Vampire fiction
Encyclopedia
Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampire
s. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction
with the publication of Polidori's The Vampyre
(1819), which was inspired by the life and legend of Lord Byron. Later influential works include the penny dreadful
Varney the Vampire
(1847); Sheridan Le Fanu
's tale of a lesbian vampire
, Carmilla
(1872) and the masterpiece of the genre: Bram Stoker
's Dracula
(1897).
In later years, vampire stories have diversified into areas of crime
, fantasy
, science fiction
or even chick-lit. As well as the typical fanged revenants, newer representations include aliens and even plants with vampiric abilities. Others feed on energy rather than blood.
and Arnold Paole
in Serbia
under the Habsburg Monarchy
. One of the first works of art to touch upon the subject is the short German poem The Vampire (1748) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, where the theme already has strong erotic overtones: a man whose love is rejected by a respectable and pious maiden threatens to pay her a nightly visit, drink her blood by giving her the seductive kiss of the vampire and thus prove her that his teaching is better than her mother's Christianity
. Furthermore, there have been a number of tales about a dead person returning from the grave to visit his/her beloved or spouse and bring them death in one way or another, the narrative poem Lenore
(1773) by Gottfried August Bürger
being a notable 18th century example. One of its lines Denn die Toten reiten schnell ("For the dead ride fast") was to be quoted in Bram Stoker's classic Dracula. A later German poem exploring the same subject with a prominent vampiric element was The Bride of Corinth (1797) by Goethe, a story about a young woman who returns from the grave to seek her betrothed:
The story is turned into an expression of the conflict between Heathendom and Christianity: the family of the dead girl are Christians, while the young man and his relatives are still pagans. It turns out that it was the girl's Christian mother who broke off her engagement and forced her to become a nun, eventually driving her to death. The motive behind the girl's return as a "spectre" is that "e'en Earth can never cool down love". Goethe had been inspired by the story of Philinnion by Phlegon of Tralles
, a tale from classical Greece
. However, in that tale, the youth is not the girl's betrothed, no religious conflict is present, no actual sucking of blood occurs, and the girl's return from the dead is said to be sanctioned by the gods of the Underworld
. She relapses into death upon being exposed, and the issue is settled by burning her body outside of the city walls and making an apotropaic sacrifice to the deities involved.
The first mention of vampires in English literature appears in Robert Southey
's monumental oriental epic poem Thalaba the Destroyer
(1797), where the main character Thalaba's deceased beloved Oneiza turns into a vampire, although that occurrence is actually marginal to the story. It has been argued that Samuel Taylor Coleridge
's poem Christabel (written between 1797 and 1801, but not published until 1816) has influenced the development of vampire fiction: the heroine Christabel is seduced by a female supernatural being called Geraldine who tricks her way into her residence and eventually tries to marry her after having assumed the appearance of an old beloved of hers. The story bears a remarkable resemblance to the overtly vampiric story of Carmilla
by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1872).
(1813), Lord Byron alludes to the traditional folkloric conception of the vampire as a being damned to suck the blood and destroy the life of its nearest relations:
Byron also composed an enigmatic fragmentary story concerning the mysterious fate of an aristocrat named Augustus Darvell whilst journeying in the Orient — as his contribution to the famous ghost story competition at the Villa Diodati
by Lake Geneva
in the summer of 1816
, between him, Percy Bysshe Shelley
, Mary Shelley
and John William Polidori (who was Byron's personal physician). This story provided the basis for The Vampyre
(1819) by Polidori. Byron's own wild life became the model for Polidori's undead protagonist Lord Ruthven
. According to A. Asbjorn Jon 'the choice of name [for Polidori's Lord Ruthven] is presumably linked to Lady Caroline Lamb's earlier novel Glenarvon, where it was used for a rather ill disguised Byronesque character'
An unauthorized sequel to Polidori's tale by Cyprien Bérard called Lord Ruthwen ou les Vampires (1820) was attributed to Charles Nodier
. Nodier himself adapted "The Vampyre" into the first vampire stage melodrama, Le Vampire. Unlike Polidori's original story Nodier's play was set in Scotland. This in turn was adapted by the English melodramatist James Planché
as The Vampire; or, the Bride of the Isles (1820) at the Lyceum
(then called the English Opera House), also set in Scotland. Planché introduced the "vampire trap" as a way for the title fiend to appear in a dream at the beginning and then to vanish into the earth at his destruction. Nodier's play was also the basis of an opera called Der Vampyr
by the German composer Heinrich Marschner
who set the story in a more plausible Wallachia
. Planché in turn translated the libretto of this opera into English in 1827 where it was performed at the Lyceum also. Alexandre Dumas, père
later redramatized the story in a play also entitled Le Vampire (1851). Another theatrical vampire of this period was 'Sir Alan Raby' who is the lead character of The Vampire (1852), a play by Dion Boucicault
. Boucicault himself played the lead role to great effect, though the play itself had mixed reviews. Queen Victoria, who saw the play, described it in her diary as "very trashy".
