Title: The Vampire Defanged: How the Embodiment of Evil Became a Romantic 
Hero
Author: Susannah Clements
Released: April 1, 2011
Publisher: Brazos Press
Pages/Format: 208 (Trade Paperback)
Genre: Christian Nonfiction, Pop Culture
Source: Publisher
Vampires first entered the pop culture arena with Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. Today, vampires are everywhere. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Twilight Saga to HBO’s True Blood series, pop culture can’t get enough of the vampire phenomenon.
In The Vampire Defanged, Susannah Clements reveals the roots of the vampire myth and shows how it was originally immersed in Christian values and symbolism. Over time, however, vampires have been “defanged” as their spiritual significance has waned, and what was once the embodiment of evil has turned into a teen idol and the ultimate romantic hero. Clements offers a close reading of selected vampire texts, explaining how this transformation occurred and discerning between the variety of vampire stories presented in movies, TV shows, and novels.
One Sentence Review: The Vampire Defanged challenged many of my previously held notions about the value of vampire literature and helped me to understand the culture’s obsession with vampires, but it was not very “entertaining,” as one endorser claimed it was and it failed to answer some of my questions.
In-Depth Review
Before I delve into my review of The Vampire Defanged, there are three things you should know about me:
- I am not widely read in the vampire genre. In fact, the only vampire novel I’ve ever read is Twilight.
- My limited experience with vampire fiction has been negative. I did not like Twilight. In fact, I find the whole idea of dead(ish) blood-sucking former humans–good looking or not–utterly distasteful.
- Call me dense, but despite numbers one and two, I fully expected to enjoy The Vampire Defanged.
I should explain my reasoning for number three. I tend to like books that address popular culture from a Christian perspective, whether or not the particular aspect of pop culture that book addresses is one that appeals to me personally. The Vampire Defanged does this, and though I am not a fan of the vampire craze sweeping the nation, I am interested in understanding why people (including friends of mine) are so obsessed with stories that revolve around these mythological beings and what a proper Christian response is to this cultural phenomenon.
That being said, I had certain expectations for this book when I started reading it. First, I expected that it would clearly answer my question of how to respond biblically to ‘vampire fever’. Second, I expected the author would analyze popular works of contemporary and historical vampire fiction in order to draw her conclusions. And third, based on Stephen Webb‘s endorsement on the back cover that hailed The Vampire Defanged as “so entertaining that you might miss how good the theology is,” I expected that Clements would sprinkle her narrative with humor and perhaps a few personal anecdotes.
Bela Lugosi as Dracula in the 1931 Film Adaptation
My second expectation was satisfactorily met. Perhaps too satisfactorily. As it turns out, practically the entire book is a thorough analysis of popular vampire novels, movies, and television shows. Chapter two covers the themes of sin and the power of the cross in Dracula, chapter three discusses themes of guilt and love found in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, chapter four examines sin and sacrifice as depicted in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, chapter five analyzes the more recently sexualized and socialized vampire in the Sookie Stackhouse series and television adaptation True Blood, and chapter six delves into Stephanie Meyer’s depiction of the vampire as a teenage heartthrob in the Twilight Saga. The first six chapters illustrate how the vampire has progressively grown more and more secular and lost its meaning as a Christian symbol. Finally, chapters seven and eight contrast the two basic depictions of vampires in popular culture–the vampire as a sinner and the vampire as a savior or hero–by touching on a number of other less popular texts and films.
‘Entertaining’ is not the word that first comes to mind when describing this book. Throughout the entire narrative there was not one iota of humor or anything else that might personalize the academic tone. The book was basically one long essay. I was also disappointed that Clements did not more specifically address my question about how Christians might respond to the culture’s fascination with vampires. The closest she comes to an answer is in chapter one when she says:
More than anyone else, Christians should know how to read and view well. And we should read the culture around us as deeply and thoughtfully as we read canonical literature. The Vampire Defanged offers a close reading of selected vampire stories as a means of better understanding our culture through the lens of the transforming vampire myth. {The Vampire Defanged, page 8}
While I agree with this statement, it only gives me part of the answer I was looking for. Read vampire literature, watch vampire movies, analyze their theological meaning, and then what? What do I do with the understanding I’ve gained? How to I influence the culture with it? Clements gives a brief, rather vague answer to this question in the conclusion of the book (see the quote from page 164 near the end of this review), but I would have appreciated it if she had expanded on this a bit more.
