From cartoon characters like Count Duckula, through teen vampires such as Edward Cullen, to the young adult vampires in True Blood – there seems to be a vampire for every age group. To celebrate the third season of True Blood being released on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 23, we’ve taken a look back at how we’ve grown up with vampires to suit every stage of our lives.
This British animated television series parodies the story of Count Dracula. Set in Transylvania, Duckula (voiced by David Jason!) lives in a spooky castle known as Castle Duckula, alongside his butler Igor, and his large nanny. Duckula has been a vampire for centuries and he can only be destroyed by exposure to sunlight or by a wooden stake through his heart. In fact, he has died numerous deaths – but he always returns through a mystic ritual, performed once a century, “when the moon is in the Eighth House of Aquarius.”
Vampire Burns is Mr. Burns as a vampire in The Simpsons season five “Treehouse of Horror.” C. Montgomery’s villain is fashioned after Gary Oldman’s performance in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This episode shows the Simpsons coming to Vampire Burns’ castle and being lured into his trap, using the same gimmicks and special effects as the movie, such as a shadow that behaves independently from Mr. Burns. Even when not sporting the winged hairdo, Mr. Burns makes a great ghoul!
This American television series follows Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the latest in a line of young women known as “Vampire Slayers.” In the story, Slayers are “called” (chosen by fate) to battle against vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness. A vampire with a soul, Angel (David Boreanaz), is Buffy’s love interest throughout the first three seasons.
He left Buffy to make amends for his sins and search for redemption in his own spin-off, Angel.
The Vampire Diaries is an American television series based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series follows the events in the town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a fictional town haunted by supernatural beings. The main focus of the series is the love triangle between the female protagonist Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and two vampire brothers with dark pasts. Elena falls for 162-year-old vampire, Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Their relationship becomes more complicated as Stefan’s vicious and malevolent elder brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder) returns to Mystical Falls with a plan to wreak havoc and plan a vendetta against his younger brother.
Twilight is an American romantic vampire film based on Stephanie Meyer’s popular novel of the same name. The film focuses on the development between a teenage girl Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and 104-year-old vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), and the subsequent efforts of Cullen and his family to keep Swan safe from the evil vampires. Edward is safe to Bella because he only consumes animal blood. The pair fall in love and Edward introduces Bella to his vampire family, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie. The saga follows the trials and tribulations of Bella and Edwards’s relationship.
Lastly but by no means least we come to Bill Compton in True Blood, the American television drama, which is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris. It details the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional small Louisiana town. The series centres on Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress at a bar, who falls in love with Bill (Stephen Moyer), and the conflicts that arise as he tries to co-exist with mortals.
Sink your teeth into True Blood: the complete third season, out on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 23.