N.O. aura appeals to vampire fans

• By LISA TRAMONTANA
• News Features Staff Writer
• Published: Oct 23, 2009

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Vampires, Goths and assorted lovers of the dark side will be roaming the streets (and cemeteries) of New Orleans this weekend to quench their blood lust ... or rather, their lust for horror-type entertainment. And what other city has the aura, the ambience, the  ghostly allure to convincingly host a Vampire Film Festival?

Visitors are invited to screen more than 50 films with titles like Grotesque, Let Me Die Quietly, Shadowland and Sucker. Most films will be held at New Orleans’ Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center Oct. 23-26.

There are plenty of other events scheduled as well, including a vampire jazz funeral procession, a French Quarter scavenger hunt, several parties and costume contests, a vampires’ ball, and panel discussions by authors of the vampire genre. One, titled “Vampire Lit,” will be moderated by writer Sue Dent, and will include author Erin McCarthy, graphic novelist Van Jensen and Louisiana’s Nicole Peeler.

The Vampire Film Festival took place in Los Angeles the last two years, but chose to relocate to New Orleans because of the city’s Gothic charm and its association with voodoo, hauntings and the spirit world.

A highlight of the festival will be the performance of Lisa Starry’s A Vampire Tale. It’s a vampire ballet that has been called “The Nutcracker of Halloween.”

Organizers hope the festival will eventually expand to a weeklong event leading up to Halloween, and that it will celebrate not just vampires, but other mythic creatures as well.

For detailed information,  and tickets to films and special events, go to http://www.vampirefilmfestival.com