“吸血鬼”，與“永恒”脫不了關(guān)系。永恒的黑夜，永恒的生命，永恒的美艷和永恒的神秘。他們獨(dú)特的魅力和恐怖讓人避之不及卻又難以忘懷。于是人們一再向他們投去愛恨交織的眼神，一再在各類作品中探討他們的存在，他們的秘密。褪去中世紀(jì)的衣服，今天他們用新世紀(jì)的霓裳裝身，外加一雙媚眼和一抹紅唇，以新姿態(tài)向人們娓娓道來一個(gè)潛藏千年的故事……

——Mac

The symptoms are 1)unnerving: a taste for fresh meat—2)rare， if you please; an3)aversion to sunlight; and a passion for 4)spectral-looking， fine-boned 5)rakes. All are indications that the sufferer has been bitten by a 6)vampire.

Sookie Stackhouse， the young heroine of 7)True Blood on HBO， risks 8)doom whenever she visits with her 9)otherworldly 10)beau. And Oskar， the adolescent 11)misfit of the Swedish art film12)Let the Right One In， a favorite in fashion circles， 13)courts extinction each time he ventures out with Eli， the ageless vampire he befriends.

Sookie and Oskar are 14)in the throes of vampire lust， a pop-culture 15)contagion being spread via television， films and fiction. What began with the Twilight Saga， the 16)luridly romantic young-adult series by Stephenie Meyer， followed by Twilight， the movie， has been widely accepted.

Is it a wonder?

Rarely have monsters looked so 17)sultry—or so camera-ready. “There is something so still and sexy about these young 18)erotic predators，” said Julie Plec， the writer and executive producer of 19)The Vampire Diaries， a forthcoming series on the CW network based on the popular novels.

This generation of undead 20)prowls high school hallways and dimly lighted dance clubs as menacing—and as 21)seductive—as they have ever been. The June premiere of the second season of True Blood， in which Sookie， played by 22)Anna Paquin， is reunited with her 23)fanged beau， drew 3.4 million viewers， making it HBO’s most-watched program since the 24)Sopranos25)finale in 2007.

The style world， too， has come under the vampire’s26)spell. The undead are returning 27)with a vengeance， in part because they “personify real-world anxieties，” said Michael Dylan Foster， an assistant professor in the department of 28)folklore at Indiana University.

“Especially during these post-9/11 times of increased 29)vigilance， representations like the Twilight series reflect a kind of conspiracy-theory mentality， a fear that there is something secret and dangerous going on in our own community， right under our noses.”

Given all that baggage， what keeps vampires so 30)alluring?

One might point to their combination of deathless good looks and 31)decadent sexuality. Their faces， as described in Twilight， “were all 32)devastatingly， inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the 33)airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine.”

Vampirelike glamour figures strike 34)come-hither poses in a flurry of recent fashion publications. Portrayed as 35)androgynous creatures in the June issue of W， they affect killer glares， their menace emphasized by their 36)pallor. The vampire’s attraction is “all about the37)titillation of imagining the monsters we could be if we just let ourselves go，” suggested Rick Owens， a fashion 38)bellwether. “We’re all fascinated with corruption， the more glamorous the better.”

In New Moon， the Twilight 39)sequel that will open in November， the lead vampire Edward is a noble 40)swain， performing feats of 41)valor reserved for Superman. Seductive as he is， he， too， is a model of restraint. More than once in the original film Edward stops short of draining Bella， his mortal girlfriend. “I don’t want to be a monster，” he tells her urgently (though it seems she wouldn’t mind).

“Edward has rejected all humanity， but he is struggling to be human，” Ms. Plec said， adding: “There is always the question， ‘Does this person have it in him to be good， to make the right decision?’ It’s a theme that works in films and television.”

Impulse-control is an especially 42)resonant theme in the current era of conflicts and cutbacks. “Periods of war， economic downturns and cultural turmoil all give rise to the production of vampire and fantasy fiction，” said Thomas Garza， chair of the department of 43)Slavic and 44)Eurasian studies at the University of Texas at Austin， and a specialist in vampire 45)lore. “With a recession and war， the conflict has indeed seemed to turn inward， as we question our fiscal， political and moral status. ‘Have we been too excessive? Do we need to be more restrained?’ We seem once again to be questioning these very fundamental values.”

And， at the same time， renewing a 46)flirtation with the dark side. Emily Rose， a performance poet in Chicago cataloged vampire’s 47)exquisite charms: “the 48)wantonness， the gorgeousness， eternal youth， 49)invulnerability and， of course， the night life—staying up way past your bedtime.”

Surely there are worse things. Ms. Rose said. “Having somebody 50)clamp onto your neck and51)drain you — that doesn’t seem so scary anymore.”

“It wouldn’t be on my top 10 list of ways not to die，” she added， “especially if that vampire is at all attractive.”

以下癥狀令人膽戰(zhàn)心驚:嗜鮮肉——可以的話，要半生不熟的;討厭陽(yáng)光;特別鐘情于外貌“鬼里鬼氣”，身材瘦削的放蕩公子。這些癥狀都表明患者被吸血鬼咬過。

HBO電視臺(tái)的連續(xù)劇《真愛如血》中，年輕的女主角薩姬#8226;斯塔克豪斯每次與她那“異世界”情郎會(huì)面時(shí)，都要冒著生命危險(xiǎn)。還有，瑞典藝術(shù)電影《血色入侵》里的那個(gè)孤僻少年奧斯卡——現(xiàn)實(shí)中他的形象其實(shí)頗受時(shí)尚界的青睞——每次跟永不變老的吸血鬼朋友艾莉一起外出時(shí)，都要面臨滅頂之災(zāi)。

對(duì)吸血鬼的渴望折磨著薩姬和奧斯卡，而這股“吸血鬼熱”，作為當(dāng)下的一種流行文化，正通過電視、電影和小說散播開來。由斯蒂芬妮#8226;梅爾創(chuàng)作，充滿“血色浪漫”的青春系列小說《暮色》掀起了一股新潮流，緊跟著是改編自小說的電影《暮色》， 兩者引發(fā)的“吸血鬼熱”已風(fēng)靡各地。

這是一種奇跡嗎?

