Free Character Writing
Prompts #9:
Vampires

Here are 10 bloodcurdling character writing prompts focusing on vampires! While I was a major fan of horror movies growing up, vampires never really interested me all that much. I laughed at them when they were portrayed in cartoons or other mediums because they seemed like such ridiculous characters: turning into a bat or a puff of smoke at a moment's notice. When I saw the pilot episode of Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," my entire concept of what a vampire could be completely changed. While Whedon's advances for the character type have been somewhat bastardized by book series' like Twilight, we now know that a vampire can be a creature with or without a soul who may have a human past influenced by multiple cultures. This potential allows a vampire to come from many different backgrounds with the possibility for many types of desires. 

Free Character Writing Prompts #9: Vampires

1. About six weeks ago, on a walk down the wrong alley, he was turned into vampire on the way back from a high school field trip. He'd never been the most popular kids, but he had never been a laughing stock like he was on the trip when his swimming trunks fell completely off in the beach in front of over 100 students. Where he had previously been upset, now he was angry and ready to get revenge on those who mocked him. His parents worried when he moved to the basement and began carrying what seemed like body bags around, but he'd always been a straight A student, so there had to be some explanation, right? Describe his attempts to get revenge and what happens after he exacts it.

2. When he grew up in the early 1800s, he knew that he wanted to protect people from thieves, murderers and other criminals. He was starting to work his way up when he was attacked and turned by a vampire. He had learned from stories that they were heartless, soulless and purely evil, but aside from never aging and having the hunger for blood, he felt exactly the same. He continued on for nearly a decade in his position before people got suspicious. He faked his own death and continued elsewhere. He continues the practice to this very day, keeping his hunger at bay with a nearby butcher shop and fighting to ensure the safety of humanity from human and not so human dangers. What has it been like for him, starting over every so often and never being able to show his true self?

3. She thought that it would be cool becoming a vampire and she asked a client to turn her one day after they had sex in lieu of paying her. While she felt vibrant and powerful, she still needed to pay the bills and continued in her line of work. She didn't tell that many people about her change but they knew just by looking at her and they gave her some distance. In fact, several of her best clients were now afraid of her, as much as they tried to convince her otherwise. She was beautiful and in the prime of her life and she believed that freezing herself like that was the best course of action. Now she wished that she could reconsider. What is the next step for her and will she need to change her line of work?

4. She had come to terms with her death at the ripe old age of 87. Now she was 187 because her grandson, who she was very fond of, had become a vampire and turned everybody in his family, simply to keep them around forever. She had always preached the importance of family and she definitely appreciated the gesture. Turning into a vampire had given her a boost of strength and energy she hadn't enjoyed for years, though it was pretty strange that she glimmered in the sunlight. She had a wild sense of humor and loved telling jokes to her family during their yearly reunions. She felt blessed getting a chance to live an entire extra lifetime after believing she wasn't long for this world. Will she continue to live out her days for another hundred years and why?

5. The doctors at the very alternative clinic hoped that turning him into a vampire would restore the use of his legs. He had been a very highly recruited quarterback for his state-champion football team before a tackle gone wrong left him paralyzed from the waist down. After vampires were revealed to the world a few years ago, many diseases had been essentially cured by turning the victim into an immortal. The procedure didn't work. His days of being the most popular, fastest running, best-looking kid in school was over and he was bummed out. Now he felt like even more of an outcast. What will this former pretty boy quarterback do to make his life enjoyable again now that he's an immortal vampire?

6. He was a count before it was cool to be a count. When he told people that he was a vampire from Transylvania, they simply laughed at him, before he absolutely whooped their butts. Long before people knew about vampires and wanted to become them, he was sneaking around Europe as one of the first stalkers of the night. Over time his powers had accrued and he knew that no vampire along could touch him. Despite that, he felt like he was having a midlife crisis and wondered if it was even worth being immortal when so many others were walking around just like him. He missed the peace and quiet of the night and knowing he was special. How will this aged vampire begin to feel whole again during his "midlife" crisis?

7. She provided a very important service to the vampire community that few humans knew about. While it seems that most people are turned into blood-thirsty creatures during their teens and twenties, there are actually some children who are never able to advance beyond their early age because of their immortality. As a result, she decided to create a night care center for vampire parents to look after the children. It can be tough taking care of a group of powerful, fanged kids for an entire evening, but she is proud to bring her skills during her human life into her vampire life. She smiles more than most nighttime creatures and has a special gift beyond simple siring with the young ones. How did she become a vampire herself and what is a night for her like with all the vampire kiddies?

8. In her first week of being a vampire, she was extremely excited to use her powers and to drain the blood of attractive male humans. The only problem was that she tended to underestimate her strength. The first man she brought back to her apartment was so much more gorgeous than anyone she'd ever been with during her life and when she pulled him close to her, she accidentally ripped out his neck and spine. She was more gentle with the next guy, but after tying him up to her bed, she pulled him a bit too hard and snapped his arms off. This was getting to be ridiculous, she thought as she was spending more time cleaning up than eating. During her life she had been a good problem solver and she thought long and hard about her ordeal. She decided that she would have to practice being gentle with humans and to do so would mean not eating them for little while. How do her attempts at keeping her snacks from breaking apart go for her?

9. While most are excited to become vampires, he had a promising future as a professional football player and he asked around to see if there was someway to remove the curse of vampirism. He heard of an ancient monk living deep within the Himalayans who might be able to return vampires back into humans. He knew that he was strong, but he took a few friends with him just to make sure he didn't end up frozen at the top of a mountain. Throughout the trip, his friends tried to convince him to remain a vampire, even threatening that they'd turn him right back or kill him after reaching the destination. He wondered if it was possible that living forever might be more enjoyable than living the high life for a short period of time. What decision does he end up making and is the ancient monk able to reverse his condition?

10. It's tough being a suburban housewife to a family of vampires, especially when you can't get any chores done during the day. Her son was the first to be turned and slowly but surely he turned the rest of the family. It wasn't easy at first to explain everything away to the neighbors, claiming they had longer hours and that they sent the kids to a far-off private school during the day. Shopping had to be done at 24-hour grocery stores and it was nearly impossible to find a maid who the kids wouldn't try to snack on when nobody was looking. She had always wanted to be a devoted wife and mother and if that meant keeping a few secrets and killing a few snoopers, these were just consequences of achieving her goal. Will she be successful at keeping her family secret, especially when the four of them never age past their current appearances? 

Done with Writing Prompts about Vampires? Go back to Creative Writing Prompts.