carmilla in fact walks around during the day throughout the story. So did Dracula. Vampires avoiding sunlight was mostly made popular by movies, such as the silent NOSFERATU in which Graf Orlock perished at Dawn. I will also note CARMILLA does not really read as a polemic against women at all. Rather it feels much more like a gothic version of the tales of Le Fanu's native Ireland, in which a mortal has an intimate encounter with one of the Fae and is never, ever the same. It is important to understand when the story was published the vampire hunters are all servants of what was viewed (accurately) as a tyranny, a despotic empire without the liberties and laws of which the English speaking world was so proud. Quincey the cowboy is hardly in any film version of the story, alas. I agree with you about Lugosi's performance. DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is blend of the wonderful and the silly. Your description of the end of NOSFERATU (1979) is inaccurate. I am more than a little disappointed a lack of any mention of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN by Jan Alvide Lindqvist, as well as the two excellent films based on it. So please...some of that!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
For no mention of _Let the Right One In_ Jess should treat us to an in depth video of just that book and both movies. If by some chance she hasn't seen either movie or read the book (which is probably the case, otherwise why would she have left it out?), we would really doing her a favor by holding her feet to the fire to experience all three. I remember going to the Swedish film, for no other reason than a reviewer's saying that it was a vampire movie for those who don't like vampire movies. I left the theater gut-punched, and directly read the book upon which it was based. If you haven't seen the movies (especially the original Swedish version), stop what you are doing and go see it. Same goes for the book.
@@missanne2908 She said she didn't have time to include everything... and I am pleased she did not, as Chole Grace Moretz in early 2020 admitted she was sexualized as a child, but of course the media didn't hammer it home, being the idiots who normalized the sexualization of women and girls since 1915's "Intolerance." Whenever I see her name or hear news about her (along with other child stars of my cohort like Ariel Winter or Ariana Grande), I get stressed out and often sweat, as I have seen them from 2010 or before be exploited as child stars: I hardly had any good role models as a child, and I don't have many as an adult. What makes it worse is that I suffer from intrusive thoughts: I personally would thrive in a rigid society like a Mormon community or being a shipman.
Great Video! I enjoyed it! one of the media I was shocked that wasn't covered was Vampire: The Masquerade and how that add so much new story to vampire and how you can step in and feel and deal with being a monster.
VTM was also the origin of the vampire vs werewolf, and the act of being a game really changes your engagement with monster. How long you fight off the urge to drink, who you drink from, how you feel about your actions and their consequences, it's really powerful stuff.
@@MrDrewwills I really like the links to the story of both Caine and Lilith as well as the Clans and the three factions of Vampires and how they handled being centuries old monsters. I remember it being called "a game of personal horror" having you try and understand what it was like to be a monster.
Also VTM, with the clans, played ALL the vampire tropes by making them différent traits of différent clan: you want an aristocratic vampire like lord Ruthven? Ventue. Sexy hedonistic vampire like Lestat? Toreador. Orlok style? Nosferatu. Weirdly obsessed with counting things? Malkavian , und so weiter...
My nerd compulsion feels the need to point out that Fright Night is a remake, also “Let The Right One In” is a Book, Film, and subsequent English Remake that deserves to be mentioned. That aside, great video. Fun to watch from beginning to end.
I appreciate and respect how you have transitioned from a part-time Hobbit to a full-time analysist and literary critique with Bombadilish flair and the nuance of Steve pemberton and Reese Shearsmith
3:30 Greek here. The greek word "βρυκόλακας" , or vrykolakas is spelled vree-kO-lakas Loved the video. You'd also make a great vampire on the screen 👍 😂
That myth was very loosely adapted for the 1945 Boris Karloff movie "Isle of the Dead", produced by Val Lewton. There the creature is called a vorvolaka. The movie also plays on the connection between the vorvolaka and the plague.
The Sunday'll come out, tomorrow Bet your bottom dollar, that tomorrow There'll be Sunday! Just thinking about, tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow 'Til there's none! When I'm stuck in a day That's gray and lonely I just stick out my chin And grin and say The Sunday'll come out, tomorrow So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow Come what may Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, tomorrow You're always a day away!
I'm not sure if you've noticed that you were involuntarily baring your fangs at times, as you reached the more dramatic parts of your narrative. Now, your secret's safe with me of course, but be careful! I wouldn't want the villagers to notice and learn the truth...
Why yes, I did just watch a 2.5 hour video talking about vampires. And I enjoyed every second of it. Absolutely fantastic video, Jess; one of the best researched videos I've seen on UA-cam, and probably my new favourite from your channel. :D Also I gotta know; what was in that wine glass?
No mention of True Blood? I’d accept your blind eye due to the shows absurdity, but you mentioned twilight . . . . True blood plays on so many of the tropes, doesn’t it have both monstrous villainy and the sympathetic woes of eternity? I mean, I didn’t finish it, but, it was a thing. Also, only lovers left alive is my favorite vamp flick, I’m so glad you included that one
Somewhat disoppointed that there wasn't any mention of "Vampire: the Maskerade" the RPG, also; but I realise it more a niche in an already two jours and an half video that mostly adresses movies, TV and litterature.
@@antoinebelle3506 I would think, asides from the fact she had no time, it is because the game is based on cliches and launched them as well: Dracula is a popular character in stock culture, but the game created the concept that a good chunk of vampires are this (as opposed to deciding to become sophisticated like the Theatre of Vampires), with some being nosferatus and such to make up the numbers.
Beautiful, this is exactly what I wanted this time of year. You excited me with each new topic you pour your passion into. Definitely becoming my favorite channel. Keep being you.
I love the attention to detail, editing in a reflection into the small mirror on the bookshelf ;) /s, if it was not obvious. I had a nervous twitch just imagining the amount of editing that would take… Excellent video! Truly your best work in my humble opinion.
Striga comes from strix, which was an owl monster that drank the blood from unattended babies. Owls in taxonomy are called Strigiformes. The first letter in Țepeș is pronounced like tzatziki. A little sad you didn't talk about Count von Count from Sesame Street because, not only is he based on the Béla Lugosi portrayal of Dracula, but also in some of the stories from Romanian folklore (and probably other folklore), vampires (in Romanian there are strigoi, vârcolac and pricolici, all of which have some vampiric traits), at least the strigoi, has arithmomania, so villagers would put sand or grains at the entrance to the cemetery so the vampire would spend all night counting them and by the time it was done counting it would be morning and it would have to go back into its grave.
Yes, you can scatter rice and the vampire would have to pick them all up: of course, the vampire has preternatural speed and agility, so this only buys you a little time.
It would appear "strix" and "Lilith" share a common Nostratic root, which would imply a Paleaolithic belief in blood-drinking owl-men associated with the dead and nightmares. Doe sit remind you slightly of the giant bats and spider from "Primal?"
My favorite versions of the Vampire and also one of the best subversions of the Vampire is Terry Pratchett's Discworld, with the Vampire rehab group called the League of Temperance, where reformed vampires forswear blood and other vampiric qualities and transfer the desire to something more socially acceptable (e.g. photography and coffee) in order to assimilate into society. My favorite vampire character is Otto Chriek, the vampire photographer who keeps turning to dust every time the flash is on, and he's constantly trying to improve his craft so he doesn't have to crumble every time he takes a picture and then reform himself with a small glass jar of blood around his neck. As Terry Pratchett put it, "The only thing more dangerous than a bloodthirsty vampire is a vampire who is interested in anything else."
