Are Vampires Actually Scary?

The month of October is here which means it's time to break out the spooky decorations, stock up on candy, and search for the most terrifying creature costumes you can wear. Many people will be dressing as the classic monsters, such as mummies, werewolves, Frankenstein's monsters, zombies, and vampires. Vampires are one of the most famous dark creatures in fiction. From Dracula to Twilight, vampires have a long history terrifying and killing humans. However, when you actually look at the history of vampires, powers, and weaknesses are they really that terrifying.

You are probably saying to yourself, "What are you talking about, vampires are immortal, near unkillable, beings who feast on the blood of the living, how can you say they aren't scary"? Well, to start, are they really unkillable? As we know Vampires can be killed by sunlight, garlic, silver, crucifixes, and wooden stakes to the chest. The wooden stake thing is hilarious because taking a sharp stake to the heart would kill anyone. The other things are just everyday objects, except for silver, that are quite mundane for humans. Vampires are confined to half the day and can be killed by something that you can grow in a spice garden.

The crucifix is something especially strange. I understand the religious imagery and the fact the vampires are supposed to be demonic, but it just raises the question as to why Vampires mostly reside in Europe. Europe is full of churches, Christians, and crucifixes. They live surrounded by so many things that can kill them. If you were a vampire, you'd think it would be safer to live and stalk your prey in places like China, India, or the Middle East. Maybe they should live where there aren't really any crucifixes around.

Another strange aspect about vampires is the fact that they need to be invited into a room to enter. So if a vampire asks if they can enter your home and you just say no, you're basically safe for the rest of the night right. That's a pretty big far cry from something like a werewolf, were the only thing that can kill them are silver bullets, they can move around during the day, and only transform during a full moon. When you think about it werewolves are extremely durable and have a very livable affliction. It feels like every small thing from the sun itself and a common spice are lethal to them, which makes you wonder if immortality is really worth all of that.

Do you know what's funny, after looking into all of these aspects of vampires, the most dangerous and threatening vampires are the ones from Twilight. You may laugh but these vampires have almost non of the weaknesses of "normal" vampires. The sun may make them sparkle, but it doesn't kill them. They are also immortal, super strong, have special powers, and can only be killed by strong creatures like werewolves and other vampires. Typical vampires may look scary and in some circumstances they are, but compared to other famous monsters they are probably the one of the weakest, but still ahead of zombies.