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I will be presenting a paper at this year's "Open Graves Open Minds" conference at the University of Hertfordshire, England. Inasmuch as I am an Adjunct Professor (teach full-time/paid part-time with no benefits to save the college money), I am soliciting donations to help me pay airfare, conference fees, lodging and such since my college will provide little help. Donations in any amount can be made through PayPal if you hit the "Donate" button.
Vintage Vampire Literature (Stories)Vampire literature (stories to us moderns) existed well before Bram Stoker produced Dracula, yet the we tend to think of Count Dracula as the classic vampire. We measure all others against the structure built by Bram Stoker. We forget, if indeed we ever knew, that supernatural creatures were the an essential staple of Gothic romance and Gothic horror fiction, and they were wildly popular. Vampires crawl the corridors of hovels and castles, of Inns and old country mansions, in fact they haunted any location the imagination of an author was capable of going. Table of Contents Organized by Date1800 "Wake Not the Dead" Johann Ludwig Tieck This story is a German Gothic Vampire novella. Published in _Odds and Ends _ it is now one of the oldest vampire stories (available in English). It is a story about love gone wrong due to the twisted personality of the protagonist Walter. It is his inability to allow his first wife, Brunhilde, to rest in peace, his insistence that he must have her, that causes the problems. He pretty much spurns his second wife, who does everything in her power to please him because of his total fixation on Brunhilde. (Yes, the Biblical story of Jacob is echoed here; note also the twist to the story of the prodigal!) While you read it, note the various and different characteristics of this particular undead. They aren't those we are used to. I have set the study-notes to open in a new window to enable you to have both the story and the notes up side-by-side.
Click this for the Teick Study-Notes
1819 "The Vampyre" John Polidori John Polidori's (1819) "The Vampyre" truly changed the face of the undead for English readers. Published in 1819, it moved the English vampire out of the darkness of shuffling zombie-hood and into the well-lit parlors of society. Polidori has been treated as a light-weight because he borrowed some of the ideas from a fragment written by Byron. I recommend reading the two together. To enable side-by-side study, I have written a study guide available for purchase from the bookstore. The language of this is fairly archaic, and I recommend having a dictionary page up as you read this.
Supernatural Study Guide Polidori and Byron 1817 (or 1819) "Augustus Darvell" Byron Lord Byron's "Fragment" of a vampire story (1817) is the really the skeleton to Polidori's story. The unpublished version was written before Polidori's story was published, but the actual publishing date is later. While the essence of this story is that of "The Vampyre," the protagonist is not ever called a vampire. Note Byron provided dialogue in his version, while Polidori's is strictly a narrative, no dialogue. What I am providing here are quick questions for you to focus on while reading. If you want a more complete study quide, hit the shop button on the navigation bar at the left.
The anonymous (1823) German vampire novella, "The Mysterious Stranger" has recently been made available on LitGothic.com. This is one of the few sites that feature it in electronic format. Until I manage to find a copy on microfiche or in a local rare-book library, I will send you to LitGothic to read the story. I try not to plagiarize. The link below will lead you to a summary of this story in modern language. The Mysterious Stranger: a Summary 1833 "The Mortal Immortal" Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (yes, the Frankenstein Shelley) published "The Mortal Immortal" in 1833. Honestly, I am uncertain if this belongs on this list since there is no vampire in the story. The story features a thoroughly nice young man. He drinks a potion which he believes will break him out of love with a local beauty, but it is really an immortality potion. It gives him a real lasting high. He stays with the female through her lifetime, and he is still wandering around, Methuselah style, years later. Click above, and read it for yourself.
1836 La Morte Amoureuse (The Dead Woman in Love) Gautier Theophile Gautier (French author), ... La Morte Amoureuse (literally, "the dead woman in love") appeared in 1836. This is one of the few online versions in English, and they make it hard to read by an overly busy background. 1838 "Ligeia" Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia" published in 1838 provides a new twist to the vampire legend. This vampire is able to morph a dead body into its own shape and return to "life" using it. Cool.
James Malcom Rymer's Varney the Vampire (1845) is the first repeating weekly vampire serial in the English language -- or any other that I have heard of. It ran for 119 weeks. All too often it gets treated as the ugly step-child when early classic vampire literature gets mentioned. The critics tend to judge it by the same standards they would judge a major work of Gothic literature. It is like judging a weekly serial, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer by the same standards as an Opera. Free! Sample chapter one of Risen From the Grave:Varney the Vampire: The Feast of Blood.
For more of the original version, travel over to Project Gutenberg. They list it under Prest as the author.
Two:You will find the complete study-guide for the first book available for purchase in the shop. It features, among other things, a comprehensive summary of the action in book one. It is in the Bookstore (see navigation button at the right). 1867 The Last Lords of Gardonal: This link will take you to Gaslight, a Canadian Website William Gilbert's Last Lords of Gardonal (Cardonal) is a bit difficult to find online. The front link will take you to Gaslight, a Canadian website that has an online version. 1870 Vikram and the Vampire, at Project Gutenberg Published in 1870 by Sir Richard F. Burton this is a wonderful 1001 Nights sort of story, set in Persia. It puts a fair amount of emphasis on the descriptions of people and locations. (1872) "Carmilla" by Sheridan le Fenu solidified the identity of the female vampire and her illicit desire for the female victims. The seduction is couched in sexual terms, and the female victim, while uncomfortable with the intimacy of the seduction, allows the familiarity -- unable (or unwilling) to defend herself. This particular heroine is a ditz.
Click here to read Le Fenu's "Carmilla"
1887 "The Horla" by Guy de Maupassant The 1887 "The Horla" by the French Guy de Maupassant is available online though the University of Virginia's electronic text database. The link will take you to it (it opens in a new window). 1894 The Sad Story of a Vampire by Count Eric Stenbock marks the arrival of the first psychic vampire in literature. He isn't a blood drinker, he is an energy drinker. Although, it is only the once time that we observe him pulling energy from his young victim. This story has another vampire who goes unpunished, since there is no slayer present. Click on me to open the story of the happy vampire, and sad victim 1896 "The Good Lady Ducayne" by Mary E Braddon 1896 "The Good Lady Ducayne" by Mary E. Braddon is our first vampire who mixes science into the traditional genre -- she gets the victims blood via transfusion; they fade gradually way, and she gets younger. The link will take you to one of the few locations where you can read the story free. It turns out that there really is a scientific basis between transfusions of young blood into older cells. The following link leads to a scientific (be warned -- language ahead) article covering research on the cutting edge of Alzheimer's research and their scientific experiments with blood. Clicking here will open a new page about the uses of young blood to rejuvenate older individuals.
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