This is not a ’‘sudden’’ interest. Vampire literature for example has been around since like 1600, if not earlier. The 1950’s basically revolutionized the medium as we know it today with all its low budget horror films and comic books about Vlad the Impaler.
This was in America too, so maybe it was as ’‘decadent’’ back then than it may be now.
These things have always fascinated people, because behind their initial concept lies some insight and questions about death, ’‘what if’’ scenarios and other things that fantasy often makes us think about in ways other mediums won’t. The charm of wallowing in your own misery is a little more serious in Dracula than it ever was in those harlequin novels, I’d say.
The undead seem to strike closer to home however, especially vampires, not exactly because they’re a reflection of our fears and desires on an emotional level, but because one of horror’s main concepts used to frighten its audience is to utilize realism, and this greatly enhances the relation between us and them.
Think about it. A zombie invasion. In your town, your country…it doesn’t take too many elements to bring that up, and for the sake of exploration and morbid curiosity, it makes it dumb fun for everyone. Zombies have also been a part of entertainment ever since explorers in the 20’s discovered African Voodoo spirituality. Actually it was probbaly discovered before that, but I mean the zombie entertainment.
Granted, superstition and religion once ruled the lands and this was never known as entertainment, (And in some places it may be no laughing matter still.) not back when sleep paralysis was blamed on succubi (And even today it’s sometimes blamed on aliens.) but it has been around for quite some time in film, theater, music, literature and art.
The styles change, and so do the concepts; Twilight ain’t no Anne Rice, and Anne Rice is far from being Don Sebastian, but the interest in vampires and zombies (Add ghosts and witchcraft to the list.) is elaborated, diverse and vast enough that we can’t really say it’s ’‘booming’’ beyond the media just telling us what’s awesome, like it does with everything.
I mean when Twilight came out, I started seeing non Twilight related vampire material everywhere, (Which was mostly a hell of a lot more interesting than what it was meant to promote.) but we shouldn’t use that as a barometer for a budding passion.
Granted, Hollywood does blow everything out of proportion, but in that case every genre touched by Hollywood faces the same treatment.
Maybe people don’t believe in vampires and zombies today, but they sure as hell did before, so for what you said about ghosts could very well stand for this, as well, since it became entertainment after being a belief, just like ghosts…
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