My favourite depiction of vampires comes from Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. It's an RPG video game that puts you in the role of a vampire navigating a complex, detailed supernatural world. Based on the role playing game Vampire the Masquerade, you start off by choosing your Clan (a bloodline of vampires united by similar traits and abilities). From there, you complete quests while interacting with various well-written characters, both human and vampire. Your choices often mean the difference between life and death for those around you. There's a lot of vampire lore, politics and it even explores the relationship between vampires and other supernatural creatures - like ghosts and werewolves. If you like Vampires and video games, it's well worth checking out. It was sadly overlooked at the time because of some serious bugs, so if you play it, be sure to install the patch before you start.
I wonder if embalming makes the unusual cases less common. I kinda doubt that there would be a huge amount of blood related stuff when most of the blood is replaced.
Since "undead" would refer to a state between life and death, it would refer to undetectable brain activity, breathing, and heartbeat, as well as a lack of brain necropsy. As brain activity continues several days after death, all humans pass through an undead stage (which would explain ALL near-death experiences).
Epic and engrossing video essay. Originally put this on as background noise then found myself sitting on couch watching on big screen. Well done, you've also reminded me to order new copies of vampire chronicles as I lost my old ones back in my student times
I really liked this long-format video! I love the classic vampire genre, and it was a pleasure to go through its history related in such a neat, consistent and witty manner. Thank you for this one, and I’m looking forward to more content like this ❤
I'm just gonna say, this is a good look for you 😍😍. I would love to see more long form essays, especially with this particular topic Jess.Because I think you absolutely rocked it in this video.And I was engaged throughout the entire thing. ❤❤
Another thing you could look into are Vampire: the Masquerade and its reboot Vampire: the Requiem. They are Tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, but about playing vampires in the modern-ish night, where you have to survive in a secret underworld of vampire clans and covenants. The clans and covenants are all patterned after different kinds of vampire, the Ventrue are nobility, Nosferatu hideous monsters, Gangrel are bestial and so on. A major theme is balancing between being a monster and being human "A monster I am, lest a monster I become". The writers of What We Do in the Shadows take a more comedic thone, but they most definitely played Vampire, with the different kinds of vampires and how being a vampire sucks, actually.
The irony of the vampire video being the one where there's a mildly distracting mirror reflection of Jess for the whole video. Also cool that you mentioned Caitlyn's channel
100% done as an alibi, since we can see in plain sight that she looks like a vampire, but with the mirror on the shelf we are lulled into believing that she’s actually a fully normal human.
Before I dig in, I hope there's a reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer somewhere in there. The impact it's had on the supernatural TV/urban fantasy genre is immeasurable. Not to mention its impact on the concept of the modern vampire and the tropes it has subsequently popularised and/or invented.
Yeah, Buffy was a big part of the whole 'vampire boyfriend' trope. But even in that show, vampires were still evil. There was just an exception with a one cursed vampire. (And later a brain chipped vampire). Then Twilight kind of changed that and made them inherently redeemable. Even Being Human and Preacher still left them as inherently evil with some exceptions.
@radagast7200 Well, if you put it in the context of the time, Buffy was a subversion of classic horror movie tropes at the time. Hence, animalistic vampires. But even then, we have Angel and Spike, who both play into and subvert the "vampire romance."
Well, this was an unexpected yet delightful way to start my Saturday morning. A bizarre combination of ASMR vibes, your near perfect cadence, and - dare I say it - a sultry vampire vibe 😊 - definitely giving off some essence of Yvonne de Carlo's Lily Munster. There is something chaotically reassuring about that bookcase, too. Your flow is smooth, almost extemporaneous sounding, but of course - so much work goes into what you do! Thanks for such a tasty bite of vampyr and strigoi lore.
It has taken me a while to get through this whole video but it has greatly inspired me, I really admire the amount of effort (and obvious passion) that you've poured into this. The research, the visuals, the OUTFIT, its all just fan(g)tastic I cant wait to watch more of your work
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Please don't take offense but I will have to stop at a certain point and resume tomorrow. This video is great, I have already shared it with a couple of people, but I do ultimately have limited endurance and I will have to submit some posts to the discussion board of one of my online classes after dinner.
I love how you hit so many big vampire stories from different time periods. I’ve noticed that in the last 20 years there have been a lot of vampire stories or vampires in stories for kids and teens (beyond just Twilight). I’d love to see you do a deep dive into vampires for kids and teens someday and how adapting stories for younger audiences can change the way we approach tropes that were historically more for adults!
If anyone here is in need of some additional vampire related content then I would recommend the following: 1. ‘Let's Talk About Vampires’ by Proper Bird 2. The channel Maven of the Eventide (take a look at her playlists) 3. The playlists titled ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ and ‘Twilight: Breaking Dom’ by Dominic Noble 4. ‘Anne Rice, The Queen of Literary Monsters (Feat. Lindsay Ellis) | It’s Lit’ 5. ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’ by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard 6. ‘The Lesbian Vampire in Film (A Deep Dive)’ and ‘A Bisexual History of Dracula’ by verilybitchie 7. ‘Bram Stoker and the Fears that Built Dracula’ and ‘The Gruesome History of Real Life Vampire Hunting’ by Kaz Rowe 8. ‘Let's Talk About BUFFY's Scariest Episode’, ‘30 DAYS OF NIGHT Has The Best Vampires’, ‘The Haunting Meaning of I AM LEGEND’, ‘Was DAYBREAKERS Really That Bad?’, and ‘Why THE LOST BOYS Has a Special Place in 80s Horror’ by Ryan Hollinger 9. “Guillermo Del Toro on Vampires” and “Guillermo del Toro: Vampires Have Been 'Mormonized'” 10. ‘Halloween Special: Dracula’, ‘One Villainous Scene - "You Must Be The Belmont"’, and ‘Castlevania: The Human Face of Evil - Detail Diatribe’ by Overly Sarcastic Productions 11. ‘That Time Jeff Goldblum Played Dracula in a Goosebumps Game’, ‘Vampires Are Real (According to Murder, She Wrote)’, and ‘That Time Diagnosis Murder Went Off The Rails’ by PushingUpRoses
Well, this feels a bit surreal. I found your channel sometime after leaving another one that primarily focused on vampires stopped making the videos I went to that channel for. And now here you are with a vampire video. Things have come full circle.
If you've never seen it, I do highly suggest you watch *_'Love at First Bite'_* one of these days. Pokes a lot of fun at the 1931 Dracula movie, with George Hamilton (Dracula) and Arte Johnson (Renfield) absolutely nailing their performances. At one point he transforms into his dog/wolf form, and immediately gets taken away to the local pound ... it's just brilliant😂
"There's a cowboy in Dracula!" is always something that I feel we don't talk enough about. Like, "vampire-hunting cowboy" sounds like something that's juvenile or high-concept, but a cowboy fighting Dracula (And the cowboy being the one to deal a mortal blow!) was like, ground zero for the genre. It's sort of funny how much vampires are considered "old world" and bringing it to America is seen as a major reinvention or "Not your grandpa's vampires" like "Interview With a Vampire" or "Twilight", but so much of it has drawn from American folklore. Lucy was supposedly based on Rhode Islander Mercy Brown. Rhode Island! The home of Peter Griffin accents and Dunkin' Donuts marking every mile was an intergral contributor to vampire lore! On the subject of Lucy, I think the recurring idea that the narrative is kind of having Lucy "punished" for being a potential floozy or would be-polyamorist (Note: I don't know if that's what you're saying and I am certain it's not a sentiment you agree with!) is something of a very modern interpetation that resulted from 1) The Coppola movie, (Which had Sadie Frost being very forward in a "shocking for Victorian times" way) and 2) That dating culture has changed a lot since then. People didn't really have "boyfriends" or "girlfriends" the way we did now, until you were engaged it was fair game, and one of the few concessions to women was that they could entertain all offers (With the understanding there was no body count) up until the words "I do". When Lucy says she wishes she could marry them all, it's meant to be taken as the all-loving innocence of a Disney Princess. That all three men stay devoted to her and each other, even after marriage, even after death--it's not meant to be a kinky polycule, it's meant to be a testament to both Lucy's and the men's virtue. I suppose you could say that in the "old vs new" theme of the book is just as Dracula's death means the end of superstitions and tyrannical overlords, the death of Lucy means the death of royalty and the last stand of courtly love and knightly virtue, as it gives way to the sensible but genuine middle class coupling of Jonathan and Mina. To tie it in to the overall bread and butter of the channel, it's sort of like how to the destruction of the One Ring also put a nail in the coffin of the dominion of the Elves.
