I tend to see most horror movie monsters as metaphors. Frankenstein’s monster is obviously a metaphor, it was intended as such. The Zombie apocalypse is, to me, just a metaphor for modern life. Want to see what I mean, take some friends and go into the core of a major city during rush hour. Werewolves I see as a metaphor for civilized man at war with his animal nature.
Vampires I’ve always seen as one of the most easily translated metaphors. Real vampires do not drain blood from their victims, they drain the life from their victims for their own profit. I don’t mean all capitalists or business people, specifically I’m talking about people who are already wealthy who force those they employ to live in poverty so they can be even more wealthy. The owners/shareholders of Wal Mart or McDonalds would be good examples of ‘real’ vampires.
That metaphor also helps to explain the longevity of the vampire myth, which is as old as human civilization. There have always been such people and the further back you go the more vicious the vampires were.
This video from Ted-Ed though covers the history of the vampire myth through history.
[via Geeks are Sexy]