Why are vampire stories such fertile ground right now in modern-day America?
GWD: Well, I’m going to leave that up to students to explore, but I do think these current vampire stories are less perturbing than what’s come before, because, while the others are questioning normative values, these re-establish them. As strange as it may sound, they’re playing with the tradition, but they are not really getting to the soul of it. That would be too disturbing. These stories are really focused on the romantic side of things. It goes along with the conservative bent of society right now. QA: Why did you want to teach this class? GWD: It’s hard to figure, because I’m not a person who likes to watch horror movies. The experience affects me too much. I don’t like to see all that created brutality because I already know how much brutality there is in the world. But, you know, any kind of good creative work touches you emotionally in some way. I know I shouldn’t say that, because if I were just a critic, I should not be moved to such a degree. But I think that’s part of why