I do think its funny how vampires are rather American when you get down to it. But Americans like to pretend that they're European because it fits the vibe better lol. Excellent points about Lucy as well. I would say, if anything, Lucy and Mina's incredibly close relationship would be the thing that Stoker was speaking against, but that warrants further investigation
So on the subject of the vampires as a vessel for Europhilia--as your video gets into the the racial aspects of vampire fiction talking about Blade and Twilight, something that always struck me was 1) How a lot of the vampire's journey paralleled the nature of what "whiteness" means and 2) How the...(excuse me) de-fanged vampire really (sorry again) crystalized around the time of G.W. Bush and the War on Terror. The historic Vlad the Impaler was, lets just say, revered to the extent that he was for keeping the Ottmans (a.k.a. Muslims) bottleknecked from expanding too far into Europe and was heralded as a defender of Christianity. This was really not considered an important part of Dracula, for several reasons, but to a major one is that, I wouldn't say Islamaphobia didn't exist, but it was probably not something that occupied American headspace, and in the grand scheme of things, the focus was on the U.S.S.R. (This will become important.) BS Dracula was maybe the first to really draw on that (It's very interesting it came off the heels off the first Gulf War, although I think what Coppola was going for was the irony of a "Defender of Christendom" pulling a 180.) But then then 9/11 happened, and the culture really began to explore the relationship between the Western and the Islamic World. (The Marvel comics Dracula, who is probably one of the more sadistic takes on the character, was actually stated to despise Muslims, which chafed with some of the other supervillains, especially those who were ethnic minorities.) It's also said that a major, major part of Twilight's subtext is Stephanie Meyers's Mormon background--the . Mormons themselves hold an interesting place in American history. At one point they were considered a dangerous, insurgent sect in America. The history of the LDS Church is itself so complex and fascinating, but for the purposes of this conversation, Mormons would go on to hyper-assimilate (Not super difficult because they were often descended from Anglo or Germanic peoples anyways) and to a certain extent, represent America at its most 1950's--sometimes to the point of the Uncanny Valley to many. (For those on the left who consider anything "too white" to be fishy, and to the right, imposters and still not "real Christians" who deviate from more hardcore Evangelical policies.) The "Twilight" franchise is, among other things, a sort of polemic for abstainance until marriage--and there's a certain irony that until that point, figures that represented sexual liberation, for better or worse, were now spouting fans as promise rings. It's also interesting that the first movie exploded off the heels of Barack Obama: America's first Black President and one conspiracy theorists insist was a covert Muslim. (It's also funny that in 2012, when the Twilight phenomenon was winding down, as Mitt Romeny, a member of the LDS Church, failed to seat him). But something I want to talk about was this was the rise of Vladimir Putin. While he had been around since the early 00's, and never got on particularly well with Bush, his relationships with Democrat leaders have always seemed to be more frought, and those on the Right have been more cordial. Like, "Russkie" used to be something you would hear your flag-waving, army haircut waving uncle say, and now the more right-leaning people tend to carry water for the nation. (Something to keep in mind was a MAJOR piece of subtext in the original Dracula lovel was a prejudice against slavic people.) I don't know if it's all coincidence, or this evolution is entwined, but it's something I think about a lot. (Tbh, I don't expect anyone to have read this far, I just thought it'd be a nice place to document it)
2:28:00 there is a book by J Gordon Melton called the Vampire Book. It’s like an encyclopedia, with multiple editions as he’s updated it with newer pop culture
You nailed the vampire look . . . or should I say staked it!!! I’m really impressed at how clearly you could speak when you had the fake teeth in your mouth. Anytime I ever tried to talk with fake vampire teeth I always sound more like I have marbles in my mouth . . . and my mouth gets pretty drippy and spray-ie, but not with blood. Anyway, great Halloween themed post. Love your show! P.S. Your “red wine” seemed suspiciously frothy . . . hmmm. Maybe I need to give you the gander of geese test! I toast to your undead health with a glass of tah-mah-toe juice, bah-ha-ha!!!
Ok, this video was recommended to me and I have already listened to it twice. It helped me clean my bathroom and do laundry. Ma'am, I could listen to you talk about vampires all day. And already watching your Tolkien videos. Lol the algorithm was very on point today, and I am so thankful. I love your channel!
If you've never seen Nosferatu I'd highly recommend for a good Halloween party movie. Even today it's surprisingly creepy. And Bela Lugosi's version is also fantastic (especially for the terrifying Transylvanian armadillos and the dreaded batticus rubberus). Happy Halloween!
It looks like you could be on your way to a full-time career as a film and literary critic, beyond Tolkien and LoTR material. Congratulations on that and on a deeply thought out and well-researched video. But I became alarmed when you said that you've been thinking about vampires so much that they're entering into your dreams. That can change you. I don't want to see our beloved Jess of the Shire turn into Jess of Transylvania.
Not sure if I'd call him my favourite, but the first vampire character I came across was Morbius from the Marvel Universe (Loooong before that awful movie😂). They also have their own rendition of Dracula, who has a mostly similar backstory to Stoker's novel, though survived by tricking Van Helsing & company into believing they'd destroyed him. Then over the years, murders and turns them and their descendants.
What's funny is the "scientificating" of vampires in the Blade movies was actually the case with Morbius who was more science-based (Supposedly--keep in mind it's actually disputed) because the the Comics Code didn't allow supernatural beasties but saying he got bit by a radioactive bat or whatever was a loophoole and so he Air Budded his way into bring vampires back to comics. (I think with the movies it was simpley because stuff like the X-Files and Stargate had people on a "rational explaination for the paranormal" kick in the Ironic 90's, but they were this close to putting Morbius in the movies.)
My old school bus driver thought Morbius (2022) was an unironically good movie & that Venom was a load of garbage. I’m not like farming, this is completely true.
A little surprised that *_'Let the Right One In'_* by John Ajvide Lindqvist didn't get mentioned somewhere, but there's only so much that you can fit in. I can remember picking up a free copy on a World Book Day many moons ago now. It was so good, mixes tenderness with ferocity, and horrifying with it's graphic detail. Fangtastic video... okay, I'll see myself out😄
Also made into a film (in Swedish, from 2008), also written by Lindqvist, directed by Tomas Alfredson. And unnecessarily remade in English in 2010... and apparently made into a TV-series in 2022, which I hadn't heard of before. (Cancelled after the first season.)
Agreed, kept waiting for the mention of LTROI, and she veered every time. The book was excellent, and the Swedish version is a favorite, of any recent vampire media.
Okay I have to say that I came here out of love of horror movies…..that said I have been binging nearly your entire library of LOTR. Amazing content friend and you’ve earned a new subscriber!
