Vampires vs. Werewolves

**Zsinj** · August 22nd, 2004, 10:23 PM

I don't know if this has been debated here before, but it probably already has. I'd like to know who everybody thinks is cooler, vampires or werewolves.
Also, what are some of your favorite vampires/werewolves in the horror genre?

**dragondrool** · August 23rd, 2004, 08:01 PM

I'm not big on vampires at all, though I did like Dracula. I like werewolves better, but have no idea why they appeal more. Easily my favorite is McCammon's The Wolf's Hour.

**AuntiePam** · August 24th, 2004, 10:00 AM

I've never thought of comparing vampires and werewolves. There are so many different kinds of each -- makes it hard to compare them.

I liked the werewolves in Donna Boyd's books, The Passion and The Promise. Very upscale, elegant, smart, and sexy.

I liked the vampires in Anne Rice's early books -- Lestat, Armand, Claudia.

Dragondrool's favorite werewolf book is mine too.

Not werewolves, but the creatures in Wolfen by Whitley Streiber were interesting, intelligent and deadly.

**Priestvyrce** · August 24th, 2004, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

Not werewolves, but the creatures in Wolfen by Whitley Streiber were interesting, intelligent and deadly.

Too bad that the movie version was so divorced from the text. It could've been a very cool movie, but Albert Finney and the whole political diatribe made this movie so boring and lacking in the scary department.

**AuntiePam** · August 24th, 2004, 05:31 PM

I agree. It was like the movie wanted to be something else, that it should have "relevance" or something. It's worth watching though, if only for the nifty camera work, from the wolves' point of view.

I liked Streiber's vampire book too, The Hunger, but alas, that movie sucked big time.

**Priestvyrce** · August 24th, 2004, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

I agree. It was like the movie wanted to be something else, that it should have "relevance" or something. It's worth watching though, if only for the nifty camera work, from the wolves' point of view.

I liked Streiber's vampire book too, The Hunger, but alas, that movie sucked big time.

Yes, but at least the guys watching the movie had the Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon love scene!

**LordGrimm** · August 25th, 2004, 10:39 AM

Wolf's Hour is definitely one of my favorite werewolf novels (don't know of any others I've read come to think of it). Too bad McCammon has basically retired (rejected for not writing horror), as there was a rumor of a planned sequel to the book. Michael Gallatin was a pretty cool character.

Personally, I've always been partial to werewolves, but Hollywood has yet to perfect what the written word has already done. Transformations quite honestly suck, though the Howling did do it relative justice.

Vampires made out like bandits in the movies, simply because they are easier to configure. They are more humanlike, therefore little special effects are needed. I did like Ann Rice's Viking vampire, though he was deemed little more than a sacrificial character used to push a story.

**Chlestron** · August 25th, 2004, 10:39 AM

Interesting question. Both critters are undeniably powerful and both can be truly frightening. I can't decide which I prefer because their nature is so very different. Vampires are more subtle, conniving and manipulative whereas werewolves are more in your face scary and mean. For sheer horror factor, I say werewolf myself.

as for movie vampires/werewolves, I think my favorite werewolf was in the movie "Bad Moon".

**FicusFan** · August 25th, 2004, 06:59 PM

I don't like werewolves at all (except Jason in LKH's ABVH). I am a vampire fan. My favorites are:

Books 1-7 of Anita Blake Vampie Hunter by LKH.
Those Who Hunt the Night and Traveling With the Dead by Barbara Hambly
Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
The Kiss of the Vampire (republished as) The Night Inside and
Blood and Chrysanthemums by Nancy Baker
Ancestral Hungers by Scott Baker
Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
And Mick Farren's series

**Eldanuumea** · August 27th, 2004, 06:16 AM

Glad to see someone else appreciates Poppy Z. Brite and Farren.
I love the work of Elizabeth Bergstrom.

My all-time favorite vampire has got to be Comte Saint-Germaine (Yarbro), simply because he is so very different than the rest......a "kinder, gentler" vampire. LOL
After him, no one compares to Jean-Claude.....well, Lestat is pretty cool, but there is just something about J-C......

As for werewolves, I am not as familiar with them, but my favorite so far is Richard (Blake).......I don't exactly like his character all the time, but he is wonderfully complex and always engaging.

**FicusFan** · August 27th, 2004, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by Eldanuumea

Glad to see someone else appreciates Poppy Z. Brite and Farren.
I love the work of Elizabeth Bergstrom.

My all-time favorite vampire has got to be Comte Saint-Germaine (Yarbro), simply because he is so very different than the rest......a "kinder, gentler" vampire. LOL
After him, no one compares to Jean-Claude.....well, Lestat is pretty cool, but there is just something about J-C......

As for werewolves, I am not as familiar with them, but my favorite so far is Richard (Blake).......I don't exactly like his character all the time, but he is wonderfully complex and always engaging.

I have Bergstrom's books but have not yet read them. Did read the book she wrote as Marie Kiraly called Mina and that was good.

I hated Richard from the moment he was first described, even before reaching the period in the first sentence. Of course that was long before Elephant Shlong (Mika ? - forget his name) showed up, now I almost look back upon him fondly. I knew he would be competition for JC. Nobody is as good as JC. Yarboro's are too much sweetness and light - I get bored. But she does write well and her settings are great though.

**Eldanuumea** · August 27th, 2004, 03:55 PM

LOL....I know what you're getting at with Yarbro's.......but there is just something fetching about Sainte-Germaine.....

Richard is not a character I particularly like, but I do find him complex and interesting.

Mina is fine, but get into her others, you have a treat awaiting you, dear.

**brightcrow** · August 27th, 2004, 07:44 PM

I hated Richard from the moment he was first described, even before reaching the period in the first sentence. Of course that was long before Elephant Shlong (Mika ? - forget his name) showed up, now I almost look back upon him fondly. I knew he would be competition for JC. Nobody is as good as JC. Yarboro's are too much sweetness and light - I get bored. But she does write well and her settings are great though.

I'm not familiar with this book...but Elephant Shlong caught my eye. (Is this the real name?) I would definitely look upon him fondly, and I imagine he'd be competition for just about anyone.

**FicusFan** · August 27th, 2004, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by brightcrow

I'm not familiar with this book...but Elephant Shlong caught my eye. (Is this the real name?) I would definitely look upon him fondly, and I imagine he'd be competition for just about anyone.

No alas it isn't a good thing. It is part of LKH's ABVH (or Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter). Laurell and Anita are obsessed with some things - the length of a man's hair, clothing descriptions, and the size of a man's penis. It took Anita 8 books to have sex, and for the last 2 she has nailed everythng in sight including lamp posts in Saint Louis I think. She went from being a control freak and a prude to having a 5 way with 4 men. I foget what she equated JC (her first) to, but Richard was a 'horse' and the latest man in her life is rated an 'Elephant'. Of course he has no depth, or characterization to speak of but who cares, evidently not the author or the main character.

Here is a parody that someone on a now defunct LKH list wrote to express how she felt about the new direction of the series. It is actually better than the last 2 books ( besides constant and rather boring sex, there is no longer much in the way of plot).

Good Sex With a Plant is Messy - Queen Bee

**brightcrow** · August 28th, 2004, 12:39 AM

No alas it isn't a good thing...Of course he has no depth, or characterization to speak of but who cares, evidently not the author or the main character.

Oh no, I'm laughing so hard I'm scaring the cat!

Touche', Ficus, I love the parody and your comments. And humbled to candor, I must concede that without intelligence, heart, and humor, the rest is worthless.