Erich Post 2

The Gilda Stories: chapters 1 &2
Typically vampires are portrayed as pale, demonic, immortal, and violent creatures that kill innocent humans in order to drink their blood as sustenance. Vampires are commonly depicted as soulless monsters whose only purpose is to kill and bring terror to humanity. A vampire has no soul or reflection and usually talks with a creepy eastern European accent where every “w” is a v.” Vampires cannot be exposed to sunlight which adds to the image of a demonic creature of darkness.
In The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez presents new spins on typical vampires and by doing so makes them more human and less of a demonic creature from Hell. While she does include more evil vampires she shows that some vampires are more concerned about the wellbeing of their victims. Good vampires like Gilda and Bird choose to not kill their victims by gorging themselves on blood but only take enough to survive, also they try to in turn use their empathetic powers to help their victims in some sense after they have fed. Jewelle also strays away from the image of vampires as pale, eastern Europeans and adds some racial diversity, Gilda herself is African American.