Madam Immortal, bravo. This video essay is a bloody masterpiece! The care and craft you put into it is evident. 10/10 would watch any +2 hour long video you put out ❤
Historians have concluded that most of the impaled were actually already dead when they were posted like that. It was actually a brilliant strategy in intimidation against a much larger threat. He was a good leader fighting against the Turkish empire. (Which was under the Islamic empire) a Conquering group attempting to completely destroy the Jewish/Christian faith from the world. The crusades only accomplished so much.
@@Jess_of_the_Shire You had that in the video but cut it out? Awwww now I’m sad! I’m in for a “Cut Content” episode! I recently re-read Carpe Jugulum and I love how it plays with all the stereotypical vampire tropes.
@@TimvanderLeeuw I'd imagine that the cut content consisted of a few topics that could all potentially become their own videos, which I really do hope will happen!
Behold: the culmination of four months of work. Believe it or not, I'm not sick of vampires yet, so let me know why your favorite vampire or vampire-ish character is!
i wish you a great success in your career vampire queen
I like Terry Pratchett's black ribboners, reformed vampires who find refuge in activities like collecting bananas and creating models of human organs out of matchsticks, because they believe hobbies will make them more human. 🙂
We've only occasionally seen you put out videos that were around an hour or so long, so to see a video this extensive is more than impressive and you should feel proud of yourself, Jess! The fact that it took four months definitely shows and you deserve as many views as possible. As for favorite vampire characters I would have to go with Pearl Jones and Skinner Sweet from the comic book series American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque (there are two omnibuses for the entire series btw) because they respectively embody the best and worst of America.
I liked Deadman Brucolac from The Scar. His benevolent tyranny gives it's residents public order, clean streets, education and health care and only levies a reasonable, and entirely survivable, tax.
Kim Newman's Genevieve plays with the conventions to good effect.
Definitely the 30 days of night vampires
I have a friend with roots in Romanian Translyvania.
She told me that in all 300 years of her life, she has never met a vampire.
Is there a wise sadness about her?
@@chrismcdonald7086 I have no idea what you are asking
😋🤫
I have a friend that works at area 5, he said kung fu panda is real and they test biological weapons on him
@@LBC_Lennyi believe this
Her vampire makeup is insanely good!
Goth vampire Jess is 🔥
I was hoping you would eventually do a video on Dracula, but wasn’t expecting two and a half hours of vampire history. Very well done. Made my day.
Same
Tolkien meets Elvira! Well done.
I didn't like the fact Thuringwethil was not mentioned: technically speaking she would be a lulli before the lulli has replaced the human soul: alternatively she can be considered like Lilith or her children.
I just finished THE WHOLE VIDEO in one sitting and wow... what a ride! You started at the very, very, earliest beginnings and took us - gleefully - on the twisted journey of the vampire up to modern day. I'm blown away not only by the intricacies and detail of the research you did, but also it feels like you put something of yourself into this, making it feel so much more personal.
I do feel that this video can be deemed essential viewing for anyone interested in vampires and your script could very well be the start of a text book.
What I took away from your video is that, yeah, on the surface, vampires can be used as horror movie monsters that can shock and thrill, but more so than not, they're used as tools to explore the human condition.
Bravo Jess, bravo!!! 💐💐💐
At this point in your journey, this can be truly considered your magnum opus.
You're far too kind to me. Thank you so, so much for watching and for your support!
Same, all in one go, doing house chores, chilling after a long night out. Excellent work! Shout out to Caitlin was great too, have seen that one already and agree. (Most of hers are really good stuff.)
@@Jess_of_the_Shire In your next vampire video, mention Thuringwethil: it is the third time you missed a Tolkien connection, with the first being Maiar inhabiting the bodies of orcs and dragons (Frankenstein), and the plagues of Middle Earth.
In the novel, Dracula, despite movie lines to the contrary, never said, " I do not drink... wine." What he said was, "I have dined already, and I do not sup."
My fiancée and I read the book together and we still joke about this line. We love soup but occasionally she’ll say, “I do not sup.”
@@alexmarsh8464It's nothing to do with soup. To sup is to eat a late dinner.
@ “take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls.” It’s literally where the word soup comes from.
@@alexmarsh8464 The words “down” and “dune” are doublets too but that doesn't mean the film _Dune_ is about descending somewhere. When Bram Stoker writes that a character dines or sups, he's saying that they ate dinner or supper. It means what it means. You can't make it mean something else because of some idea in your head about etymology. Next you'll be saying that Dracula is a dragon. It's right there in the title, right? 🤦🏻♀️
@@AmyThePuddytat I don't know why you want to argue so much about an inside joke that my fiancee and I have. Look up the definition of “sup” in the OED. The first two definitions that are from old English (which, to be clear since you’re being a pedant, I know is much older than Dracula) support what I said. Imo, it’s clearly a play on words “to ingest small amounts of liquids” as in to drink someone’s blood as well as to have supper ie a late dinner. Am I a scholar on this topic? No, this isn't my area of expertise, and I acknowledge I could be wrong. But that is the older meaning of "sup" which seems to be a play on words and also fits what you do when you eat soup. I honestly don't care what Bram Stoker meant. I’m not going to respond anymore, but please go have some fun
Jess, I want to thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this. And for always dressing the part. I sincerely enjoy the depth of your research.
It's an absolute joy to share videos with you!
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Technically the human vampires look like that because they are freshly deceased: for instance Irish vampires like Edward Cullen or Angel. A nosferau looks like that because he is relatively rotten and desiccated.
Jess talking about vampires? For two hours? Time to get the cozy slippers and good blanket 🧛🏼♀️✨
Actually, this is probably the best vampire doc on UA-cam. Much better than most. 😊
Thank god we can see her reflection in her bookshelf, I was worried for a while, she did the whole vampire getup too well
Great video!! And props to that crochet bat for hanging upside down for 2.5 hours, I'm sure he needs a break
He was well compensated for his effort, don't worry
@@Jess_of_the_Shire At least he wasn't BATtered around...I'll see myself out now.
@@Jess_of_the_Shire I could see your reflection in the hand mirror on your bookshelf, so you aren't a vampire. Perhaps you can dress like a dhampire next time?
Last time I was this early, Dracula was still Vlad Dracul!
How is that even possible? Do you mean that Dracula was only a sperm in his father’s sack, and thus a part of Vlad Dracul? I get that you were just making a joke about being early, but I really wish to know how he was supposed to be his father?
Dracula is actually supposed to be descended from Vlad Tepes Dracula through his father, and Attila the Hun through Szkelelys who went to Iceland (when researching early immigration to the Americas, I discovered a few Hungarians did accompany a trading ship to Iceland).
I was one of the editors on the "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" comic book! Very cool to know people are still watching the movie. Now check out the comics! 🤘
"The histories of vampires and people are not so different, really. How many of us can honestly see our own reflection?"
Lynda Barry
You know, if you do two more long form video essays, it could become a full day trilogy viewing just like the proper way to watch LOTR.
Fantastic video, very interesting, and I'd love to see more stuff like this!
My next video is going to have to be a full 12 hours
@@Jess_of_the_Shire please do❤
@@Jess_of_the_ShireOh hoh
We don't have a full day viewing of LOTR because the Mithril Edition was never released.
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Isn't the UA-cam algorithm inconsistent regarding if it prefers long or short videos?
What We Do in the Shadows was such a pleasant surprise, and the nods to Vampire movies of the past was very entertaining. The sandwich analogy to virgins always gets me rolling.
100%
Goth Jess is best Jess.
New subscriber who has blown through all your other content in a couple days here: this isn't what I came to the channel for, but damn if it isn't exactly the kind of content I want! I was literally looking for a longform video essay about vampires the other day!
