This unique study explores the vampire as host and guest captor and hostage: a perfect lover
and force of seductive predation. From Dracula and Carmilla to True Blood and The Originals
the figure of the vampire embodies taboos and desires about hospitality rape and consent. The
first section welcomes the reader into ominous spaces of home examining the vampire through
concepts of hospitality and power the metaphor of threshold and the blurred boundaries
between visitation invasion and confinement. Section two reflects upon the historical
development of vampire narratives and the monster as oppressed alienated Other. Section three
discusses cultural anxieties of youth (im)maturity childhood agency abuse and the age of
consent. The final section addresses vampire as intimate partner mapping boundaries between
invitation passion and coercion. With its fresh insight into vampire genre this book will
appeal to academics students and general public alike.
