In Larry Niven's The Ringworld Engineers, vampires are a humanoid species that uses powerful pheremones to lure other humanoids into mindless sex, then bites their necks and drinks their blood. They are essentially mindless creatures themselves, existing only to eat, much like sharks are supposed to be; Louis Wu, the main protagonist, snaps out of his lust-induced haze when he strokes the head of his luscious companion only to find that there's almost no braincase under all that luxuriant hair. Where Anne Rice's vampires embody the archetype of the slick seducer, Niven's are the dumb, leechy blondes you'll acquire as trophies when you're old and rich enough to afford them, then regret terribly after the messy and expensive divorce.

The truth, of course, is probably somewhere in between: some vampires are smart, some are dumb, and some are just like you and me, but they're all hot sexy bloodsuckers. Go them.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.