Vampires in Literature Multiple Choice Quiz | Literature

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1. First published in 1897, "Dracula" by (Abraham) Bram Stoker, was one of the first vampire novels. The nefarious title character makes his way to London where he promptly causes mayhem. When recently married Lucy Westenra mysteriously begins to waste away, a knowledgeable doctor is called to examine the cause of Lucy's illness. He immediately recognises that she is the victim of a vampire attack. Who is this Dutch doctor?

Answer: Abraham Van Helsing

Written from multiple perspectives, "Dracula" has become one of the most influential vampire novels and has forever associated the area of Transylvania with vampires. The title character's name is now synonymous with vampires. Dracula reeks havoc in London before he is tracked down and killed as he flees to his castle in Transylvania.

Dracula set the scene for vampire traits; it contains the popular methods of killing or harming a vampire - beheading, piercing the heart, crucifixes and garlic. Dracula is capable of hypnotic mind control, and can also command nocturnal animals such as rats and wolves. He has the ability to shape-shift at will, and can change the weather. Though less powerful in daylight, sunlight does not kill him. Dracula can cross running water only at low or high tide and cannot enter a premises unless invited. He needs Transylvanian earth nearby to rest and recover his strength, and cannot seen in mirrors.

2. Set in the cloudy town of Forks, the vampires in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series fear sunshine, though not for the same reason as most vampires in popular culture. Sunlight does not kill these vampires, however, it does however mark them as not human. What happens to Stephenie Meyer's vampires when sunlight hits them?

Answer: Their skin glitters

The four books of the "Twilight" series follows the love story of Bella Swan and the vampire Edward Cullen. After falling in love with the mysterious Edward, Bella learns that he is a vampire. She quickly decides she wants to become a vampire herself in order to stay with Edward forever. Edward, believing that he is cursed by his vampire status is reluctant to turn Bella and seal her fate also. Of course love never goes smoothly, and this romance is not helped by the presence of another suitor for Bella, the new werewolf Jacob Black.

The vampires of "Twilight" have no fear of burning up in the sun, but the sun can still cause them harm by revealing their nature to humans. As with most vampires, they are well equipped for hunting with super strength, super speed and fast reflexes. Many of the "Twilight" vampires have special talents such as mind reading, seeing into the future, detecting lies or creating the illusion of pain.

3. Stephen King, the master of horror, has also tried his hand at writing a vampire novel. His second published novel features Ben Mears, a successful author who returns to his hometown only to find it is slowly being overrun by vampires. With the help of a young boy and the local priest, Ben is forced to fight for his own life, along with the lives of those he cares for. Which Stephen King book, originally titled "Second Coming", fits this plot?

Answer: 'Salem's Lot

Returning to 'Salems Lot to write a book about the spooky Marsten House, Ben Mears has no idea just how dangerous the Marsten House has become now that master vampire Mr. Barlow has taken up residence there. Joining Ben in his fight are his new girlfriend Susan, aging teacher Matt Burke, the local priest Father Callahan, and young Mark Petrie. Not all these new allies survive, and those who do find they are forever changed by what they have endured.

The vampires in "'Salem's Lot" sleep during the day, and fear crosses. The classic wooden stake through the heart will kill them.

4. Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse has a talent for dating vampires and other supernatural creatures. She also has another special talent that makes her very useful to supernatural beings. What is this talent?

Answer: Telepathy

Until her encounter with vampire Bill Compton, Sookie Stackhouse always considered her telepathic abilities to be a curse. However, during the course of "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" this ability will prove to save her life on many occasions. She also proves to be a magnet for supernatural creatures and throughout the series has relationships with vampires, a werewolf and even a weretiger.

Being a vampire in the Sookie Stackhouse world is not easy; they are weakened by silver; and sunlight, decapitation and staking will kill them. On top of this vampires have announced themselves to the world and are a frequent target of new church the "Fellowship of the Sun". To counter this vampires are strong and fast with keen senses and have the ability to control the minds of humans.

5. Not to be outdone, vampire dating Anita Blake has a talent of her own - she is able to re-animate the dead. Her talents as a necromancer allow her to control vampires and zombies. As a licensed vampire hunter Anita is very effective at her job, earning her the title "The Executioner" amongst vampires. Who created Anita Blake?

Answer: Laurell K. Hamilton

Anita Blake is not a person to mess with; skilled in martial arts, she is rarely seen without a cache of weapons on her person, her favourite being her Browning gun. Despite her dislike of vampires, she begins a love-hate relationship with the 400 year old vampire Jean-Claude.

Jean-Claude has many of the traditional strengths and weaknesses associated with vampires. Luckily for him, he can also gain power through sex and lust. Jean-Claude is also able to control lesser vampires, lycanthropes and humans by a form of hypnosis.

6. The main characters of Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments" series are not vampires, though one of the central characters, Simon, does become a vampire. After feeding off shadowhunter Jace's blood, Simon learns that he can miraculously withstand sunlight. It is discovered that Jace was born with special powers. While Jace was still in his mother's womb she was fed the blood of a creature by a man who then posed as his father. What sort of heavenly creature supplied this blood?

