Let me just start off by saying I’m not the biggest fan of vampire books. Every generation has ups and downs and I’d say the Twilight-ification of the YA genre is one of those downers. The Hunger Games franchise gave it a nice knockdown, but true to its vampirical self, it’s bound to rise again and drain another generation of sanity, if not blood.
So when I first heard of Thomas M. Sipos’ Vampire Nation at the height of the craze, I was a bit skeptical – if not, cynical – that this piece of work would be anything remarkable. The book turned out to be quite good, if not an underappreciated gem. First printed in 1998, Vampire Nation was in the game long before Twilight, The Southern Vampire Mysteries, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I’m no expert on the vampire genre, but it’s obvious Sipos’ work went into print way ahead of it’s time. Not only is it engaging, but Sipos tends to show more respect for the subject matter than most in the genre these days.
The year is 1986. Ronald Reagan is paving the way for French Fries and freedom around the world while Mikhail Gorbachev introduces his reforms to a doomed Soviet Union. Henry Willoughby, a 24-year-old screenwriter, is sent with a film project to Romania, the seat of the vile Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. Henry isn’t in Bucharest for more than a night when he is confronted with a collage of horrors – vampires sucking the blood from the necks of innocent people, ghouls unearthing cemeteries for flesh to consume, and ghostly spirits recreating atrocities committed in their living years. After meeting with a CIA-asset named Anya, who’s tasked with assassinating Ceausescu once and for all, Henry is thrust into an odyssey which takes him through the underworld of Communism, an ideology which turns out to be a front of vampirism.
Sipos’ novel has the basic staples of a vampiric thriller – a naive young protagonist, a sexy femme fatale, and a grand vampire lurking in a super-mega death fortress. There’s plenty of blood drinking, flesh eating, seduction, and violence, but Vampire Nation stands out for a number of reasons.
Right off, and most obviously, the vampire in this novel is truly vampirical. One problem I find with the vampire genre nowadays is how it’s authors either misrepresent, or outright discard, the central function of the vampire. Seductive and constantly yearning for blood, the vampire has always been a symbol for the extremes of human passion. The creature is a combination, or maybe even a perfection, of man’s primal desires for lust and power.
But it goes deeper.
From the serial killer to the politician, there’s a certain element within humanity which seeks to exploit, use, and ultimately hurt others for power. The vampire has always been a terrifying creature because it serves as a reflection of this (very human) element.
In this respect, Vampire Nation doesn’t vanely romanticize its vampires. As before, there are no Edward Cullens. Here, the vampires assume the form of the dreaded Securitate secret police, who are identified by leather jackets and blood-dripping fangs. They are recruited from the criminal scum of Romanian society and given a simple mission – to suppress any dissent by all means necessary. They spy on and routinely “punish” their victims in the forms of torture and extortion. Their reward, fresh blood. It is a system that works from the top down, starting with Nikolai Ceausescu, the Communist leader and the ultimate vampire ruling the nation.
Which brings me to my next point. Vampire Nation is designed to draw a direct analogy between Communism and vampirism. There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ll stick with the basics as best as I can.
On arrival, Henry is greeted to the Gothic metropolis that is Bucharest. Housing blocks rise as far as the eye can see, but the most dominating color is red, the color of Communist flags draping from every building. It is as if the city itself were literally bleeding. As he goes along, he learns that this “classless society” has a solid caste system at work. By day, a silent majority of peasants and workers wander the streets in search of anything resembling food or water. By night, they repeat this cycle, but more vigorously under the cover of darkness. This class, all the while, remains under the watchful eye of Romania’s praetorian guard, known as the Securitate. This vanguard enforces order on the population while they, themselves, are under the watchful eyes of of generals, bureaucrats, and officers who please themselves to buckets of alcohol, and blood. At the peak of this hierarchy is Nikolai Ceausescu, his wife Elena, and their son, Nicu. For a brief backstory, the Ceausescus ruled Romania from 1965 until their violent overthrow in 1989. Some would regard the first half of their rule as relatively stable, but after establishing a toxic friendship with the Kim dynasty of North Korea, the Ceausescus enforced a personality cult over Romania. Newspapers, radio and television programs touted Nikolai’s daily feats, Elena received “awards” for absurd theories in the fields of chemistry, and their perverted son Nicu prowled the streets of Bucharest in the latest sports cars (usually imported from the West). As the cult of the Ceausescus went up, the living standards of the common citizen went down. Bread lines, water rations, and electrical blackouts became a thing of every day life. Any and all dissent was stifled by harassment, imprisonment, and even execution.
Sipos establishes the clear connection between Communism and vampirism through not-so-subtle symbolism. Ceausescu, his family, and his totalitarian state are literally in place for one purpose. Like any creature, they need nourishment to survive. The commoner’s blood is their source of nourishment and, like all vampires, they seduce and eventually extract the subject’s loyalty before moving on. As for the victim, he or she is left in a complete state of submission either as a living cadaver or a vampire slave of the state.
As before, there’s a lot to cover, but as one reviewer states on the book’s Amazon page: “I lived in Romania during the last 15 years of communism and yes, the atmosphere pervading the book is awfully close to reality…Vampirism is an elegant explanation that gives totalitarianism a sense of logic. I almost wish it were true, at least things would have made much more sense.”
In these regards, Vampire Nation’s greatest strength comes from a rather terrifying observation.
It is largely a 20th century misconception that Bram Stoker based Count Dracula on the Transylvanian prince known commonly as Vlad the Impaler. Though a myth, it has become one of the greatest strengths behind the Dracula mythos. Tied to Vlad the Impaler, Count Dracula becomes even more real to us than we’d like to believe. Sipos bests even Bram Stoker by introducing historical figures as they were in status and personality. The parts about vampires, ghouls, and ghosts are most definitely fiction, but when it comes to the terror inflicted by the likes of Ceausescu and his henchmen, it is a matter of historical record. In the vampiristic spirit, the Ceausescu family and the Securitate leeched off the resources, money, and intelligence of nearly every Romanian. So much, that the nation has never fully recovered. Nikolai Ceausescu was overthrown, tried, and executed with his wife on Christmas Day in 1989, but its a sad fact that the Communist apparatus assumed power in his place. Though the grand vampire was extinguished, the vampire vanguard was quick to assume control over the nation. Only time will tell when the light will shine on Romania and dissolve the remnants of Ceausescu’s form of vampirism for good.
I can go on forever about this, but for consistency (and word count), I’ll leave you with those basics.
Nearly two decades have passed since Vampire Nation achieved publication, but it still makes for a relevant read in today’s political climate. With populist radicalism on the rise throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa in flames, Latin and South American countries torn apart by drugs and civil strife, and even in the United States with the left-right apparatus continually draining its citizens of money and spirit, political satires such as Vampire Nation are needed now more than ever.
Sipos’ novel is a fun and informative read which leaves us with an important question in times of political turmoil. Who among us are the real vampires, and how do we slay them without becoming one of them?
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