Of Fangs and Blood: Tips and Tricks for Vampire Story Writers

ii. Genres

GENRES

As much as how broad the vampire genre is, it does not stand alone most of the time. Here are some of the genres you can pair with the vampire genre and how you will execute it accordingly:

1. Action

Action genre alongside vampire revolves mostly on fight scenes and strong exchange of lines between characters. You may write an effective one by putting emphasis on your character's superhuman and supernatural abilities. Make scenes thrilling by adding the most important parts: fight scenes. To add more suspense, allow the background of your characters to affect the whole plot.

2. Fanfiction

Fanfiction is already a broad category. Combining it with vampire seems to be redundant, but that's what you should avoid. Don't overcomplicate the genres as the way they are. As per usual stories in the vampire category, watch out for plot holes and possible unnecessary conflicts in the story. With the fanfiction to accompany your story, it should help you build up the concept further easier.

3. Historical Fiction

Historical fiction alongside the vampire genre will need more research and understanding. You might want to look up to old vampire stories such as The Vampyre (1819), La Morte Amoreuse (1836), or the classic Dracula (1897) and analyze the settings. You should also highlight the norms and misconceptions about vampires during that time. To add spice to your story, you can also involve your story under famous historical events. Make sure to justify every scene, timeline, and plot holes that may or may not affect your whole execution of the story.

4. Horror / Thriller

Horror genre is one of the most common genre to pair with vampire, but difficult to execute. The best example of this is Bram Stoker's Dracula. Though some vampire stories may feature scary and terrifying scenes, horror genre should focus more on giving your audience thrilling, horrifying, and chilling work. Build suspense by being more descriptive with your settings and characters. 

5. Romance

As romance must need a lot of attention in delivering romantic and alluring dialogues, scenes, and characters, pairing it with vampire is somehow tricky. Pay attention to a lot of possible plot twists featuring the vampire genre. Having the details and characteristics of the vampire genre, this should be enough (possibly, even more) to contribute to the vast and endless possibilities that may occur in romance. 

6. Werewolf

Though werewolf may also contain several sub-genres, this may be considered only as a trope instead of a genre if paired with vampire. With this trope, focus more on their main conflicts to implement understanding for your audience. By allotting a lot of attention on conflicts, the rest of your plot, twists, and scenes will most likely avoid plot holes. Make sure that the root for your conflicts are still reasonable and justifiable even though you're writing a fictional work. This is so that your readers will not be confused.

7. Fantasy

Fantasy is an interesting genre to include to vampire. This implies more mysterious and engaging additions to your plot especially to your settings. You may include mystical creatures in addition to this (witches, wizards, fairies, deities, and the like). Just remember to be clear and descriptive with your choice of words because these affect the outcome of your work.