She's become my favorite UA-camr over the past few months or so and I hope you will continue to enjoy her content. Her Veggie Tales video is hilarious is you need something light and breezy to watch.
Welcome to the group!
You look adorable as a vampire btw.
I have adapted both DRACULA and CARMILLA for the stage. I also edited together THE ANNOTATED CARMILLA. Carmilla in fact walks around during the day throughout the story. So did Dracula. Vampires avoiding sunlight was mostly made popular by movies, such as the silent NOSFERATU in which Graf Orlock perished at Dawn. I will also note CARMILLA does not really read as a polemic against women at all. Rather it feels much more like a gothic version of the tales of Le Fanu's native Ireland, in which a mortal has an intimate encounter with one of the Fae and is never, ever the same. It is important to understand when the story was published the vampire hunters are all servants of what was viewed (accurately) as a tyranny, a despotic empire without the liberties and laws of which the English speaking world was so proud.
Quincey the cowboy is hardly in any film version of the story, alas.
I agree with you about Lugosi's performance.
DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is blend of the wonderful and the silly.
Your description of the end of NOSFERATU (1979) is inaccurate.
I am more than a little disappointed a lack of any mention of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN by Jan Alvide Lindqvist, as well as the two excellent films based on it. So please...some of that!!!!!
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
For no mention of _Let the Right One In_ Jess should treat us to an in depth video of just that book and both movies. If by some chance she hasn't seen either movie or read the book (which is probably the case, otherwise why would she have left it out?), we would really doing her a favor by holding her feet to the fire to experience all three.
I remember going to the Swedish film, for no other reason than a reviewer's saying that it was a vampire movie for those who don't like vampire movies. I left the theater gut-punched, and directly read the book upon which it was based. If you haven't seen the movies (especially the original Swedish version), stop what you are doing and go see it. Same goes for the book.
In all respect, I wouldn't say adorable lol. Let's just say very attractive and leave it at that lol.
@@thomaslance5428 That's okay. You didn't. I did.
@@missanne2908 She said she didn't have time to include everything... and I am pleased she did not, as Chole Grace Moretz in early 2020 admitted she was sexualized as a child, but of course the media didn't hammer it home, being the idiots who normalized the sexualization of women and girls since 1915's "Intolerance." Whenever I see her name or hear news about her (along with other child stars of my cohort like Ariel Winter or Ariana Grande), I get stressed out and often sweat, as I have seen them from 2010 or before be exploited as child stars: I hardly had any good role models as a child, and I don't have many as an adult. What makes it worse is that I suffer from intrusive thoughts: I personally would thrive in a rigid society like a Mormon community or being a shipman.
me: oh boy! an hour long video about vampires!
jess: content warning, blood
me: oh good heavens *closes youtube tab*
Great Video! I enjoyed it! one of the media I was shocked that wasn't covered was Vampire: The Masquerade and how that add so much new story to vampire and how you can step in and feel and deal with being a monster.
I shall add it to the list!
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Check out Vampire: The Masquerade - L.A. By Night
VTM was also the origin of the vampire vs werewolf, and the act of being a game really changes your engagement with monster. How long you fight off the urge to drink, who you drink from, how you feel about your actions and their consequences, it's really powerful stuff.
@@MrDrewwills I really like the links to the story of both Caine and Lilith as well as the Clans and the three factions of Vampires and how they handled being centuries old monsters. I remember it being called "a game of personal horror" having you try and understand what it was like to be a monster.
Also VTM, with the clans, played ALL the vampire tropes by making them différent traits of différent clan: you want an aristocratic vampire like lord Ruthven? Ventue. Sexy hedonistic vampire like Lestat? Toreador. Orlok style? Nosferatu. Weirdly obsessed with counting things? Malkavian , und so weiter...
My nerd compulsion feels the need to point out that Fright Night is a remake, also “Let The Right One In” is a Book, Film, and subsequent English Remake that deserves to be mentioned. That aside, great video. Fun to watch from beginning to end.
I appreciate and respect how you have transitioned from a part-time Hobbit to a full-time analysist and literary critique with Bombadilish flair and the nuance of Steve pemberton and Reese Shearsmith
3:30 Greek here. The greek word "βρυκόλακας" , or vrykolakas is spelled vree-kO-lakas
Loved the video. You'd also make a great vampire on the screen 👍 😂
Thanks for the note, and for watching!
That myth was very loosely adapted for the 1945 Boris Karloff movie "Isle of the Dead", produced by Val Lewton. There the creature is called a vorvolaka. The movie also plays on the connection between the vorvolaka and the plague.
"Daybreakers" is such a underrated vampire film if you're looking for even more vampire films to watch.
I absolutely love Vampires! They’re so fun. I love the sparkly vampire, the ugly monster vampire, the deadly seducer vampire, all of them are fun
I cant stop staring at that necklace. 2 thumb's up
Holy Hannibal, a feature length Jess video?? I'm calling in sick tomorrow!
The Sunday'll come out, tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar, that tomorrow
There'll be Sunday!
Just thinking about, tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow
'Til there's none!
When I'm stuck in a day
That's gray and lonely
I just stick out my chin
And grin and say
The Sunday'll come out, tomorrow
So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, tomorrow
You're always a day away!
@@GholaTleilaxu Uh, wow. Thanks?
Your opening was truly shocking. I actually gasped. Well done
I'm not sure if you've noticed that you were involuntarily baring your fangs at times, as you reached the more dramatic parts of your narrative. Now, your secret's safe with me of course, but be careful! I wouldn't want the villagers to notice and learn the truth...
Oh dear, I'll have to keep an eye out for this...
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Vampires are all about *the drama* so that nicely added to the presentation.
Why yes, I did just watch a 2.5 hour video talking about vampires. And I enjoyed every second of it. Absolutely fantastic video, Jess; one of the best researched videos I've seen on UA-cam, and probably my new favourite from your channel. :D
Also I gotta know; what was in that wine glass?
I didn't realize how long this video is before I clicked. We're feasting on Vampire lore today.
This was an incredibly beautiful video, in all senses of the word. Absolutely love the research that was put into it.
May your video go viral!
Time to get some popcorn and watch!!! Thanks for the amazing content 🧛🏼♀️
No mention of True Blood? I’d accept your blind eye due to the shows absurdity, but you mentioned twilight . . . .
True blood plays on so many of the tropes, doesn’t it have both monstrous villainy and the sympathetic woes of eternity? I mean, I didn’t finish it, but, it was a thing.
Also, only lovers left alive is my favorite vamp flick, I’m so glad you included that one
I'm surprised as well. True Blood has a pretty decent world building. I wish it spent more time with vampires intergraring into human society.
Somewhat disoppointed that there wasn't any mention of "Vampire: the Maskerade" the RPG, also; but I realise it more a niche in an already two jours and an half video that mostly adresses movies, TV and litterature.
I was surprised by no Castlevania!
@@antoinebelle3506 I would think, asides from the fact she had no time, it is because the game is based on cliches and launched them as well: Dracula is a popular character in stock culture, but the game created the concept that a good chunk of vampires are this (as opposed to deciding to become sophisticated like the Theatre of Vampires), with some being nosferatus and such to make up the numbers.
Beautiful, this is exactly what I wanted this time of year. You excited me with each new topic you pour your passion into. Definitely becoming my favorite channel. Keep being you.
I love the attention to detail, editing in a reflection into the small mirror on the bookshelf ;)
/s, if it was not obvious. I had a nervous twitch just imagining the amount of editing that would take…
Excellent video! Truly your best work in my humble opinion.