A milestone in vampire literature was Elizabeth Caroline Grey
's The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress
(1828), believed to be the first vampire story published by a woman. An important later example of 19th century Vampire fiction is the penny dreadful
epic Varney the Vampire
(1847) featuring Sir Francis Varney as the Vampire. In this story we have the first example of the standard trope in which the vampire comes through the window at night and attacks a maiden as she lies sleeping.
Heathcliff
in Emily Brontë
's Wuthering Heights
(1847), is suspected by his housekeeper of being a vampire, in the final chapter of that novel.
Fascinating erotic fixations are evident in Sheridan le Fanu
's classic novella Carmilla
(1872) which features a female vampire with lesbian inclinations who seduces the heroine Laura whilst draining her of her vital fluids. Le Fanu's story is set in the Duchy of Styria
. Such central European locations became a standard feature of vampire fiction.
Another important example of the development of vampire fiction can be found in three seminal novels by Paul Féval: Le Chevalier Ténèbre (1860), La Vampire (1865) and La Ville Vampire (1874). Marie Nizet
's Le Capitaine Vampire (1879) features a Russian officer, Boris Liatoukine, who is a vampire.
The most famous Serbian vampire was Sava Savanović
, famous from a folklore-inspired novel by Milovan Glišić
.
(1897) has been the definitive description of the vampire in popular fiction for the last century. Its portrayal of vampirism as a disease (contagious demonic possession), with its undertones of sex, blood, and death, struck a chord in a Victorian Britain where tuberculosis
and syphilis
were common. A decade before in 1888, the press had sensationalized Jack the Ripper
's sexualized murders
of prostitutes during his reign of terror in east London.
The name Count Dracula
was inspired by a real person, Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler). Ţepeş was a notorious Wallachian (Romanian) prince of the 15th century, also known as Vlad III Dracula. Unlike the historical personage, however, Stoker located his Count Dracula in a castle near the Borgo Pass in Transylvania
, and ascribed to that area the supernatural aura it retains to this day in the popular imagination.
Stoker likely drew inspiration from Irish myths
of blood-sucking creatures. He was also influenced by Le Fanu's Carmilla. Le Fanu was Stoker's editor when Stoker was a theatre critic in Dublin, Ireland. Like Le Fanu, Stoker created compelling female vampire characters such as Lucy Westenra
and the Brides of Dracula
.
Stoker's vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing
was a strong influence on subsequent vampire literature.
, as in the film Nosferatu, 20th century vampire fiction went beyond traditional Gothic horror and explored new genres such as science fiction. An early example of this is Gustave Le Rouge
's Le prisonnier de la planète Mars (1908) and its sequel La guerre des vampires (1909), in which a native race of bat-winged, blood-drinking humanoids is found on Mars
.
Another influential example of vampire science fiction was I Am Legend by author Richard Matheson
in (1954). The novel is set in a future Los Angeles overrun with undead cannibalistic/bloodsucking beings. The protagonist is the sole survivor of a pandemic
of a bacterium
that causes vampirism. He must fight to survive attacks from the hordes of nocturnal creatures, discover the secrets of their biology, and develop effective countermeasures. The novel was adapted into three movies: The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price in 1964, The Omega Man
starring Charlton Heston
in 1971, and I am Legend (film)
starring Will Smith
in 2007.
