Vampire, a psychological novel, presents a study of two murderers who kill without reason. In writing the novel, I was most concerned with developing and explaining the twisted minds of Dyanna and Justin. I’ve done extensive research in this area of abnormal psychology, and one of the ideas I wanted to get across was that Justin alone or Dyanna alone would never have committed murder. They needed each other’s presence and support. Toward the end of the novel Allison explained that she and Justin were no good in bed together because they were both performers, and a performer needed an audience, someone who responded. Dyanna served as Justin’s audience, both in sex and in murder, their substitute for sex.
Yet of the two individuals, Justin was the passive one, and when he committed murder—just as when he threw Dyanna in the mud in what started as a rape—he was merely acting out her fantasy. Neither one alone was wholly responsible for the murders, but of the two, Dyanna was definitely the leader. She didn't understand this because she wouldn't let herself understand; in fact, she frequently referred to herself as “following” Justin. In order to live with herself, she had to lie to herself. This presented a definite problem since Dyanna was the narrator of the story, but it was a problem I very much wanted to deal with.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>Vampire</em>, a psychological novel, presents a study of two murderers who kill without reason. In writing the novel, I was most concerned with developing and explaining the twisted minds of Dyanna and Justin. I’ve done extensive research in this area of abnormal psychology, and one of the ideas I wanted to get across was that Justin alone or Dyanna alone would never have committed murder. They needed each other’s presence and support. Toward the end of the novel Allison explained that she and Justin were no good in bed together because they were both performers, and a performer needed an audience, someone who responded. Dyanna served as Justin’s audience, both in sex and in murder, their substitute for sex.</p> <p>Yet of the two individuals, Justin was the passive one, and when he committed murder—just as when he threw Dyanna in the mud in what started as a rape—he was merely acting out her fantasy. Neither one alone was wholly responsible for the murders, but of the two, Dyanna was definitely the leader. She didn't understand this because she wouldn't let herself understand; in fact, she frequently referred to herself as “following” Justin. In order to live with herself, she had to lie to herself. This presented a definite problem since Dyanna was the narrator of the story, but it was a problem I very much wanted to deal with.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Greco, Anne"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"English, General Literature, and Rhetoric","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sheldon N. Grebstein","Matthew A. Corrigan","Robert Kroetsch"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1976,"date_issued":"1976-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1976-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:10:35Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/323","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sheldon N. Grebstein","Matthew A. Corrigan","Robert Kroetsch"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Greco, Anne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English, General Literature, and Rhetoric"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/323"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Vampire, a psychological novel, presents a study of two murderers who kill without reason. In writing the novel, I was most concerned with developing and explaining the twisted minds of Dyanna and Justin. I’ve done extensive research in this area of abnormal psychology, and one of the ideas I wanted to get across was that Justin alone or Dyanna alone would never have committed murder. They needed each other’s presence and support. Toward the end of the novel Allison explained that she and Justin were no good in bed together because they were both performers, and a performer needed an audience, someone who responded. Dyanna served as Justin’s audience, both in sex and in murder, their substitute for sex.
Yet of the two individuals, Justin was the passive one, and when he committed murder—just as when he threw Dyanna in the mud in what started as a rape—he was merely acting out her fantasy. Neither one alone was wholly responsible for the murders, but of the two, Dyanna was definitely the leader. She didn't understand this because she wouldn't let herself understand; in fact, she frequently referred to herself as “following” Justin. In order to live with herself, she had to lie to herself. This presented a definite problem since Dyanna was the narrator of the story, but it was a problem I very much wanted to deal with.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Vampire"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sheldon N. Grebstein","Matthew A. Corrigan","Robert Kroetsch"],"dc:creator":["Greco, Anne"],"dc:description.abstract":["Vampire, a psychological novel, presents a study of two murderers who kill without reason. In writing the novel, I was most concerned with developing and explaining the twisted minds of Dyanna and Justin. I’ve done extensive research in this area of abnormal psychology, and one of the ideas I wanted to get across was that Justin alone or Dyanna alone would never have committed murder. They needed each other’s presence and support. Toward the end of the novel Allison explained that she and Justin were no good in bed together because they were both performers, and a performer needed an audience, someone who responded. Dyanna served as Justin’s audience, both in sex and in murder, their substitute for sex.
Yet of the two individuals, Justin was the passive one, and when he committed murder—just as when he threw Dyanna in the mud in what started as a rape—he was merely acting out her fantasy. Neither one alone was wholly responsible for the murders, but of the two, Dyanna was definitely the leader. She didn't understand this because she wouldn't let herself understand; in fact, she frequently referred to herself as “following” Justin. In order to live with herself, she had to lie to herself. This presented a definite problem since Dyanna was the narrator of the story, but it was a problem I very much wanted to deal with.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/323"],"dc:title":["Vampire"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English, General Literature, and Rhetoric"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:10:35Z"}