很少怪物能看上去如此性感——或者說如此上鏡?！斑@群年輕的嗜血尤物隱隱透露出安靜和性感的特質(zhì)，”《吸血鬼日記》的編劇和執(zhí)行制作人朱麗葉#8226;普萊克說道?！段砣沼洝肥荂W電視臺(tái)即將推出的電視連續(xù)劇，改編自同名暢銷小說。

這一代的活死人游走于中學(xué)的走廊里和燈光昏暗的舞廳里，一如從前地散發(fā)著危險(xiǎn)與誘惑的氣息。在六月份首播的《真愛如血》第二季里，由安娜#8226;帕奎因扮演的薩姬和她那長(zhǎng)著尖牙的情人團(tuán)聚了。這吸引了340萬的觀眾收看，使其成為自2007年《黑道家族》大結(jié)局播出以來HBO收視率最高的節(jié)目。

時(shí)尚界也被這股吸血鬼魔力迷倒?；钏廊藦?qiáng)勢(shì)回歸，這部分是因?yàn)槲硎恰艾F(xiàn)實(shí)世界中焦慮的化身”，印地安那大學(xué)民間傳說研究部的助理教授邁克爾#8226;迪倫#8226;福斯特如是說。

“尤其是后‘9#8226;11’時(shí)期，四處加強(qiáng)戒備，這一時(shí)期的作品，如《暮色》系列小說，反映了一種陰謀論心理，反映了人們的恐懼心理——害怕就在自己的社區(qū)里，自己的眼皮底下暗涌著一些不為人知的危險(xiǎn)事物。”

考慮到那些精神上的包袱，那還有什么使吸血鬼如此魅力無窮?

有人可能會(huì)指吸血鬼身上兼具不老的容顏和頹蕩的情色是他們的魅力所在。正如《暮色》里所描述的，“他們的面孔都超乎凡人般地驚艷。這些面孔，你也許只能在經(jīng)過潤(rùn)飾的時(shí)尚雜志上才可以看到。”

打扮成吸血鬼的尤物擺出誘惑的姿勢(shì)，如疾風(fēng)般占領(lǐng)了近期的時(shí)尚雜志。在六月號(hào)的《W》雜志中，這群尤物雌雄莫辨，目露兇光，而慘白的膚色使他們更具威脅感。吸血鬼的吸引力在于“想象自我放縱，化身魔鬼的那一切快感，”時(shí)尚先鋒尼克#8226;歐文指出，“我們都對(duì)墮落著迷，越著迷，越是感到快樂?！?/p>

將于11月上映的《暮色》續(xù)集《新月》中，男主角吸血鬼愛德華是一名高風(fēng)亮節(jié)的情人，所表現(xiàn)出的勇舉可媲美超人。他，不僅帥氣迷人，也是個(gè)節(jié)欲典范。在第一部電影里，好幾次他想要吸凡人女友貝拉的血，但都及時(shí)地懸崖勒馬?！拔也幌氤蔀槟Ч?，”他急切地對(duì)她說(雖然她并不介意)。

“愛德華拒絕所有的人類情感，卻又掙扎企求人性，”普萊克女士說，她還補(bǔ)充道:“又是老問題:‘他有能力成為一個(gè)好人，做出正確的決定嗎?’這是電影和電視作品愛發(fā)揮的一大主題?！?/p>

在當(dāng)今這個(gè)沖突不斷，節(jié)衣縮食的年代里，“控制沖動(dòng)”是個(gè)特別容易引起大眾共鳴的話題?！皯?zhàn)事紛爭(zhēng)、經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退、文化騷動(dòng)都促使吸血鬼類作品和魔幻小說走向繁盛，”奧斯丁得克薩斯州大學(xué)斯拉夫和歐亞研究部的主席、吸血鬼文化專家托馬斯#8226;加爾扎說道，“隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退和戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的出現(xiàn)，沖突似乎轉(zhuǎn)為內(nèi)部化，我們開始質(zhì)問財(cái)政、政治和道德現(xiàn)狀?！覀兪欠裉^火了?我們是否需要更克制些呢?’我們似乎再次質(zhì)疑這些非?；镜膬r(jià)值觀。”

同時(shí)，對(duì)陰暗面的撩撥又被重燃。芝加哥的表演詩(shī)人艾米莉#8226;露絲把吸血鬼的獨(dú)特魅力歸納為:“放蕩形骸，奢華驚艷，青春常駐，堅(jiān)不可摧，當(dāng)然，還有夜生活——夜深仍可不眠作樂?！?/p>

當(dāng)然， 也有更糟糕的一面。露絲女士說:“被緊咬脖子和吸干血已經(jīng)不再是什么恐怖的事情了?！?/p>

她還說:“這肯定不會(huì)列在我那‘十大要不得之死法’上，尤其要是那個(gè)吸血鬼異常英俊的話?！?/p>