“The Coffin vs. Bed debate: Do more 'moral' vampires sleep in beds?

Hi all,

Just one question for all the writers reading this blog. Where does your vampire sleep? Notice, I didn’t ask about with whom. That’s material for another post:)

But yeah, so does your immortal character sleep in a bed or in a coffin. Because the more and more I’ve thought about it recently, the more it reflects and affects the character. Let me provide some examples. In my Dracula-Phantom universe, my Dracula character first starts out using a coffin (as in the Stoker book). However, once Mina comes to live by his side, he switches to a bed. While making love in a coffin can be thrilling and fun once in awhile, I decided to have my vampire characters sleep in a bed (though the pillow and mattress are filled with dirt from his country) because I thought it would not be comfortable for two beings to sleep in a confined space night after night. Intuitively, I also felt that by sleeping in a bed, Dracula could begin to ‘reconnect’ with his humanity. And the more I think about this idea, the more I feel I made the correct decision.

There were two very well written vampire series on television recently. One was Blood Ties and the other, Moonlight. It was interesting to see that while both vampires are ‘moral’, they have different sleeping arrangements. Henry (BT), sleeps in a regular bed, though he does have cool shades that block out the sunlight. Mick St. John (Moonlight) must sleep in a freezer-like coffin, it seems, to maintain his immortality. What made me really think deeply about how where one’s vampire character sleeps and how it affects/reflects their character was the wonderful recent episode of “Moonlight” where Mick becomes human for awhile and one of his favorite things to do, besides eating all different types of food, is sleeping on his couch with a blanket. This action makes the character feel more human and we, as viewers, also get the sense that being able to do something that the character has done back when they were human (sleep in a bed) is comforting and important for them to feel more mortal. Finally, the fact that Mick must sleep every night in a freezer will eventually affect his intimate relationship (if they move toward one) with Beth. This detail provides a 'road block' of sorts for Mick to become totally intimate with Beth. Certaintly, the vampire character has the ability to make love, but both he and Beth cannot spend the entire night together in bed. To stay immortal, Mick must return to his coffin. Again, a small detail (Mick must sleep in a coffin) can affect the chacter's life (intimacy with Beth).

How do famous vampire authors deal with this bed vs. coffin idea? Much like other issues, it varies. Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles) has her vampire characters sleep in coffins while interestingly, Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake series) has her vampires able to sleep and make love in beds with mortals during the evening hours but prefer to move to the coffin to sleep in during the daylight (presumably, when their souls ‘depart’ for the day).

So, is there a connection between being a ‘good’ vampire and sleeping in a bed? Do all ‘evil’ vampires sleep in coffins? I’d have to think more about this (what books and movies I’ve seen and such) but I don’t think it divides neatly among these lines. However, I do think that a bed allows one’s vampire character to be able to feel more ‘mortal’. Will this cut down on his/her body count, I. e., will the feeling of being closer to their mortality allow them to possess a conscience and therefore, have them not kill as much as they do? Perhaps and then again, maybe not. As a writer of vampire fiction, I just find that it is interesting when writing your immortal characters to think about where they sleep and then, how that will affect their overall emotions.

So, I guess, I’ll end this blog by reasking the same question “Where does your vampire character sleep?”. And then, I’ll add another question. “How does this sleeping arrangement match and affect his personality?” Again, this is just a small issue in writing vampire fiction but one I find interesting to think about.

Take care all,
Chris