ABSTRACT
Traditionally portrayed as personifications of an ancient archetype representative of evil, death, and darkness, male vampires have only recently become popular as romantic heroes who fall in love with the female human protagonists of their stories. This hermeneutic study employs archetypal analysis to address its central research question: in heroic vampire texts, what is the psychological significance of the love relationships between undead male vampire heroes and living female human hero/ines? At issue is why this image of male-female syzygy constellated during a particular era (1992-2014), and how it both reinforces and challenges cultural attitudes regarding love, masculinity, and femininity. Four popular texts are viewed through the lenses of classical and post-Jungian theory, archetypal symbolism, mythological and literary parallels, and cultural contexts. Considered synchronically and diachronically, the mytheme of male vampire-female human syzygy is found to reflect and inform male and female psychology; specifically, the interpsychic relationship between gendered ego and contrasexual Other (anima or animus), the intrapsychic relationship between romantic partners that can lead to either psychological growth or regression, and the individuation of a culture transitioning from patriarchal to post-patriarchal society still working through the complexities of changing gender identities, roles, and relationships.

Keywords: vampires, heroes, Jungian psychology, individuation, romantic love, anima, animus, masculinity, femininity, cultural shadow

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