Vampire Aesthetic Decor: How to Transform Your Space Into a Vampiric Victorian Gothic Lair
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Want to transform your apartment into a moody vampire aesthetic lair? Let’s talk about vampirecore!
If you could live forever, what do you think your home decor would look like over the ages? I'd imagine that immortality would grant us the luxury of time to try every style. But I think eventually, if we were to live forever, we'd probably be destined to adopt the gothic decadence of vampirecore. I mean, if you were alive for 500 plus years, you'd probably be goth too. 🙃🖤
But just because none of us are immortal doesn't mean we can't decorate like we are!
So today I’m sharing a bunch of vampire decor ideas with a Victorian gothic flavor, a la the TV show Penny Dreadful. Perfect for anyone with a dark, witchy soul like mine, who love dark interiors and the gothic aesthetic, this vampiric look will help you achieve a magical gothic home decor look in your apartment that screams timeless, moody decadence.
And yes, I said apartment, because you don't have to live in an exquisite gothic castle in order to create a moody gothic lair for yourself.
So, let's talk about how you can get the vampire look on a human budget!
Would you rather watch than read? Here’s the video! ↓
What is Vampirecore?
Vampirecore is a very multi-faceted aesthetic, as there are so many different flavors of vampire lore to draw upon, especially within modern media. There's the 90s nostalgia of Buffy, the southern gothic comic book style of Creature, the campy fever dream of Rocky Horror, the guilty pleasure of Twilight. (Not that I believe in the term “guilty pleasure,” because I don't feel guilty about pleasure, but you know what I mean.)
There are lots of different colors to the vampire rainbow, but today I'm going to focus more on the Victorian gothic look, a la Penny Dreadful.
To me, this type of Victorian gothic vampire core is all about indulgence. Desire. Confronting the dark corners of ourselves, and embracing them. Like the broader symbolism of vampires, this style is a visual representation of power, sensuality, and frankly, our fear of death.
The age-old storytelling around vampires is basically one big coping mechanism for the horrors of our mortality.
We fear death, so we've created the fairytale antithesis to death: an immortal being that stays young and beautiful forever, who has free reign to indulge in their desires, who’s able to live on the outside of society largely without the consequences that an average mortal would face.
It's a celebration of freedom, an outlet for what we wish we could be: our true selves, seizing what we want without consequences or death.
It's existential dread, but make it sexy. 😉
I'm realizing that I could write an entire academic dissertation about the symbolism of vampires and how they represent our desires and, at the same time, our guilt over desiring things, and how the pursuit of that freedom would surely mean we'd have to be soulless bloodsuckers…. But I'm going to resist.
Instead, let me get into the decor aspect of things!
How do we channel what vampires symbolize - and how they're visually portrayed in art and media - to create a vampire core retreat for ourselves?
For this Victorian gothic version of the vampire aesthetic, like I mentioned earlier, I have the show Penny Dreadful in the forefront of my mind.
TV shows and movies can be such an excellent source of visual inspiration for your home decor. I mean, they hire professional set designers whose job it is to do the research on making the show look historically accurate and visually interesting. So, use their knowledge and findings to your advantage!
And just because you live in an apartment or any kind of small space - and you're also not a professional Hollywood set designer - doesn't mean you can't steal elements of this look to make it work for your specific environment.
For example, a smaller version of a gallery wall like this is totally doable:
A brown Chesterfield sofa like this is very easy to find online:
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The Victorian Gothic look is very achievable even in a modern living situation!
And if you don't believe me, let me show you a couple of Instagram accounts I found that will show you how it's done…
Vampire Aesthetic Inspiration
@nikkshae
Nikk Shae’s aesthetic on Instagram really epitomizes what I'm talking about. In this reel she vividly demonstrates that a high level of delectable vampiric drama is so doable in a rental. She utterly transforms these rooms, and it just goes to show that living in an apartment doesn't disqualify you from living in a stylish fantasy.
When we're talking about alternative styles (or really any style, but especially alternative ones), attitude and storytelling is even more important than the pure aesthetic. It's that punk rock defiance that charges the decor with so much more than just prettiness.
@ladyvampmanor
Lady Vamp Manor's home is a vampire's dream come true. Her warm color palette, mixed with all of these occult details, strikes such a lovely balance between cozy and sinister.
She has all kinds of straight-up vampire core visuals in her space, like this coffin statement. It’s just audaciously vampiric.
Audacity is a key ingredient in the vampire aesthetic. It takes a certain level of audacity, confidence, and sense of self to do a style like this. And a big-ass coffin in the middle of the room tells me that Lady Vamp Manor knows exactly who she is and the story she wants to tell in her home.
So definitely give her a follow. Her whole account is a feast for the eyes!
Vampirecore Decor Ideas
Now that we've established what this kind of vampire core can look like, let me show you some decor pieces I found!
Wall Decor
Decorative Accents
Lighting
Btw, this chandelier and sconce I found were directly inspired by this still from Penny Dreadful. 🤗
Can you imagine how all of these decor elements can come together to create a room that’s not only darkly beautiful but also transports you to a fantasy world?
That’s really the core reason why I cover styles like this. Whether it’s vampirecore, castlecore, fairycore, hobbitcore, all those damn cores… 😂 at the end of the day, it’s all about using fantasy to carve out our own little worlds for ourselves.
I don’t know about you, but since I’ll never be able to afford to buy a house, I insist upon taking ownership over my rental. And if that means decorating a fantasy-driven space in which I can basically delude myself into thinking I’m living in a vampire lair, or a hobbit hole, or a fairy cottage, or the Practical Magic house, or whatever it is I want to do, then so be it. 🙃
