Sólveig Geirsdóttir: Night Academy Heroines, Hunters and Strange Vampires

Abstract

It was within the Gothic genre that the literary vampire derived. The literary vampire has

gained new popularity in the last decade with a new formula focusing on sympathetic

vampires. This essay examines four contemporary vampire literary series that have all

included a special vampire school. The four series analyzed in this essay are House of Night

by P.C. and Kristin Cast, Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow, Vampire Academy by Richelle

Mead and Vamps by Nancy A. Collins. The essay determines the school‘s purpose in the

vampires lives and how it affects the protagonists who are all females inflicted with some

kind of vampirism. The first chapter introduces the thesis and material used in the essay. The

second chapter outlines the archtypical vampire focusing on the novel Dracula (1897) and

summarizes the traditional qualities characterising the literary vampire. The third chapter

focuses on describing the heroines and analyzing their behavior and motivation in regards to

their situation at a school filled with other vampires. The fourth chapter goes over the

difference in each series school syllabus and system, and analyzes the purpose of the schools.

The series are analysed in regards to Gothic literature and its heritage. The essay relies mostly

on Gothic Romanced: Consumption, Gender and Technology in Contemporary Fictions by

Fred Botting and The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction edited by Jerrold Hogle for

the analysis, as well as other texts on formula and semantics, contemporary vampire novels

and female heroines.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 2

2 Vampire Tradition....................................................................................................................... 4

3 Heroines........................................................................................................................................ 5

3.1 Rose Hathaway..................................................................................................................... 6

3.2 Cally Monture....................................................................................................................... 7

3.3 Dru Anderson ....................................................................................................................... 7

3.4 Zoey Redbird........................................................................................................................ 8

3.5 Analysis................................................................................................................................. 9

4 Vampire 101............................................................................................................................... 11

4.1 House of Night................................................................................................................... 12

4.2 Schola Prima....................................................................................................................... 13

4.3 Bathory Academy.............................................................................................................. 14

4.4 Vampire Academy............................................................................................................. 14

4.5 Analysis............................................................................................................................... 16

5 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 18

Bibliography.................................................................................................................................... 20

1 Introduction

It was within the Gothic genre that the literary vampire derived. The Gothic novel emerged

near the end of the 18th century and was the horror literature of its time. Gothic literature

explores the forbidden desires and fears of its readers, involving supernatural mysteries. The

legend of the vampire has been written about and filmed for decades. The literary vampire

was a sophisticated and terrifying monster embodied most famously in Dracula (1897) by

Bram Stoker. In recent years the legend has gained immense popularity with highly

romanticized vampire novels aimed to entertain teenagers and young adults. The most popular

new formula focuses on the forbidden love between a human and a vampire. In this new

formula the vampire has become the hero instead of the villain. In the last decade a vast

amount of contemporary vampire novels have been published and writing about them all

would be impossible. In this essay I have chosen 4 series of novels in which the protagonist

vampires, all female, go to a special vampire school. I will attempt to determine the schools

purpose in the vampire’s lives and how it affects the heroines.

In 1997 two very different types of entertainment became extremely popular. This was

the year when the pilot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer first aired and the first novel about the

young wizard Harry Potter was published. Buffy presented a new type of vampire hunter; a

hardcore female babe struggling with normal high school while also destined to slay

vampires. The Harry Potter series presented a hidden world where witches and wizards lived

amongst humans and their children attended a large castle like magic school. The immense

popularity of both entertainments produced many similar novels, TV shows and movies

including the four series presented in this essay. I will discuss the similarities further but the

most obvious relation between them is that the protagonists are students at a high school or a

special school.

The four series I have chosen are: House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast, Strange

Angels by Lili St. Crow, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and Vamps by Nancy A.

Collins. All series feature protagonists inflicted with vampirism, and are aimed to entertain

young adult and teen readers. 

David Wellington: Vampire Tales

13 Bullets: A Vampire Tale

Special deputy Jameson Arkeley stopped a vampire rampage 20 years earlier, during which he whittled down all known bloodsuckers to a single survivor, Justinia Malvern. Kept alive at a sanitarium in rural Pennsylvania by minimal life support and bizarre laws preventing her extermination, wispy Justinia seems a threat to no one—until a series of vampire killings in the area suggest that she has found a secret way to spread her taint. Convinced that Justinia's minions plan to spring her and revive her to full power, Arkeley commandeers state trooper Laura Caxton to help him find their lair and wipe them out before they can get their vampire queen the blood she needs.

99 Coffins: A Historical Vampire Tale

Vampires and mortals fight a modern battle of Gettysburg. When a college archeological dig uncovers a cache of Civil War–era coffins, each containing a corpse minus heart, grizzled detective Jameson Arkeley recognizes these remains as evidence of a forgotten Union vampire corps and immediately summons Laura Caxton. Before the two can unravel the historical mystery, someone reanimates one of the vampires, setting the stage for the full vampire army to rise and resume its unfulfilled mission.

Vampire Zero: A Gruesome Vampire Tale

U.S. Marshal Jameson Arkeley—the country’s foremost authority on vampires—taught police investigator and vampire fighter Laura Caxton everything she knows about monsters. After a bloody war visited upon Gettysburg by an army of vampires, Arkeley gave up his own life to save others. Except he didn’t exactly die . . . Arkeley accepted the curse and is now a vampire himself. What’s worse, he’s the savviest vampire ever—he knows all the tricks better than anyone. Caxton is now faced with the task of destroying him. But Arkeley knows all her tactics too; after all, he taught them to her. Caxton realizes she must finish Arkeley before he succeeds in his quest to exterminate his own family, one member at a time. But even more important, she has to prevent him from becoming a beast exponentially more dangerous—a Vampire Zero.

 

23 Hours: A Vengeful Vampire Tale

Lesbian ex-cop Laura Caxton (after Vampire Zero) finds Laura behind bars at Pennsylvania's Marcy State Correctional Institute, where she's serving a five-year sentence for kidnapping and torturing a federal prisoner-a sociopath who'd killed his whole family to impress a vampire. Meanwhile, Justina Malvern, the world's oldest living vampire, is at large, wreaking havoc. Then Justina shows up at Marcy State, already hungry for convict blood. Justina gives Laura 23 hours to decide whether to become a vampire or die.

32 Fangs: A Final Vampire Tale 

Laura Caxton's battles against the ancient vampire Justinia Malvern have cost her nearly everything—her badge, her freedom, her friends and family . . . maybe even her humanity. And as she hides out in the deepest backwoods of Pennsylvania, pursued by the cops who were once her colleagues, Laura certainly looks beaten. But as Laura sees it, what little is left of her soul is perfectly adapted to the job of ridding the world of its last vampire. And thanks to the terrible clarity she's found, Laura's come up with a plan—one that will finish Malvern once and for all. But the ever-wily Malvern has a few last aces left to play and is quietly dealing a hand that will involve a terrible fate for the few friends Laura's got left. When the two adversaries meet for the last time in their most epic battle, the vampires will force Laura to pay a price far beyond anything she's sacrificed before.

Blutengel: Save Our Souls

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Alfred Kubin: Vampire bat

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Aural Vampire (オーラルヴァンパイア,): Vampire ecstasy

The Vampire Sisters (director: Wolfgang Groos)

Twelve-year-old Daka and Silvania are half-vampires – their mother is human and their father is a vampire. After growing up in a subterranean vampire city in Transylvania, their mother insists they try life above ground amongst other humans.So Daka and Silvania have to hide their true identities

Th. Heine: Vampire Bat

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