Striga comes from strix, which was an owl monster that drank the blood from unattended babies. Owls in taxonomy are called Strigiformes.
The first letter in Țepeș is pronounced like tzatziki.
A little sad you didn't talk about Count von Count from Sesame Street because, not only is he based on the Béla Lugosi portrayal of Dracula, but also in some of the stories from Romanian folklore (and probably other folklore), vampires (in Romanian there are strigoi, vârcolac and pricolici, all of which have some vampiric traits), at least the strigoi, has arithmomania, so villagers would put sand or grains at the entrance to the cemetery so the vampire would spend all night counting them and by the time it was done counting it would be morning and it would have to go back into its grave.
This entire comment is brilliant.
"The first letter in Țepeș is pronounced like tzatziki" - my mind is like a slowly spinning hourglass.
Yes, you can scatter rice and the vampire would have to pick them all up: of course, the vampire has preternatural speed and agility, so this only buys you a little time.
It would appear "strix" and "Lilith" share a common Nostratic root, which would imply a Paleaolithic belief in blood-drinking owl-men associated with the dead and nightmares. Doe sit remind you slightly of the giant bats and spider from "Primal?"
My favorite versions of the Vampire and also one of the best subversions of the Vampire is Terry Pratchett's Discworld, with the Vampire rehab group called the League of Temperance, where reformed vampires forswear blood and other vampiric qualities and transfer the desire to something more socially acceptable (e.g. photography and coffee) in order to assimilate into society. My favorite vampire character is Otto Chriek, the vampire photographer who keeps turning to dust every time the flash is on, and he's constantly trying to improve his craft so he doesn't have to crumble every time he takes a picture and then reform himself with a small glass jar of blood around his neck. As Terry Pratchett put it, "The only thing more dangerous than a bloodthirsty vampire is a vampire who is interested in anything else."
A two hour and a half, excellently written and produced Jess Halloween special? Cancel my weekend agenda!
My favourite depiction of vampires comes from Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. It's an RPG video game that puts you in the role of a vampire navigating a complex, detailed supernatural world.
Based on the role playing game Vampire the Masquerade, you start off by choosing your Clan (a bloodline of vampires united by similar traits and abilities). From there, you complete quests while interacting with various well-written characters, both human and vampire. Your choices often mean the difference between life and death for those around you. There's a lot of vampire lore, politics and it even explores the relationship between vampires and other supernatural creatures - like ghosts and werewolves.
If you like Vampires and video games, it's well worth checking out. It was sadly overlooked at the time because of some serious bugs, so if you play it, be sure to install the patch before you start.
You absolute queen! An amazing 2 and a half hours of fascinating lore and thoughtful analysis.
Thank you so much, really made my day 🦇
I’ve been off work sick and this was the perfect video to get stuck in to, 2 and a half hours in one go!
As a former mortician, I can say that I have never seen anything out of the ordinary with a dead person, and I've embalmed thousands of bodies.
You're not tricking me, undead creature of the night!. Away you go! YOU SHALL NOT PASS
I wonder if embalming makes the unusual cases less common. I kinda doubt that there would be a huge amount of blood related stuff when most of the blood is replaced.
@@ronweasley9001 Gandalf did not fight Thuringwethil.
@@ADADEL1 Embalming kills vampires?
Since "undead" would refer to a state between life and death, it would refer to undetectable brain activity, breathing, and heartbeat, as well as a lack of brain necropsy. As brain activity continues several days after death, all humans pass through an undead stage (which would explain ALL near-death experiences).
Epic and engrossing video essay. Originally put this on as background noise then found myself sitting on couch watching on big screen. Well done, you've also reminded me to order new copies of vampire chronicles as I lost my old ones back in my student times
Oh gosh the video is 2.5 hours long. Heck yeah!
I really liked this long-format video! I love the classic vampire genre, and it was a pleasure to go through its history related in such a neat, consistent and witty manner. Thank you for this one, and I’m looking forward to more content like this ❤
I may have to watch this in a few parts, with several glasses of Port.
Your long-form videos are so delightful. They're my favorite ones to watch
Dracula is such a cool book. More people should read it. It has so many awesome little short stories within the story itself
I'm just gonna say, this is a good look for you 😍😍. I would love to see more long form essays, especially with this particular topic Jess.Because I think you absolutely rocked it in this video.And I was engaged throughout the entire thing. ❤❤
I've been a fan of your videos for a while but you really outdid yourself with this one! This is some A+ spooky season content
Another thing you could look into are Vampire: the Masquerade and its reboot Vampire: the Requiem. They are Tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, but about playing vampires in the modern-ish night, where you have to survive in a secret underworld of vampire clans and covenants. The clans and covenants are all patterned after different kinds of vampire, the Ventrue are nobility, Nosferatu hideous monsters, Gangrel are bestial and so on. A major theme is balancing between being a monster and being human "A monster I am, lest a monster I become".
The writers of What We Do in the Shadows take a more comedic thone, but they most definitely played Vampire, with the different kinds of vampires and how being a vampire sucks, actually.
say goodbye to the rest of todays free time
These long form videos are beyond perfect for putting on while grinding Runescape. 😎🙌 Thank you Jess 🫶
2:30 hrs!!!! You are spoiling us Jess!
Catherine's channel is fantastic. She talks about funeral type stuff but with humor. Lots of information.
Excellent video. Congratulations. And I just realized that The Doctor is kind of a Byronic hero.
Blade, the first black superhero I’ve ever saw growing up, bro was my black panther
The irony of the vampire video being the one where there's a mildly distracting mirror reflection of Jess for the whole video.
Also cool that you mentioned Caitlyn's channel
Would have been most excellent if the reflection disappeared when the fangs came out. :)
I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. 😀
@@cesarvasquez9572 Same
It's all done in After Effects to make us think she's not a real vampire...
100% done as an alibi, since we can see in plain sight that she looks like a vampire, but with the mirror on the shelf we are lulled into believing that she’s actually a fully normal human.
You definitely had a lot of fun with this. Looking forward to more
A 2.5 hour video from our favorite Tolkien scholar- let me grab a delicious hobbity snack, some lovely tea, and get cozy!
Another banger vid, really been enjoying these videos while painting. Keep rockin it!
Before I dig in, I hope there's a reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer somewhere in there. The impact it's had on the supernatural TV/urban fantasy genre is immeasurable. Not to mention its impact on the concept of the modern vampire and the tropes it has subsequently popularised and/or invented.
Yeah, Buffy was a big part of the whole 'vampire boyfriend' trope. But even in that show, vampires were still evil. There was just an exception with a one cursed vampire. (And later a brain chipped vampire).
Then Twilight kind of changed that and made them inherently redeemable. Even Being Human and Preacher still left them as inherently evil with some exceptions.
@radagast7200 Well, if you put it in the context of the time, Buffy was a subversion of classic horror movie tropes at the time. Hence, animalistic vampires. But even then, we have Angel and Spike, who both play into and subvert the "vampire romance."
@jaguarking2892 yeah, I just like my monsters to be more monstrous, I guess.
Nice touch including the mirror in frame so we know you're only playing the vampire.
Fun Fact: "Schreck" (as in: Max Schreck) means "fright" or "scare" in German.
Very informative! Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. It’s brilliant!
Well, this was an unexpected yet delightful way to start my Saturday morning. A bizarre combination of ASMR vibes, your near perfect cadence, and - dare I say it - a sultry vampire vibe 😊 - definitely giving off some essence of Yvonne de Carlo's Lily Munster. There is something chaotically reassuring about that bookcase, too. Your flow is smooth, almost extemporaneous sounding, but of course - so much work goes into what you do! Thanks for such a tasty bite of vampyr and strigoi lore.