The Cullen Family vampires from the Twilight Series
Enjoying and fully understanding this book was made more difficult by the fact I noted in the beginning of my review–I haven’t actually read any vampire books (save for Twilight), watched any vampire movies (at least not in the last few years), or tuned in to any of the vampire television shows that Clements analyzes in The Vampire Defanged. Don’t get me wrong, you can still understand this book without having read and watched all those things, but being vampirically literate would certainly make reading it a whole lot easier, which is why I would only recommend this book to those who have enough of an interest in vampire tales to actually read and watch them.
Of course, there were positive things about this book as well. While Clements’ style lacked the humor I would have liked, she is nonetheless an excellent writer and the organization of the text is superb. I admit that there were times when I had a hard time believing that anyone could actually make a serious academic study of vampire media, especially such seemingly shallow depictions like those found in Twilight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but then I suppose by thinking that way I am positioning myself as the subject of this statement:
Christians often respond to the vampire phenomenon by either trivializing or demonizing it, brushing it aside as insignificant or labeling an entire century of imaginative production as evil and anti-Christian. In these pages I will seek to counter both responses. {The Vampire Defanged, page 7}
I did learn from this book. I learned that my preconceived notions of some vampire literature which I had not even read–Dracula and Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles in particular–were completely false. I grew to understand that many authors, filmmakers, and television writers have used the vampire as a means of philosophical and theological exploration. I understand the psychology behind the vampire obsession a little better now, and I can see how the use of the vampire as a symbol has been unfairly demonized by the Christian community.
In the end Clements contends:
If Christians can understand the vampire better, we can discuss, create, and inspire a respiritualized figure of the vampire. In doing so we can help return the vampire tradition to the power it once had. {The Vampire Defanged, page 164}
Maybe so, but I can’t help but question, should we really expend effort to try and reclaim the vampire as a Christian symbol or has secular culture already removed it too far from the religious typification of sin that used to define it? Is the vampire, as folklore holds, irredeemable?
Other Reviews: The Aquila Report | TheoFantastique
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About Susannah Clements:
Susannah Clements (PhD, University of South Carolina) is associate professor and chair of the Department of Language and Literature at Regent University. She has taught courses on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jane Eyre, and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Clements is a British literature specialist whose research interests include nineteenth-century literature, popular culture, and fantasy.
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Kate you wrote quite an impressive review on this book. My own curiosity is heightened since the shows mentioned were ones I’ve known as a viewer. I might just try this one albeit with less expectations. Interesting how the “vampire” is so closely tied to the spirituality of cultures around the world.
Again bravo on this review piece.
Thanks, PK! I think you would find this one at least interesting since you watch/read a lot of these shows/books. If I were more familiar with these shows I think I would have gotten a lot more out of the book.
Great review. I’m not sure if I’ll read this one or not. I have a book on my wishlist at Paperbackswap called Escaping the Vampire: Desperate for the Immortal Hero. I don’t know if you are up to reading anymore non-fiction about vamps, but that one looks interesting to me. Might explain why I find vamps so interesting. LOL.
I think I’m fascinated by the romanticization of them. I’m a huge romance fan and a human in love with a vampire (or a human in love with a werewolf) creates instant angst. I’m not widely read in vampire lit but I have read Twilight and Sookie and I plan to read a couple of inspy vampire books that are coming out.
I find I’m drawn to the romance in Vampire tv shows too. Buffy, Vampire Diaries, the short lived Moonlight.
I’m not sure what a respiritualized figure of a vampire is supposed to look like? Does that mean making them the personification of evil again as they were originally?
