How hot will vampires stay in the pop culture spotlight?

Now that True Blood is gone until next year,I've been giving The Vampire Diaries a chance to ensnare my vampire fangirl blood lust and while it's not quite as toothsome,it'll do for some nosferatu nighttime noshing(pardon the bad puns,cheesy shows like this just bring them out in me,like hives).

I must admit that the villain of the piece is well cast: Ian Somerhalder,who plays bad brother Damon to Paul Wesley's struggling to be good bloodsucker boy,is quite the charmer. He really brings a delightful sense of menace and dark humor to the role without too much hammery so far and makes an excellent instigator for those slightly subtle social encounters that pop up when least expected:





Between the Vampire Diaries and the upcoming release of New Moon,the second book in the Twilight saga,it looks as if those creatures of the night are here to stay for a good long while. As much as that prospect thrills me,I do have some lingering worries about overexposure of the genre leading to another early demise for our fanged friends.

I think even the folks behind the Twilight movies might be a little worried about that,too,since the latest trailer makes damn sure to highlight the vamps over the werewolves(particularly the Volturi,a set of vicious Euro vampires who are considered the ultimate authority and keeper of the underworld laws). Don't get me wrong,it does appear as if the plot lines are in sync with the book but one can see why it may look like the weres might be getting shortchanged here:





It might be a little more reassuring if we had more word about vampires meant for grown-ups other than True Blood. There's been talk of adapting such novels as John Marks' Fangland and Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian for the big screen but not a lot of filming going on at the moment.



That,to me,is a shame since it is a frequent media tendency to cater to what is considered the target audience(i.e.the one spending the big bucks to consume most of the ghoulish goods)and ignore those are just as excited about the genre but not as young.

Come on,guys,think with the blinders off there. The Harry Potter fandom thrives on fans in nearly all age groups and it's not that much different with the vampire crowd,trust me on this one. True Blood shows that vamp lore is not just kid stuff and a good chunk of the Twilight followers are over the legal drinking age,only they like their bloodsuckers on the lighter side of the scarescope.


Well,with any luck,the vampire craze will get better instead of worse as things go on. Just stay alert for the signs of the beginning of the end such as cutesy kid vamps,toothless parodies and the true signal of despair,the vampire musical. Some great things just don't go together,like peanut butter and motor oil,and such it is with singing vampires: