Framing The Blood of the Vampire: A Text-Based Game

Vampires do not appear to hold the same appeal in media as they once did, but why? Portraying and playing with our deepest fears, not least of which is death—or worse, becoming the monster ourselves—some of these creatures spent the ‘90s, the aughts, and the first half of the 20-teens struggling with what they are, striving to reconcile their monstrosity with the human they long to still be, and, typically, falling in love with human women. I see the decline of vampire media as partly an indication of the political climate: since the 2016 election cycle, real life has taken a dark turn, and perhaps because our society seems overrun with monsters in disguise, media has, in general, turned away from the monsters it has held dear for decades, embracing heroes and villains both complicated and flat, but clinging desperately to the inevitable conclusion: the unambiguous triumph of good. It would seem the monster craze is petering, so why look at a vampire tale now, particularly one overlooked for over a hundred and twenty years? My reasoning is intersectional and twofold: this particular Victorian woman, who is, unbeknownst to her, both mixed race and a vampire may give us valuable insight into some of the social problems that seem to escalate daily in the headlines—and this may prove especially transformative if we get to actively drive her identity formation in a game, rather than passively watching her story unfold on the page or screen.