Lessons from the Dark

Nathan Jarman
ENGL 1100
 The undead fiends of the night continue to serve as a staple of pop culture through the

material of the horror genre; the gripping genre has continued to leech its way onto the flesh of

human civilization. Vampires often find their pale radiant sensitive skin illuminated by the light

of antagonistic roles in both film and literary texts. More often than not the vampires are seen as

an enemy of humanity and should be eliminated with haste. However, the horrific vampire has

begun to fly its way into other literary genres such as fiction and even romance types of film and

literary texts (McLennon). It can be reasonably stated that the making of the vampire is much

more than just a story telling character, the vampire also stands as a representation of social

constructs of shifting ideologies and moral fortitudes throughout history. My own first exposure

to vampire literature was at a young age when I read the novel Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan.

At the time of reading the novel for the first time I thought it was a well written story and found

it very intriguing. In a social way I found it almost relatable as the main character, a young boy,

makes the decision to simply run off, join the circus, and become a vampire.

The role of vampire in Shan’s Cirque du Freak is that of idol and eventual mentor and

protector. The young boy Darren and his friend Steve go to see an unground circus performance

which features a variety of strange and dangerous stunts and abilities. Toward the end of the

show a man with a spider takes the stage; the man, Mr. Crepsley, through the use of a musical

instrument in order to control the dangerous arachnid which puts on a dazzling spectacle for the

spider enthusiast Darren. Steve, a self-proclaimed expert on vampires, immediately sees though

Mr. Crepsley’s disguise and makes him out as a vampire. After the show both boys part ways

with the same intent of visiting Mr. Crepsley’s dressing room, but for different reasons. Darren is

the first to arrive in the dressing room where he is able to steal the vampire’s spider, as Steve
comes to the room though Darren quickly hides allowing both Steve and Mr. Crepsley to enter

the room. Steve claims to know Mr. Crepsley’s secret and demands that Mr. Crepsley make

Steve his vampire assistant. As Crepsley tests Steve’s blood he spits it out in disgust as he tells

Steve he has “bad blood”. Eventually after Steve leaves in anger Darren is able to get away with

the spider which ends up poisoning Steve during school one day. As Steve lay in the hospital on

the brink of death Darren confronts Crepsley asking for the cure for his friend. Seeing Darren’s’

disparity, he offers the valuable cure for the price of Darren’s eternal servitude, the job Steve had

previously applied for. In the end Darren fakes his own death and joins rank with the vampire

race and Steve, once Darren’s best friend, swears his life to hunting and killing both Crepsley

and Darren.

At the time of my first exposure to the literary text I thought it was a good story and had

an interesting fusion to offer of the circus world and the vampire world. However, reading it for

a second time just recently I noticed a few literary concepts which give back bone to a couple

cultural theories. For example, Darren and Steve are both high school age which make them

candidates for a form of bildungsroman analysis which can be made as the main protagonist

Darren leaves his home and friends behind and ventures into the supernatural life which awaits

him outside his family town (litcharts). As Darren is fearful of leaving his friends and family to

mourn over his loss Crepsley tells him “Every story has at least some truth in it, even if most are
made up.” I believe this quote from Crepsley plays into the coming of age narrative as the story

of Cirque du Freak and its fallowing series are marketed toward young adults (O’Brien).

Crepsley’s halfhearted words of reassurance to Darren also place Crepsley in a role in which he

becomes a mentor to Darren in the coming of age narrative.

Earlier renditions of the vampire retain an antagonistic composure about them as they are

seen as the public’s enemy and as a danger to any community. Vampires are conjured into

narratives, particularly in the early twentieth and nineteenth centuries to represent economic

inequality and capitalistic ideologies which support a form on Marxist theory of analysis.

Vampires are often characterized as eternal creatures with vast amounts of wealth, in the

majority of vampirical texts it never seems to describe where any of the wealth came from. The

use of Marxist analysis on this trait of vampirism shows us that the surplus of economic base,

which vampires adhere to, connects a creature with a substructure riddled with blood thirsty and

horrific behavior to the aristocratic and wealthy minority. The symbolism of the vampire being

an undead human with supernatural abilities can also symbolize how wealth passed on through

blood is inherited and in its own personification, lifeless. For Example, the infamous tale of

Dracula by Bram Stoker characterizes Dracula as a wealthy figure of forgotten power with a

grad castle and a fleet of ships and servants able to take him wherever he needs. Dracula’s usage

of the grad estate to cultivate fear and terror is perhaps symbolic of how the wealthy will, with ill

intent, invoke fear and terror into those below them as a way to satisfy a bloodlust for power and

control.
 So, what should we learn from vampires about humanity? We should learn that vampires

have a lot to teach us, they could even be our mentors, on how to grow-up and face the

supernatural world of adulthood. We should also learn from the undead creature that the

irresponsible possession of endless financial resources in order to drive fear, terror, and even

submission is just as monstrous as the creature of the night himself. Werewolves though, they

have a whole lot more to teach us about the world.

 Lycanthropes are not necessarily specific to one culture or region of the world.