I’m loving this long form format a lot! Perfect for weekend evening with crafts and tea. Thanks for this incredible deep dive Jess!
Channeling contrapoints with that film length and very high effort production value!
True! Also, the fact that she hearted this comment proves that she has good core values.
@@sebastianevangelista4921 They should do a collaboration of some kind!
It has taken me a while to get through this whole video but it has greatly inspired me, I really admire the amount of effort (and obvious passion) that you've poured into this. The research, the visuals, the OUTFIT, its all just fan(g)tastic I cant wait to watch more of your work
Lets freaking go. Im stoked for this.
I believed you mean Stokered for this...like Bram Stoker...I'm sorry but not really.
Ayyy. Don't worry puns are my life blood :D@@wandering-bard
this is truly awful. i applaud you
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Please don't take offense but I will have to stop at a certain point and resume tomorrow. This video is great, I have already shared it with a couple of people, but I do ultimately have limited endurance and I will have to submit some posts to the discussion board of one of my online classes after dinner.
You've earned respect with that one. Well done👏👏👏
I love how you hit so many big vampire stories from different time periods. I’ve noticed that in the last 20 years there have been a lot of vampire stories or vampires in stories for kids and teens (beyond just Twilight). I’d love to see you do a deep dive into vampires for kids and teens someday and how adapting stories for younger audiences can change the way we approach tropes that were historically more for adults!
If anyone here is in need of some additional vampire related content then I would recommend the following:
1. ‘Let's Talk About Vampires’ by Proper Bird
2. The channel Maven of the Eventide (take a look at her playlists)
3. The playlists titled ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ and ‘Twilight: Breaking Dom’ by Dominic Noble
4. ‘Anne Rice, The Queen of Literary Monsters (Feat. Lindsay Ellis) | It’s Lit’
5. ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’ by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard
6. ‘The Lesbian Vampire in Film (A Deep Dive)’ and ‘A Bisexual History of Dracula’ by verilybitchie
7. ‘Bram Stoker and the Fears that Built Dracula’ and ‘The Gruesome History of Real Life Vampire Hunting’ by Kaz Rowe
8. ‘Let's Talk About BUFFY's Scariest Episode’, ‘30 DAYS OF NIGHT Has The Best Vampires’, ‘The Haunting Meaning of I AM LEGEND’, ‘Was DAYBREAKERS Really That Bad?’, and ‘Why THE LOST BOYS Has a Special Place in 80s Horror’ by Ryan Hollinger
9. “Guillermo Del Toro on Vampires” and “Guillermo del Toro: Vampires Have Been 'Mormonized'”
10. ‘Halloween Special: Dracula’, ‘One Villainous Scene - "You Must Be The Belmont"’, and ‘Castlevania: The Human Face of Evil - Detail Diatribe’ by Overly Sarcastic Productions
11. ‘That Time Jeff Goldblum Played Dracula in a Goosebumps Game’, ‘Vampires Are Real (According to Murder, She Wrote)’, and ‘That Time Diagnosis Murder Went Off The Rails’ by
PushingUpRoses
Well, this feels a bit surreal. I found your channel sometime after leaving another one that primarily focused on vampires stopped making the videos I went to that channel for. And now here you are with a vampire video. Things have come full circle.
This was an excellent video. Thank you.
Well done, this was a great listen! Enjoyed the entire thing.
If you've never seen it, I do highly suggest you watch *_'Love at First Bite'_* one of these days. Pokes a lot of fun at the 1931 Dracula movie, with George Hamilton (Dracula) and Arte Johnson (Renfield) absolutely nailing their performances. At one point he transforms into his dog/wolf form, and immediately gets taken away to the local pound ... it's just brilliant😂
I'll add it to the list!
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Add 'The Hunger' (1983) and 'Near Dark' (1987) to that list too😉
@@BrodieVickers-tk9sd Maven of The Eventide has good reviews for both of those films.
Oh yes, I love that movie. So silly.
This is the video I didn’t know I needed, but now can’t get enough of. Outstanding work!
"There's a cowboy in Dracula!" is always something that I feel we don't talk enough about. Like, "vampire-hunting cowboy" sounds like something that's juvenile or high-concept, but a cowboy fighting Dracula (And the cowboy being the one to deal a mortal blow!) was like, ground zero for the genre. It's sort of funny how much vampires are considered "old world" and bringing it to America is seen as a major reinvention or "Not your grandpa's vampires" like "Interview With a Vampire" or "Twilight", but so much of it has drawn from American folklore. Lucy was supposedly based on Rhode Islander Mercy Brown. Rhode Island! The home of Peter Griffin accents and Dunkin' Donuts marking every mile was an intergral contributor to vampire lore!
On the subject of Lucy, I think the recurring idea that the narrative is kind of having Lucy "punished" for being a potential floozy or would be-polyamorist (Note: I don't know if that's what you're saying and I am certain it's not a sentiment you agree with!) is something of a very modern interpetation that resulted from 1) The Coppola movie, (Which had Sadie Frost being very forward in a "shocking for Victorian times" way) and 2) That dating culture has changed a lot since then. People didn't really have "boyfriends" or "girlfriends" the way we did now, until you were engaged it was fair game, and one of the few concessions to women was that they could entertain all offers (With the understanding there was no body count) up until the words "I do". When Lucy says she wishes she could marry them all, it's meant to be taken as the all-loving innocence of a Disney Princess. That all three men stay devoted to her and each other, even after marriage, even after death--it's not meant to be a kinky polycule, it's meant to be a testament to both Lucy's and the men's virtue. I suppose you could say that in the "old vs new" theme of the book is just as Dracula's death means the end of superstitions and tyrannical overlords, the death of Lucy means the death of royalty and the last stand of courtly love and knightly virtue, as it gives way to the sensible but genuine middle class coupling of Jonathan and Mina. To tie it in to the overall bread and butter of the channel, it's sort of like how to the destruction of the One Ring also put a nail in the coffin of the dominion of the Elves.
I do think its funny how vampires are rather American when you get down to it. But Americans like to pretend that they're European because it fits the vibe better lol.
Excellent points about Lucy as well. I would say, if anything, Lucy and Mina's incredibly close relationship would be the thing that Stoker was speaking against, but that warrants further investigation
@@Jess_of_the_Shire A Victorian writer was appalled by a dynamic that could be perceived by some as sapphic? WHO WOULD HAVE EVER GUESSED?!?
So on the subject of the vampires as a vessel for Europhilia--as your video gets into the the racial aspects of vampire fiction talking about Blade and Twilight, something that always struck me was 1) How a lot of the vampire's journey paralleled the nature of what "whiteness" means and 2) How the...(excuse me) de-fanged vampire really (sorry again) crystalized around the time of G.W. Bush and the War on Terror.
The historic Vlad the Impaler was, lets just say, revered to the extent that he was for keeping the Ottmans (a.k.a. Muslims) bottleknecked from expanding too far into Europe and was heralded as a defender of Christianity. This was really not considered an important part of Dracula, for several reasons, but to a major one is that, I wouldn't say Islamaphobia didn't exist, but it was probably not something that occupied American headspace, and in the grand scheme of things, the focus was on the U.S.S.R. (This will become important.) BS Dracula was maybe the first to really draw on that (It's very interesting it came off the heels off the first Gulf War, although I think what Coppola was going for was the irony of a "Defender of Christendom" pulling a 180.) But then then 9/11 happened, and the culture really began to explore the relationship between the Western and the Islamic World. (The Marvel comics Dracula, who is probably one of the more sadistic takes on the character, was actually stated to despise Muslims, which chafed with some of the other supervillains, especially those who were ethnic minorities.)
