What type of vampire do you like most? Do you want them to be mindless killing machines, monsters that can think but can’t exactly pass as human, or something perfectly capable of blending in with humanity? Or should there be stages? Would they become mindless killing machines after they’ve drank too much blood? Or when they haven’t had enough?

For example, in Priest they’re completely mindless, mostly just animals. Yet in 30 Days of Night they’re human-shaped but don’t hide or blend in with humans (or even speak human languages). And… I couldn’t think of a good example of an aristocratic vampire so I went with Interview with the Vampire. I know there are lots of other aristocratic vampires but couldn’t think of a good example of one that can blend in perfectly well with humans.

Sometimes vampires can change their type, too. Like in Daybreakers, where vampires are mostly human but going too long without blood essentially turns them feral and they lose all sense of humanity. In that movie, feeding on yourself even accelerates the decline. But then there are other stories (can’t remember a good example right now) where the longer you live as a vampire the more you slowly lose pieces of yourself and your humanity. And then there are still other stories where a vampire can mostly pass for human except when they get caught up in a bloodlust and temporarily lose all control.

So which form of vampire do you think is best? I don’t really have an answer to this, I just like thinking about all the various forms and stages of vampires there can be. And all are valid. There’s no wrong way to do vampires… except maybe Twilight. (Ha, I just wanted to make a joke there.)