The latter part of the 20th century saw the rise of multi-volume vampire epics. The first of these was Gothic romance writer Marilyn Ross's Barnabas Collins
series (1966–71) loosely based on the contemporary American TV series Dark Shadows
. It also set the trend for seeing vampires as poetic tragic heroes rather than as the traditional embodiment of evil. This formula was followed in the popular Vampire Chronicles (1976–2003) series of novels by Anne Rice
and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
's massive Saint-Germain series (1978–). Ross, Rice and Yarbro set the trend for multi-volume vampire sagas which are now a stock feature of mass-market fiction (see below for list). Rice's work also saw the beginning of the convergence of traditional Gothic ideas with the modern Gothic subculture and a more explicit exploration of the transgressive sexualities which had always been implicit in vampire fiction.
The 1981 novel The Hunger
(adapted as a film in 1983) continued the theme of open sexuality and examined the biology of vampires, suggesting that their special abilities were the result of physical properties of their blood. The novel suggested that not all vampires were undead humans, but some were a separate species that had evolved alongside humans. This interpretation of vampires has since then been used in several science-fiction stories dealing with vampires, most famously the Blade
movie series.
Kim Newman
's Anno Dracula series
(1992–) returns to Stoker's Count Dracula and gives the genre a somewhat post-modern spin. The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created and largely written by Joss Whedon
, also explored vampire folklore in the light of postmodern and gender feminist theory.
Post-Colonial perspectives on the vampire legend are provided in Nalo Hopkinson
's novel Brown Girl In The Ring (1998), which features the Soucouyant
, a vampire of Caribbean folklore, and in Tananarive Due
's My Soul to Keep
(1995) and its sequel The Living Blood
(2001).
One of the more respected traditional vampire works of the twentieth century is Stephen King
's 'Salem's Lot, which reimagines the archetypal Dracula-type story in a modern American small town setting. King acknowledged the influence of Dracula on the work, as well as the violent, pre-Comics Code vampires portrayed in horror comics such as those released by E.C. Comics.
, inspired by Rice but mostly dropping the open sexuality of her characters in favour of more conventional sexual roles, is a remarkable contemporary publishing phenomenon. Romances with handsome vampires as the male lead include Lynsay Sands
' Argeneau family series (2003–), Charlaine Harris
The Southern Vampire Mysteries
series (2001–), and Christine Feehan
's Carpathian series (1999–). However, Laurell K. Hamilton
's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series has again shifted the genre boundaries from romance back toward the territory of erotica.
The occult detective
sub-genre is represented by Jim Butcher
's The Dresden Files
fantasy series (2000–), and Charlaine Harris
's Southern Vampire Mysteries (2001–).
In the field of juvenile and young adult literature, Darren Shan
wrote a twelve-book series (The Saga of Darren Shan
) about a boy who becomes a vampire's assistant, beginning with Cirque Du Freak (2000) and ending with Sons of Destiny
(2006). A film adaptation has been made of the first three books called Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009). He is also currently writing a prequel to The Saga, a series of four books all about Larten Crepsley (one of the main characters) starting with Birth of a Killer (2010) and finishing with Brothers to the Death (2012). Ellen Schreiber
created a young-adult series about Raven Madison and her vampire boyfriend Alexander Sterling, starting with Vampire Kisses (2005). In Scott Westerfeld
's young-adult novel Peeps
(2005), the protagonist carries a contagious parasite that causes vampire-like behavior.
The king of vampires Count Dracula also continues to inspire novelists, for example Elizabeth Kostova
in The Historian
(2005).
Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist
's critically praised vampire story Låt Den Rätte Komma In (2004) about the relationship of a 12-year-old boy with a 200-year-old vampire child has now been translated into English as Let the Right One In
(2007) and a film adaptation has been produced. The story takes place in Blackeberg
, a suburb of Stockholm. This particular novel does not follow the modern romantic trend, and instead focuses on a human-vampire friendship. Crucially, it retains many of the vampire traits popularized by Dracula
.