I don’t mind seeing vampires show up in books and movies as “the good guys” because in real life there is no such thing as a vampire.
What bothers me more is seeing demons show up in books as “the good guys”. That’s a trend in paranormal fiction that turns me off. Mythical creatures (vampires, werewolves) don’t bother me as much as the real thing.
They have more nonfiction books about vampire lit? How did I miss that?! Based on the Amazon description of Escaping the Vampire, it looks like that book addresses the romanticization of the vampire and its attraction to women, whereas The Vampire Defanged is taking a much more academic approach and looking at the spiritual and theological themes in vampire media, vs. emotional themes. If you’re fascinated by the vampire as a “romantic hero” (to quote the subtitle of Clement’s book), then I’m guessing The Vampire Defanged would bore you to tears. I would definitely recommend going with Escaping the Vampire or maybe even Touched by a Vampire (which I also found on Amazon).
I believe the respiritualized version of the vampire that Clements is talking about is a lot like Dracula–thoroughly evil with not an attractive bone in his body, symbolic of sin.
I’m not as keen on vampires showing up as the good guys in books and movies because even though they are not real (at least not in the living-dead sense; there are real people who drink human blood) what they represent is evil. I mean, drinking human blood or having the desire to drink human blood, not to mention being immortally damned, isn’t exactly what I would call okay. I can see though how the vampire as a character struggling against an evil nature (as in Buffy) could have some theological value. I guess I don’t see quite as much of a gap between using a vampire or werewolf as the hero of a story and using a demon as the hero of a story–real or not both represent the same thing. But I can see why people would view the two as completely different things.
If general market fiction respiritualized the vampire as you described above, it would pretty much cure my vampire fascination. I’m not a fan of horror at all.
We touched on this at my blog, but I think the inspy vampire books that are out might come closer to “respiritualizing” the vampire according to your definition. I can’t imagine they’ve made the vamps the good guys. But if they found a way to still have strong (human) romance threads, I’ll probably enjoy them.
Neither am I… which is why I never read Dracula
I haven’t read any of the inspy vampire novels, and a part of me really has no interest in them… but the other part of me thinks they would be really fascinating to analyze and review, so I may just have to give a couple of them a try. Since you obviously are more familiar with the inspy vampire novels out there than I am, which ones would you recommend I start with?
I know titles, but I haven’t read any yet. I’ll let you know after I try one. Great discussion Kate!
I have not heard any good reviews of this book. And I think your point that you are not sure why we really want to recreate spiritual significance of the vampire is exactly why I am not all that interested in it even if it was better.
But I do like some vampire stories and I will probably read more. I am turned off by the hyper sexualized ones like the Stackhouse/True Blood. But I always thought that at the very least vampires showed that there is something that can be called evil (although twilight books tend to run toward a self help, vampire can save themselves look at evil.)
(By the way, I always thought the Buffy tv series was one of the better cultural commentaries out there and had a good bit of spiritual reflection.)
Clements did make it did sound like Buffy was a bit more deep-thinking than some of the other vampire shows/books… But I thought it was interesting when she said that while Buffy explores a lot of spiritual themes, it always comes to an open-ended conclusion that affirms multiple worldviews, which may have something to do with the fact that the creator of the show is a self-described “angry atheist.”
I was looking forward to your review of this book. It does sound interesting! I’m also one who has not watched or read much of anything vampire-based at all. My sis read Dracula and told me it was much different than present culture vampire tales, but…I’m just not that interested. Like you, however, I am intrigued at my friends’s addiction/amazement at vampires, and I am just curious as to why they are so popular! This book does sound interesting, though maybe a little too academic for me right now.
Thanks for another great review!
After reading this book I might give Dracula a try (maybe…), but I really don’t think the others are worth the time.
I think part of the modern fascination with vampires (which is much more widespread than it used to be) has more do with their recent sexualization (as in Sookie Stackhouse) and romanticization (as in Twilight) in literature than the traits that have been universal to vampire stories throughout history–namely the drinking of blood and immortality.