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Australia and New Zealand Vampires

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The Palgrave Handbook of the Vampire

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the depiction of the vampire in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s literature, film, and popular culture. It examines the unique cultural and historical context that the Antipodean Gothic provides for the postcolonial development of the vampire tradition in these regions. The chapter offers an overview of some key examples of the vampire figure in contemporary texts by Australians and New Zealanders from the page to the screen. It pays particular attention to highlight works created by Māori and Aboriginal authors, screenwriters, and filmmakers, who use the vampire narrative as a medium through which the historical horrors and ongoing traumas of European colonization can be explored. The chapter begins with an introduction to the Antipodean Gothic context and the figure of the vampire, and is then geographically divided into two sections, Vampires in Australia and Vampires in Aotearoa New Zealand, that each provides an overview of the monster in recent literature, film, and television in their respective regions. The chapter is then brought to its end by way of some concluding remarks regarding the similarities between the two nations’ depictions of the immortal undead monster.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Ashleigh Prosser

  2. Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Blair Speakman

Authors
  1. Ashleigh Prosser
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  2. Blair Speakman
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Correspondence to Ashleigh Prosser .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Scholar, Poznań, Poland

    Simon Bacon

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Prosser, A., Speakman, B. (2024). Australia and New Zealand Vampires. In: Bacon, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Vampire. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36253-8_47

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