It's also said that a major, major part of Twilight's subtext is Stephanie Meyers's Mormon background--the . Mormons themselves hold an interesting place in American history. At one point they were considered a dangerous, insurgent sect in America. The history of the LDS Church is itself so complex and fascinating, but for the purposes of this conversation, Mormons would go on to hyper-assimilate (Not super difficult because they were often descended from Anglo or Germanic peoples anyways) and to a certain extent, represent America at its most 1950's--sometimes to the point of the Uncanny Valley to many. (For those on the left who consider anything "too white" to be fishy, and to the right, imposters and still not "real Christians" who deviate from more hardcore Evangelical policies.) The "Twilight" franchise is, among other things, a sort of polemic for abstainance until marriage--and there's a certain irony that until that point, figures that represented sexual liberation, for better or worse, were now spouting fans as promise rings.
It's also interesting that the first movie exploded off the heels of Barack Obama: America's first Black President and one conspiracy theorists insist was a covert Muslim. (It's also funny that in 2012, when the Twilight phenomenon was winding down, as Mitt Romeny, a member of the LDS Church, failed to seat him). But something I want to talk about was this was the rise of Vladimir Putin. While he had been around since the early 00's, and never got on particularly well with Bush, his relationships with Democrat leaders have always seemed to be more frought, and those on the Right have been more cordial. Like, "Russkie" used to be something you would hear your flag-waving, army haircut waving uncle say, and now the more right-leaning people tend to carry water for the nation. (Something to keep in mind was a MAJOR piece of subtext in the original Dracula lovel was a prejudice against slavic people.) I don't know if it's all coincidence, or this evolution is entwined, but it's something I think about a lot. (Tbh, I don't expect anyone to have read this far, I just thought it'd be a nice place to document it)
@@RABartlett You've clearly put a lot of thought into this!
2:28:00 there is a book by J Gordon Melton called the Vampire Book. It’s like an encyclopedia, with multiple editions as he’s updated it with newer pop culture
You nailed the vampire look . . . or should I say staked it!!! I’m really impressed at how clearly you could speak when you had the fake teeth in your mouth. Anytime I ever tried to talk with fake vampire teeth I always sound more like I have marbles in my mouth . . . and my mouth gets pretty drippy and spray-ie, but not with blood. Anyway, great Halloween themed post. Love your show! P.S. Your “red wine” seemed suspiciously frothy . . . hmmm. Maybe I need to give you the gander of geese test! I toast to your undead health with a glass of tah-mah-toe juice, bah-ha-ha!!!
Thank you so much! I can only talk through the teeth for a few minutes before I start sounding rather lispy haha. Thanks for watching!
@@Jess_of_the_Shire It's amazing just how well vampire and goth looks work for you!
Ok, this video was recommended to me and I have already listened to it twice. It helped me clean my bathroom and do laundry. Ma'am, I could listen to you talk about vampires all day. And already watching your Tolkien videos. Lol the algorithm was very on point today, and I am so thankful. I love your channel!
If you've never seen Nosferatu I'd highly recommend for a good Halloween party movie. Even today it's surprisingly creepy. And Bela Lugosi's version is also fantastic (especially for the terrifying Transylvanian armadillos and the dreaded batticus rubberus). Happy Halloween!
Nosferatu is incredibly creepy!
@@Jess_of_the_Shire We're getting a remake this December, do you have any thoughts on it?
When I clicked this, this was incredibly more thorough than I expected, I think a deep dive on some of these pieces would be awesome
It looks like you could be on your way to a full-time career as a film and literary critic, beyond Tolkien and LoTR material. Congratulations on that and on a deeply thought out and well-researched video. But I became alarmed when you said that you've been thinking about vampires so much that they're entering into your dreams. That can change you. I don't want to see our beloved Jess of the Shire turn into Jess of Transylvania.
But I like goth Jess 🤷♂🧛♀
This was absolutely amazing, I loved it!!! Thank you so much for your time and effort and I am looking forward to your next video. :)
Not sure if I'd call him my favourite, but the first vampire character I came across was Morbius from the Marvel Universe (Loooong before that awful movie😂). They also have their own rendition of Dracula, who has a mostly similar backstory to Stoker's novel, though survived by tricking Van Helsing & company into believing they'd destroyed him. Then over the years, murders and turns them and their descendants.
What's funny is the "scientificating" of vampires in the Blade movies was actually the case with Morbius who was more science-based (Supposedly--keep in mind it's actually disputed) because the the Comics Code didn't allow supernatural beasties but saying he got bit by a radioactive bat or whatever was a loophoole and so he Air Budded his way into bring vampires back to comics. (I think with the movies it was simpley because stuff like the X-Files and Stargate had people on a "rational explaination for the paranormal" kick in the Ironic 90's, but they were this close to putting Morbius in the movies.)
My old school bus driver thought Morbius (2022) was an unironically good movie & that Venom was a load of garbage. I’m not like farming, this is completely true.
I have a weird addiction to long videos, thank you
A little surprised that *_'Let the Right One In'_* by John Ajvide Lindqvist didn't get mentioned somewhere, but there's only so much that you can fit in. I can remember picking up a free copy on a World Book Day many moons ago now. It was so good, mixes tenderness with ferocity, and horrifying with it's graphic detail. Fangtastic video... okay, I'll see myself out😄
Also made into a film (in Swedish, from 2008), also written by Lindqvist, directed by Tomas Alfredson. And unnecessarily remade in English in 2010... and apparently made into a TV-series in 2022, which I hadn't heard of before. (Cancelled after the first season.)
Maven of The Eventide has reviewed it if you're at all interested.
Agreed, kept waiting for the mention of LTROI, and she veered every time. The book was excellent, and the Swedish version is a favorite, of any recent vampire media.
I haven't even watched this yet and I already know it's brilliant.
I never drink. ...wine.
And I do not smoke... shit.
Okay I have to say that I came here out of love of horror movies…..that said I have been binging nearly your entire library of LOTR. Amazing content friend and you’ve earned a new subscriber!
0:14 that Lord Byron? father of the first software developer: Ada Lovelace
She's incredibly cool
Really?
Madam Immortal, bravo. This video essay is a bloody masterpiece! The care and craft you put into it is evident. 10/10 would watch any +2 hour long video you put out ❤
Historians have concluded that most of the impaled were actually already dead when they were posted like that. It was actually a brilliant strategy in intimidation against a much larger threat. He was a good leader fighting against the Turkish empire. (Which was under the Islamic empire) a Conquering group attempting to completely destroy the Jewish/Christian faith from the world. The crusades only accomplished so much.
That's incredibly interesting, and it makes a lot of sense!
I love your work SO MUCH and I can only imagine what a massive undertaking this exceptionally long video was! Great work!
"Vampires have risen from the dead, the grave and the crypt, but never from the cat." GNU Sir Terry
I had to cut a section about his "Carpe Jugulum" but it's one of my favorite vamp stories
@@Jess_of_the_Shire I'd be down for a video on it.
@@Jess_of_the_Shire You had that in the video but cut it out?
Awwww now I’m sad!
I’m in for a “Cut Content” episode!
I recently re-read Carpe Jugulum and I love how it plays with all the stereotypical vampire tropes.
@@Jess_of_the_Shire A video about Pratchett's take on the Fae would be great!
@@TimvanderLeeuw I'd imagine that the cut content consisted of a few topics that could all potentially become their own videos, which I really do hope will happen!
Thank you, for the effort you put into this!