Caleb Roehrig, author of The Fell of Dark

Goodreads: Tell us a little bit about the vampires in your book. Were there any particular themes you were hoping to explore through the figure of the vampire?

Caleb Roehrig: One of the first decisions I made when drafting The Fell of Dark was that the humans in my universe would be fully aware of the existence of vampires—and highly annoyed about it, to boot. In revisiting the genre that launched young adult literature as we know it today, I felt my smartest course of action would be to tackle its defining elements head-on, Scream-style. Since many of my readers would be on the lookout for them already, why play coy about familiar tropes when I could instead either subvert them, celebrate them, or turn them into running gags?

Immortal creatures present numerous thematic possibilities, but the one I wanted to explore most with The Fell of Dark was the cyclical nature of history, and the significance of living memory. What does it mean for humankind that we lose our eyewitnesses to the past every hundred years or so? Why must we consistently relearn old lessons? What if we existed side by side with beings that had lived through all the events we’ve either forgotten or refused to remember?
         
And how would those beings feel about us, for all of that?

GR: Why do you think we’re starting to see a resurgence in YA vampire books right now?

CR: The return of vampires to YA was inevitable. The success of the Twilight series changed the course of history for young adult literature, and influenced a great many of the authors who are writing for teens now. Ten years ago, the market was saturated with the undead, and paranormal stories were officially played out; but while adults may have vivid memories of Bella Swan and the Cullens, today’s high school students had only just been born when Stephanie Meyer’s debut hit the shelves. They deserve their own Twilight, their own Vampire Diaries, their own Buffy, and a lot of us have been waiting years for the right time to dive back into the coffin.
           
Vampires are a fixture in the folklore traditions of cultures around the world, and lend themselves perfectly to exploring issues like power, mortality, sexuality, and transformation, all of which young people confront every day. The current vampire renaissance is probably due partly to the cyclical nature of trends, partly to the nostalgia effect, and partly to the simple fact that the undead have been around in popular fiction for 150 years. They always return from the dead!

GR: What do you hope to see more of from YA vampire fiction in the future?

CR: Simply put, I hope that we see more of what we didn’t get to see the last time vampires were all the rage: diversity. The undead were unofficially “retired” as a trope before marginalized writers and readers really got a chance to see themselves centered in those stories, and this new wave of paranormal fiction is an opportunity to both revitalize the genre and make it fun, exciting, and—above all—relevant again!
   

Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, editors of Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite

Goodreads: Tell us a little bit about the vampires in your book. What are some of the key themes the contributing authors explore through the figure of the vampire?

Natalie C. Parker: I think one of the most interesting things about the stories in this collection is that every one of them uses vampire lore to confront questions of power and influence. Vampire mythology is steeped in tantalizing notions of dominance and surrender—the ancient vampire versus the traditional Gothic heroine, for example—but many of these stories take that dynamic and interrogate our base assumptions. Who have we imagined as Vampire and why? How does our imagination shift if we remove our white, heteronormative, able-bodied assumptions about vampires?

Zoraida Córdova: Exactly. I think our imagination is limitless if we just let ourselves explore what is beyond the norm. In teen fiction, the allure is the loneliness and rebellion of being on the brink of adulthood paired with a being representing power and immortality. But power looks different when you’re from a marginalized group. That’s why the vampire stories in this collection are so vital.

GR: Why do you think we’re starting to see a resurgence in YA vampire books right now?

ZC: There are a few factors to consider. The publishing industry is cyclical and trends will always return. However, just because a trend subsides, doesn’t mean that readers aren’t hungry for it. Vampire fiction has had many incarnations. I’ve never stopped being excited when I see a vampire novel outside of a big boom, or hear of a new show with vampires (i.e., What We Do in the Shadows).
 
NCP: I also think that especially for readers of YA, vampires offer all kinds of philosophical (and existential) questions to consider—Ideas about power and control, life and death, influence and responsibility. And on a practical level, YA readers change dramatically from one decade to the next. All the teens reading today are ready to be introduced to vampire stories of their very own. It’s the perfect time for a new cadre of vamps to take the stage!

GR: What do you hope to see more of from YA vampire fiction in the future?

ZC: I want to see myths outside of Europe! It’s not enough to take Dracula and give him a tan. Myths about blood-sucking monsters and immortals exist in so many cultures. I’d love to see writers from those backgrounds explore those myths.
 
NCP: Yes! I want to see vampires that defy and expand our expectations. I want to see vampires that not only break down gender binaries but demolish them entirely. I want to see vampires that aren’t stuck in the past but fight for a better future. I want to see vampires that make us better human beings.