Growing Up with Vampires

Vampire narratives are generally thought of as adult or young adult fare, yet there is a long history of their appearance in books, film and other media meant for children. They emerge as expressions of anxiety about change and growing up but sometimes turn out to be new best friends who highlight the beauty of difference and individuality. This collection of new essays examines the history of vampires in 20th and 21st century Western popular media marketed to preteens and explores their significance and symbolism.

Simon Bacon is an independent scholar based in Poznan, Poland. He has contributed articles to many publications on vampires, monstrosity, science fiction and media studies.

Katarzyna Bronk is an assistant professor of English at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. She teaches the history of English literature and studies representations of aging.

Edited by Simon Bacon and Katarzyna Bronk

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 229
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7552-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3387-9
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction (Simon Bacon and Katarzyna Bronk) 1

Section One: Children’s Media—Chronologies and Mediums
Children of the Night: Mainstreaming Vampires Through Children’s Media (Andrew M. Boylan) 17
An Invitation to a Beheading (and Another to a Birthday Bash): Encountering Dracula in Contemporary Gothic Metamorphoses Books (Jen Baker) 29
The Drawn Daughters of Dracula: Vampire Girlhood in British Comics of the 1970s and 1980s (Jack Fennell) 47

Section Two: Negotiating Femininity and Identity
Jeepers Creepers: The American Vampirization of the Female Immigrant Teacher in Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots (Sharon Pajka) 63
Under Her Batwings: Jung’s Shadow Aspect as Depicted in Monster High and My Little Pony Vampires (Jacquelyn E. Bent) 82
Metamorphosis of the Blood: Vampiric Femininity in Contemporary Children’s Fiction (Chloé Germaine Buckley) 95
Problematic Parenting: Tweens and Vampire Fiction (Leslie J. Ormandy) 112

Section Three: Symbolism, Meanings and Interpretations
Dick and Jane and Vampires: The Interstitial Bridge Between Social Imaginary and Spirituality (Phil Fitzsimmons) 131
The Dhampir Gets His Fangs: Miscegenation and Exogamy in the Hotel Transylvania Film Franchise (Mark Chekares) 150
Food for Thought: Vegetarian Vampires in Children’s Reading Diets (Jane M. Kubiesa) 166
Every Generation Gets the Vampire It Needs: What Can Vampire Narratives in Children’s Films Tell Us About Childhood in the ­Twenty-First Century? (Allison Moore) 183
Looking Back and Seeing the Future: Adult Nostalgia and Negotiating the Future in Children’s Books and Films Featuring Vampires (Simon Bacon and Katarzyna Bronk) 200

About the Contributors 217
Index 219

“Bacon and Bronk have put together an interesting, informative, and entertaining anthology, and I would suggest this book to anyone fascinated with monster lore or the way children’s texts can harbor deep meaning.”—Judy Clemens, author of Beyond the Grave, a Grim Reaper Mystery