Virological Vampires

Chambers, Amy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3801-3582 (2023) Virological Vampires. In: The Palgrave Handbook of the Vampire. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 1-20. ISBN 9783030823016

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Abstract

Vampires have been vectors for discussing medico-scientific phenomena since their inception beginning as myths to account for unexplained deaths to eventually becoming sites for discussions of everything from bioethics to the Anthropocene. Science and technology are increasingly integrated into our discussions of the vampire as the myth mutates with its audience’s anxieties, experiences, and needs. This centering of science in the vampire canon includes the naming or branding of viruses (e.g., Strigoi in The Strain), the representation of vampires as scientists and leaders in Big Pharma and medical research, alongside more established discussions of vampires as viruses and attempts at curing vampirism. As science, technology, and medicine advance, so will the vampires that have become key figures for playing out contagion scenarios and working through the ethics of experimentation, exploitation, and eradication.