Throughout the world’s history there have been tales of supernatural human being with the

ability to change shape into a particular animal or creature. The most recognizable group of

lycanthropes in today’s culture is the infamous werewolf. The modern world is an extremely

dangerous scene for werewolves. Mongrels by Jones explains how werewolves who find

themselves existing in the modern world are required to burn their trash daily, stay away from

French Fries, and can only wear jeans or Levies. Aside from needing to preserve their own life

through an excessive amount of self-awareness the werewolf is commonly hunted down and

despised by society due to its vicious nature. In a simple way to put it, human culture is not

designed for werewolves. Through the perspective of cultural race theory, it can be seen that the

werewolf falls victim to a culture where the supernatural are not only unwelcomed, they are also

at an immediate disadvantage due to the need to be increasingly self-aware and overtly cautious.

So, as the young narrator in mongrels dictates: “being a werewolf isn’t just teeth and claws, it’s

inside. It’s how you look at the world. It’s how the world looks back at you."
 The presence of monsters is still very much alive in modern popular culture, weather in

literary form or cinematic medium monsters will always be a part of us. Every monster, ghost,

demon, creature, or even plague in the horror genre stand as a representation of some larger

ideology which is trending in popular culture. Through the use of different literary theories of

analysis lessons can be learned from these monsters which we are to internalize in order to

advocate for a healthy social environment, one free from monsters.

Ever felt suddenly and completely helpless, like no matter what you do, say, or imagine

there is no way out? Chances are nearly everyone has felt some degree of anxiety in their

lifetime, the fear of everything suddenly going wrong all at once. Like at any second the wave of

zombies outside the strip mall’s glass window will see you there hiding behind a desk and

redirect the attention of hundreds of flesh-eating creatures toward the next meal of the day, you.

Zombies make more so much more than just an actiony soap opera. Zombies in the modern age

represent the mindless consumer who will wander from department store to department store

looking for just the right sports bag, because last year’s bag just isn’t cutting it (Billings).

Zombies also represent our anxieties based on overpopulation and its relationship with a

pandemic scenario. Edward Cohen’s theses suggests that the monster always disappears only to

reappear and cause more terror. In a Zombie world it doesn’t matter how many Zombie’s you

think you eliminate, because for everyone you take down ten more are likely to be behind them

and a hundred more behind those ten.

Monsters also warn us of consequences to our actions. For example, Mary Shelly’s

Frankenstein shows us that the monster we have to look out of is the one who thinks they know
everything and can do anything. As Dr. Frankenstein sets out to animate a quilt work of flesh and

bone the creation becomes a monster as he proceeds to kill Dr. Frankenstein’s loved ones.

Cohen’s thesis on how the monster stands to police what is possible reaffirms Shelly’s

characterization of the animated creation as a destructive and murderous monster. The big

picture lesson though, scientific exploration out to be harnessed responsibly as to not interfere

with the natural order, or else.

There exist myths which date back to Greek origin, myths which label any sort of offense

to the Gods as a one-way ticket to eternal punishment. They origin of the mythical Harpies is that

of a tale which characterizes them as enforcers for the god Zeus. The Harpies were sent on

missions to disrupt heroes, inflict punishment, and do the dirt work for Zeus. Another Greek

myth which serves as the origin or the arachnid creature is the story of Arachne. Arachne was

once a famous silk spinner who possessed extraordinary skill, she even believed herself to be

better at the craft than the craft’s goddess Athena. Athena challenges Arachne to a spinning

contest where Arachne is decidedly the victor, Athena is jealous of the results and punishes

Arachne by turning her into the first spider. These two myths of Greek origin example the

homosocial relations of two different types of characters: The Harpies join together as a species

to do the beckoning and will of Zeus while Arachne’s and Athena’s relationship is one built from

jealousy and competition (GreekMythology) The two stories compared side by side give us the

two main types of relationships we see today in homosocial groups: groups who work together to

accomplish a single objective and groups which are engaged in competition and its inevitable

vengeance.
 As previously mentioned, vampires and werewolves contain copious amounts of

symbolisms which are interchangeable depending on the specific narrative, audience, and genre.

For example, as the vampire possesses supernatural abilities while experiencing eternal life

putting them in a perceived placement of invincibility from natural forces. However, the vampire

in not necessarily immune to the emotional aspects of the human condition such as the ability to

love, feel anger, and sadness making the vampire an ideal candidate for expressing tropes so

attune with the human condition. Werewolves are not immortal in the way vampires are, they

can live for a long time but unfortunately, they are constrained by the sand in the hourglass of

time. Werewolves due to their ability to transform into another creature apart form a human

figure are often used a symbol to support inner conflict in the face of injustice. For example,

Mongrels by Stephen Jones casts a young unnamed narrator to narrate the majority of the novel

while exploring the inner conflict of not being a werewolf in the face of dealing with the constant

self-awareness associated with the werewolf lifestyle.

 In conclusion, monsters are perhaps our greatest teachers. Monsters don’t necessarily

teach us the sciences or arithmetic, instead monsters teach us and show us what and who to be

afraid of; they teach us how to respond in the face of uncertainty as we navigate the dark corners

of what life has to offer. Monsters also act as a social meteorologist in the sense that it is through

the representation of monsters, we are able to understand how certain social and cultural groups

are being idealized across the world, monsters represent how the world sees us.

Works Cited

• https://www.santacruzpl.org/readers/blog/2016/oct/03/do-you-know-why-french-

fries-are-dangerous-werewol/

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/02/23/how-our-

zombie-obsession-explains-our-fear-of-globalization/

• https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Arachne/arachne.html

• https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-

conversation-author-darren-shan-on-racism-sex-and-a-zombie-apocalypse-

8839140.html

• https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/bildungsroman