Why Vampires?

The Vampire in Film & Literature

“The vampire story has been used by authors and filmmakers alike as an encoded way of talking about a lot of things besides vampirism,” says Sue Weaver Schopf, who teaches the fall Harvard Extension School course, ENGL E-212 The Vampire in Literature and Film. “It’s been a useful metaphor for a whole variety of anxieties that are inherent in the age.”

Each week, Schopf takes a look at the vampire story from nineteenth-century novels to its modern retellings in popular fiction, movies, and TV shows in her popular course. In a recent Freethink@Harvard event, Schopf answered the question, “Why Vampires?” and explained how the vampire story is so enduring in modern culture. Watch the video.

Schopf has been featured in other media over the past year. “Vampires Won’t Die,” a segment on NPR’s Here and Now, spotlighted Schopf and her fall course. Recently rebroadcast across the nation, Schopf was interviewed in 2010 by Robin Young. Listen to the interview.

Schopf was also interviewed by the Boston Globe, and her Vampire in Literature and Film course also made Boston.com’s top 10 list of quirky classes in New England schools.

VIDEO: The Vampire in Film and Literature