Peter Watts
' novel Blindsight has also explored a scientific basis for vampires, depicting them as an evolutionary offshoot from humanity who were not the dominant species on the planet solely due to an evolutionary glitch making them averse to Euclidean geometry.
and incubus
). This is in stark contrast to the vampire of Eastern European folklore, which was a horrifying animated corpse. However as in folklore, the literary vampire is sustained by drinking blood. They do not need other food, water, or even oxygen. They are sometimes portrayed as being unable to eat human food at all, forcing them to either avoid public dining or mime chewing and eating to deceive their mortal victims. The fictional vampire, however, often has a pale appearance rather than the dark or ruddy skin of folkloric vampires and their skin is cool to the touch. As in folklore literary vampires can usually be warded off with garlic
and symbols of Christian faith such as holy water
, the crucifix
, or a rosary
.
According to literary scholar Nina Auerbach
in Our Vampires Ourselves, the influence of the moon was seen as dominant in the earliest examples of vampire literature:
Bram Stoker's Dracula was hugely influential in its depiction of vampire traits, some of which are described by the novel's vampire expert Abraham Van Helsing
.
Dracula has the ability to change his shape at will, his featured forms in the novel being that of a wolf, bat, dust and fog. He can also crawl up and down the vertical external walls of his castle, in the manner of a lizard. One very famous trait Stoker added is the inability to be seen in mirrors, which is not found in traditional Eastern European folklore. Dracula also had protruding teeth, though was preceded in this by Varney the Vampire and Carmilla.
In the novel, the vampire hunter Van Helsing prescribes that a vampire be destroyed by a wooden stake (preferably made of white oak
) through the heart, decapitation
, drowning, or incineration. The vampire's head must be removed from its body, the mouth stuffed with garlic
and holy water or relics, the body drawn and quartered, then burned and spread into the four winds, with the head buried on hallowed ground. The destruction of the vampire Lucy follows the three-part process enjoined by Van Helsing (staking, decapitation, and garlic in the mouth). Traditional vampire folklore, followed by Stoker in Dracula does not usually hold that sunlight is fatal to vampires, though they are nocturnal. It is also notable in the novel that Dracula can walk about in the daylight, in bright sunshine, though apparently in discomfort and without the ability to use most of his powers, like turning into mist or a bat. He is still strong and fast enough to struggle with and escape from most of his male pursuers, in a scene in the book. It is only with the 1922 film Nosferatu that daylight is depicted as deadly to vampires. Such scenes in vampire films
, most especially the closing scene of the 1958 Dracula
film in which Count Dracula is burnt by the sun was very influential on later vampire fiction. For instance Anne Rice's vampire Lestat and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Count Saint Germain both avoid the lethal effects of daylight by staying closeted indoors during the day.
A well-known set of special powers and weaknesses is commonly associated with vampires in contemporary fiction. There is a tendency, however, for authors to pick and choose the ones they like, or find more realistic, and have their characters ridicule the rest as absurd. For example, in the movie Blade
, the vampire hunter Blade
tells Karen Jenson what kills vampires (stakes, silver, and sunlight), and dismisses tactics seen in vampire movies (namely crosses and running water) as ineffective in killing vampires. Some vampires can fly. This power may be supernatural levitation, or it may be connected to the vampire's shape-shifting ability. Some traditions hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless he or she is invited in. Generally, a vampire needs be invited in only once and can then come and go at will. Stephen King
's novel Salem's Lot explored an unusual direction with this myth in having one of the protagonists revoke a vampire's invitation to a house; the vampire was forced to flee the building immediately.
