The Vampire in Vintage LiteratureThe modern reader tends to think of Count Dracula as the classic vampire, and they measure all others against the structure built by Bram Stoker. But supernatural creatures were the staple of Gothic romance and Gothic horror fiction for at least a century before Stoker's seminal Dracula. They crawled 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.
Modernized Teick "Wake Not the Dead"
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 The unpublished version was written before Polidori's story was published, but the actual publishing date is later.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 life time, and it still wandering around, Methuselah style, years later. Click here and read it for yourself.
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.
One: The abrdiged version of the first book Varney the Vampyre: The Feast of Blood, with modernized language and improved tone is available in my bookstore. I have, I believe, managed to keep the voice while eliminating some of the wordiness caused by paying an author by the word. I do have copyright on this version, or rather, on all the changes I have made. 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. Clicking here will take you to it. 1867 "The Last Lord of Cardonal" 1870 "Vikram and the Vampire" (1872) "Carmilla" by Sheridan le Fenu solidified the identiy of the female vampire and her illicit desire for the female victime. 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" 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 engery 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" Our first vampire who mixes science -- she gets the victims blood via transfusion; they fade gradually way, and she gets younger.
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