As we say farewell to the 125th anniversary year of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, we are delighted to announce the winners of our ‘Vampire Bites’ creative contest which was held at Edge Hill University.
From Victorian villain to modern-day boyfriend material, and from social outcasts to avengers of injustice, the vampire has taken many forms. This competition invited students at Edge Hill to submit creative entries, from stories and poetry to visual art and dance, exploring what the figure of the vampire means to them today.
The contest judged by Dr Laura Eastlake and Dr Madeline Potter in partnership with Dacre Stoker, great-grand-nephew of Bram Stoker, who provided limited edition prizes and signed editions to the winners.
And the winners are:
Creative Writing Category
Jack Bennett
‘Fragments of Paole’
Fragments of Paole is a modern companion piece for Johannes Flückinger’s 1732 medical report, Visum et Repertum. In his report, Flückinger discusses Arnold Paole as the patient zero in a supposed vampiric epidemic in what was then Southern Serbia. My story explores how vampires have been associated with the changing intersections of medical and supernatural anxieties.
Visual/Performing Arts
Heather Hughes
‘Vampiric Loneliness’
Vampiric Loneliness explores how the lone figure of the vampire can speak to modern experiences of loneliness, escapism and the challenges of pandemic isolation. The vampire is surrounded by fiction books (which nod to a long tradition of literary vampires), a mobile phone, and game controller, which are forms of escapism. I included these because loneliness has risen since the pandemic with many turning to escapism. There is also a reference to current sustainability concerns, though shown in a way that is aimed for vampires which is a sustainable blood alternative.
At Edge Hill University, students can study a range of topics and genres as part of our Department of English and Creative Arts including LIT3054: Special Topic (Vampire Fictions). Find out more.
Degeneration to Regeneration 