Vampires to bite back at conference

With many young people gripped by the recent Twilight vampire books and films and the True Blood television series, the University of Hertfordshire hopes the event will encourage students of all ages to study literature.

The conference, called Open Graves, Open Minds: Vampires and the Undead in Modern Culture, is thought to be the first such event in the UK and aims to put domestic vampire fiction "back on the map" after the American takeover of the genre.

Literature lecturer Dr Sam George said she was particularly interested in teenage vampires.

"The new breed of vampires are far from monstrous, they are glamorous and sexy and have an emotional side," she said.