Vampire Gentlemen and Zombie Beasts

I thought it was really interesting that the author makes a point to emphasize that in today's society we consider vampires more "civilized" and less monstrous, when back in the day they were vicious and not to be messed with. Because we can now sympathize with vampires, the zombie has become the real monster. We fear zombies more because they represent a loos of self and life, being the mindless creatures that they are. Vampires usually ignite desire nowadays and zombies incite fear. Zombies are usually mindless creatures, who are harder to sympathize with because we don't see their emotions and feelings. Vampires are still walking corpses but lack the scary and realistic characteristics of a corpse.

The author writes that while vampires can often ignite fantasies among viewers/readers, zombies are more likely to ignite nightmares or terrorize the audience. Vampires are usually meant to entice humans into trusting or admiring them, with their perfect bodies and charm. Zombies are frequently portrayed as dirty, gory, half rotting creatures who stagger along aimlessly looking for fresh food. The vampires of today's tv shows and movies are often closer to greek gods than the dracula-type vampires from long ago. Vampires often represent immortality in a good light and zombies are meant to remind the viewer of imminent death and mortality.

Because zombies don't have any individuality or mind to think for themselves they are often categorized unconciously as a group or many as one, whereas vampires are often individuals with varying personalities or characterized as "good guys/bad guys". Vampires have become increasingly popular in novels and tv shows/movies and are considered a selling product for consumers to buy and obsess over in many ways.

Vampire lifestyle is constantly shown in a good light in current tv shows and their lives are desirable for the average person because it seems like they can get things at the drop of a hat. Zombies are always thought of as "infected" with a virus or epidemic of some sort. We sympathize with vampires because we are taught to understand vampires and accept them for their differences.