Feel The Bite: Vampire Film Festival

I have to admit I was a bit afraid when I first walked into the doors of the Shadow Box Theater. I’m not exactly a horror fanatic or thrill seeker. Actually, I’m anything but. I had absolutely no idea what I was in store for; so, while on my way to the Vampire Film Festival, all I could think was, “What have I gotten myself into?”

I don’t know exactly what I expected. Maybe people walking around in scary vampire costumes, drinking blood out of chalices, or something like that. After all, it was Halloween weekend. What I got was filmmakers, screenwriters and different types of vampire film and literary enthusiasts conversing on the subjects of television, movies, books, the supernatural and even living vampirism.

Taking place from October 27th through October 31st, festival goers were treated to four days of long and short films, panels, discussions and, of course, a few parties thrown in between.



I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the caliber of the films. I had gone to a couple of smaller film festivals before, and usually it consisted of student filmmakers trying way too hard to get the audience to laugh and/or cry. The films I saw at the Vampire Film Festival were extremely well done. Of course, some had production studio quality and professional screenwriting and directing to attribute that to, but even the student films were delightfully thought provoking and all-around entertaining. Outside of the actual films, we were able to meet and talk to the actual filmmakers to see where they got their ideas. It came as no surprise to me that their stories and ideas came from discussions and experiences in real-life and the rest came through a little imagination and creativity.

I also had the pleasure of hearing all about living vampirism from someone living life as a vampire. Father Sebastian spoke on the rising subculture of vampirism throughout the world and the impact film, television and literature have had on them in recent years. I was actually quite interested to learn about the different types of living vampires and their belief systems based on power and enlightenment.

Later, I attended a literary panel entitled “Why Do Women Write Bloody-Good Vampire Fiction?” Five writers that included Karen Essex and Sue Dent spoke, on their own supernatural influences and the fascination that women have with vampires. Subjects ranging from the female fantasy of submission to romanticism were explored by the writers; but also included were discussions of making it as a female writer and the acceptance of female screenwriters in the film industry.

Aside from the films and discussions, Karen Essex read from her new vampire novel entitled, Dracula in Love; and if the first chapter was any indication, it is sure to be an interestingly titillating read.

All in all, I consider the Vampire Film Festival to have been an eye-opening, enriching experience. I met some truly amazing people, saw some amazing films and participated in some interesting discussions.

And it wasn’t at all as scary as I had imagined.