Answer: Angel

"The Mortal Instruments" follows the life of Clary Fray and her discovery that she is actually a shadowhunter, a race that controls the 'downworlders' such as vampires and werewolves. Along with falling in love with Jace, who is potentially her brother, she must also deal with her best friend Simon's transformation into a vampire. Simon, meanwhile, is hunted by his own kind after they discover that he is able to withstand sunlight. On top of this he finds he has growing feelings for the werewolf Maia - a relationship that will be difficult given the hatred between werewolves and vampires.

Normal vampires in this series may not be able to withstand sunlight, but to make up for that they do have super cool flying motorcycles.

7. The "House of Night" series by P.C Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast follows the story of Zoey Redbird, a sixteen year old who has just become a vampire fledgling, and thus must attend a vampire boarding school in order to survive. How would one identify a vampire in this world?

Answer: By marks on their foreheads

When humans are fist 'marked' they have an outline of a blue crescent on their forehead,; this mark fills in and extends over their cheeks when they transition to a full vampire. The marks often reflect the personality of the vampire. Zoey is the first fledgling whose mark is already filled in, and she gains extra markings as her actions please the goddess Nyx.

In the "House of Night" people are not bitten to become vampires, the transition is triggered by junk DNA. Once a human has been 'marked' they must stay in close proximity to full vampires otherwise they will die ... of course many die anyway. Sunlight will not kill these vampires, though they do avoid it as it pains them. "House of Night" vampires are unnaturally attractive and talented. While they do drink blood, they do not need to attack humans as the experience is pleasurable for both the donor and the vampire. There has recently been a new race of vampires with red markings, though the full extent of the differences between these and the traditional sapphire blue vampires has yet to be discovered.

8. L.J. Smith has written several vampire based series. In "The Vampire Diaries" the vampire Stefan quickly falls in love with Elena, the look-alike of his first crush Katherine. History repeats itself when his relationship is complicated by his human-feeding brother. What is the name of Stefan's brother?

Answer: Damon

"The Vampire Diaries" follows the story of the beautiful ice-queen Elena Gilbert as she transitions from human, to vampire, to dead, and then to supernatural being. Through it all she continues to be drawn to the handsome vampire Stefan Salvatore, and also to his less moral brother Damon.

The Salvatore brothers are able to withstand sunlight due to the rings that they wear. Drinking human blood increases a vampire's powers, and so Damon is much stronger than his non-human feeding brother Stefan. In addition to strength and speed Damon is able to transform himself into the form of a crow.

9. The world of "The Saga of Darren Shan", written by Darren Shan (Darren O'Shaughnessy) is inhabited by vampires, vampaneze and half-vampires. While the vampires aren't immortal and have no fangs, they do have some fun adaptions. A full vampire has a sedating breath causing humans to fall asleep and allowing the vampire to feed. Without sharp fangs, however, vampires must use other means to access the nutritional blood. What do these vampires use?

Answer: Strong fingernails

After stealing a performing spider from a vampire, Darren Shan finds himself as the new assistant for the vampire Mr. Crepsley. Forced to fake his own death and leave his family, Darren, now a half-vampire, hits the road with Mr. Crepsley and meets an interesting assortment of creatures. He quickly befriends Ezra the snake boy and faces death and danger on a regular basis.

Vampires in "The Saga of Darren Shan" are not immortal. They do however age very slowly - approximately one year for every ten they live. Humans become vampires by sharing blood with a vampire, usually through cuts on their fingers. If a human shares only a little blood, they become a half-vampire. A half-vampire can withstand sunlight, but they age faster than full vampires, approximately one year for every five lived. While vampires live of the blood of humans, they are not evil and rarely kill their victims, using saliva to heal the wounds they cause. There is a breakaway group that are called the vampaneze, and they kill their victims and absorb their spirits. The two races do not get along, but live in a wary truce.

10. In the "Vampire Academy" series by Richelle Mead, vampires are not evil killing machines. These vampires fall in love, have families and survive by taking a little blood from willing humans. Every now and again though, a vampire loses control and kills a human. They then become an evil blood lusting creature. What are these creatures known as?

Answer: Strigoi

The "Vampire Academy" series follows the adventures and loves of dhampir Rose Hathaway and Moroi princess Lissa Drogomir. Soon after returning to St. Vladimir's Academy Rose finds herself drawn to her gorgeous instructor Dimitri Belikov. Rose, meanwhile begins to fall for outcast Christian Ozera whose parents willingly become Strigoi. Whilst facing the normal relationship problems, Rose and Lissa must deal with the constant threat of not only Strigoi but other Moroi with evil intentions.

In "Vampire Academy" there are three types of beings with vampire blood. The Moroi - mortal vampires who can harness the earth's magic and who do not kill humans, but feed on willing donors. The Dhampir - half-vampires, who can only produce children with Moroi. Dhampirs are strong and fast, can withstand the sun and are trained to be protectors of the Moroi. There are also the Strigoi - undead vampires that result either when a Moroi completely drains the blood of another, or if one exchanges blood with another Strigoi. Strigoi are immortal, unless killed by fire, decapitation or a stake through the heart.

Source: Author jondalah

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Vampires in Literature Trivia Quiz

How do you kill a vampire? That depends what book you are reading! Here are ten books featuring vampires with different attributes, powers and weaknesses. Be warned, there are definitely spoilers.

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