History Main / VampiresSleepInCoffins

* In ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'', vampires sleep in coffins if they can, but they don't need to (and they're not undead).

* ''Series/GetSmart'': In "Weekend Vampire", the VillainOfTheWeek is an assassin who's pretending to be a vampire to scare people. The coffin lid is actually the entrance to a SecretUndergroundPassage, because he knows no-one will dare open it.

* In ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', Arthur Winkings and his wife start sleeping in a crypt after they're turned into vampires, but it's implied that they're only doing it because they've heard that's what vampires do and not because it's an actual necessity.

An old convention around vampires is the idea that these creatures of the night sleep in coffins during the day. This trope works for several reasons, primarily to emphasize that they are members of [[TheUndead the living dead]] so their deviancy is naturally [[AnOddPlaceToSleep reflected in their sleeping habits]]. Additionally, coffins are a good way to keep out that pesky sunlight that tends to [[WeakenedByTheLight cause bad sunburns to vampires]]. On the downside, this might make the vampire more vulnerable to being attacked by someone with a WoodenStake. The reason for this is fairly simple: one of the most commonly-given origin for vampiric myths is unusually pristine corpses being blamed for local misfortune, and where else would one find those than in a coffin?

An old convention around vampires is the idea that these creatures of the night sleep in coffins during the day. This trope works for several reasons, primarily to emphasize that they are members of [[TheUndead the living dead]] so their deviancy is naturally [[AnOddPlaceToSleep reflected in their sleeping habits]]. Additionally, coffins are a good way to keep out that pesky sunlight that tends to [[WeakenedByTheLight cause bad sunburns to vampires]]. On the downside, this might make the vampire more vulnerable to being attacked by someone with a WoodenStake.

* An episode of ''Series/AreYourAfraidOfTheDark'' ups this trope's importance, where the vampire actually needs her coffin in order to survive; once the heroes push it into an incinerator, the vampire [[NoOntologicalInertia instantly dies]].

'''Max:''' Well, you see, 99, according to the legend of the vampire, ridiculous though it may seem, vampires always sleep in their coffins. \\

->'''99:''' What do we do now, Max?\\
'''Max:''' Well, first of all 99, we've got to look in this coffin.\\
'''99:''' Oh... do we have to? \\

* ''Series/GetSmart'': In "Weekend Vampire", the VillainOfTheWeek is an assassin who's pretending to be a vampire to scare people. The coffin actually the entrance to a SecretUndergroundPassage, because he knows no-one will dare open it.

'''Max:''' Well, you see, 99, according to the legend of the vampire, ridiculous though it may seem, vampires always sleeps in their coffins. \\

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--> '''Ami:''' "True. But tell me, where do vampires sleep?"\\
'''[[spoiler:Jared]]''': Coffins.

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* Zigzagged in the [[Literature/TheDraculaTape Dracula]] stories of Creator/FredSaberhagen. In those stories, vampires can only rest on the soil of their homeland, and coffins are simply a common means of holding and transporting that soil. Dracula himself at various times uses coffins, large travel trunks, and sealed plastic mattress pads, all containing the necessary soil from his homeland.

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* ''Series/GetSmart''. In "Weekend Vampire", the VillainOfTheWeek is an assassin who's pretending to be a vampire to scare people. The coffin actually the entrance to a SecretUndergroundPassage, because he knows no-one will dare open it.

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* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. In early versions of Advanced D&D, vampires are required to rest in coffins (or similar containers) during daylight hours unless they are deep underground.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/DraculaAD1972 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wallpaper_vampire_monster_horror_coffin_dracula1.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/DraculaAD1972 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wallpaper_vampire_monster_horror_coffin_dracula1.png]]]]

->'''99:''' What do we do now, Max?
->'''Max:''' Well, first of all 99, we've got to look in this coffin.
->'''99:''' Oh... do we have to?
->'''Max:''' Well, you see, 99, according to the legend of the vampire, ridiculous though it may seem, vampires always sleeps in their coffins.
->'''99:''' Why would they do that, Max?
->'''Max:''' Well, if you go around biting people on the neck, I guess you'll do just about everything.

* Somewhat subverted in ''Film/BramStokersDracula''. We only see Dracula in his coffin once in the film and that's when Harker sees it when trying to find a way out of the castle and seeing him rise out of it. Past that point, we only see Dracula crammed into boxes of Earth from Transylvania when sleeping. His brides likewise aren't shown sleeping in coffins when Helsing finds their chambers late in the film, all of them sleeping on stone slabs and using their dresses as covers of sorts.

* Averted in ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'': Cassidy has never slept in a coffin, as vampires here have no connection to religion (they burn in sunlight and need to drink blood, but animal blood is fine). He later runs into a fellow vampire who invokes as many of the ClassicalMovieVampire traits as he can despite none of them being actually necessary (and them of them aren't possible, like turning into a bat).

* Of course, this trope appears in the Creator/BelaLugosi ''Film/{{Dracula|1931}}'' films. And was mocked in Creator/MelBrooks' ''Film/DraculaDeadAndLovingIt'', with a scene where Dracula levitates majestically from his coffin only to band his head on a low-hanging chandelier.

* In ''Film/TheFearlessVampireKillers'', Count von Krolocks and his son sleep in wooden coffins while the rest of the vampires sleep in stone crypts.

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* In his book ''Dave Barry Turns 40'' Dave gives some advice for looking young:

--> '''Ami:''' "True. But tell me, where do vampires sleep?"

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Indexes: VampireTropes, SleepAndWakefulnessTropes