Some tales maintain that vampires must return to a coffin or to their "native soil" before sunrise to take their rest safely. Others place native soil in their coffins, especially if they have relocated. Still other vampire stories such as Le Fanu's Carmilla
maintain that vampires must return to their coffins, but sleep in several inches of blood as opposed to soil. Vampires are generally held to be unable to bear children, though the concept of a "half vampire" and similar creatures does exist in folklore and in some modern fiction. Some fictional vampires are fascinated with counting, an idea derived from folk stories about vampires being compelled to stop and count any spilled grain they find in their path. The most famous fictional counting vampire is likely Muppet character Count von Count
on television's Sesame Street
. Other examples include a fifth season
episode of the X-Files titled Bad Blood, and the Discworld
novel, Carpe Jugulum
by Terry Pratchett
. Some modern fictional vampires are portrayed as having magical powers beyond those originally assigned by myth, typically also possessing the powers of a witch or seer. Such examples include Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Drusilla was a seer before she was a vampire, and carried those powers into her undeath), Olivia Nightshade from The Nightshade Chronicles
/Dunpeal, the offspring of a vampire and a human known from Serbian folklore, has been popularized in recent fiction. Currently the most well known of these beings is D, the eponymous character from the Vampire Hunter D novel series by Hideyuki Kikuchi.
s (or prequel
s) to the first book published or detail the ongoing adventures of particular characters.
White Wolf
, a maker of role playing games, releases novels set in the fantasy world of its Vampire: The Masquerade
game. These series of novels were released in 13-book sets, each corresponding to one of the 13 clans of vampires in their game universe.
(Warren Publishing, 1969), Tomb of Dracula
(Marvel Comics, 1972), I...Vampire (DC Comics, 1981), Morbius, the Living Vampire
(Marvel, 1971), Blade
(Marvel, 1973), 30 Days of Night
(IDW Publishing, 2002), Chibi Vampire (Monthly Dragon Age, 2003), Rosario + Vampire
(Monthly Shōnen Jump 2004), Vampire Knight
(LaLa, 2005), Twilight: The Graphic Novel
(2010), Blood Alone
(MediaWorks, 2005), Dracula vs. King Arthur (Silent Devil Productions, 2005), Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures (Dabel Brothers Productions/Marvel Comics, 2007), Half Dead (Dabel Brothers Productions/Marvel Comics, 2007), Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
(Dark Horse Comics, 2007), and Hellsing
(Shonen Gahosha, 1997).
Proinsias Cassidy, the supporting lead male in Garth Ennis
's comic book series Preacher
(DC/Vertigo, 1995), is a vampire of Irish origin. In addition, many major superheroes have faced vampire supervillains at some point. In the Belgo-French comic Le Bal du rat mort, police inspector Jean Lamorgue is a hybrid vampire and he is a king of rats. He is guiding an invasion of rats
in Ostend
and he sucks the blood of his human victims.
In 2009, Zuda Comics launched La Morté Sisters
. A story of teenage vampirism in a Catholic orphanage taking place in South Philadelphia. The story follows new girl Maddie in a world of ninja nuns and black magic.
In 2010 Author Kevin Given launched "Karl Vincent: Vampire Hunter" which features vampire Sebastian Vasilis. Sebastian is revealed to be Radu Cel Frumos, the brother of Vlad the Impaler, Dracula.
Defunct vampire magazines include Crimson (England); Journal of the Dark (USA), Father Sebastiaan's Vampyre Magazine (USA) and The Velvet Vampyre (available to members of the disbanded The Vampyre Society, England).
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
with the publication of Polidori's The Vampyre
The Vampyre
"The Vampyre" is a short story or novella written in 1819 by John William Polidori which is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction...
(1819), which was inspired by the life and legend of Lord Byron. Later influential works include the penny dreadful
Penny Dreadful
A penny dreadful was a type of British fiction publication in the 19th century that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing an penny...
Varney the Vampire
Varney the Vampire
Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood was a Victorian era serialized gothic horror story by James Malcolm Rymer . It first appeared in 1845–47 as a series of cheap pamphlets of the kind then known as "penny dreadfuls". The story was published in book form in 1847...
(1847); Sheridan Le Fanu
Sheridan Le Fanu
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
's tale of a lesbian vampire
Lesbian vampire
Lesbian vampirism is a trope in 20th century exploitation film that has its roots in Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novella Carmilla about the predatory love of a female vampire for a young woman :...
, Carmilla
Carmilla
Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla...
(1872) and the masterpiece of the genre: Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
's Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
(1897).
In later years, vampire stories have diversified into areas of crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
or even chick-lit. As well as the typical fanged revenants, newer representations include aliens and even plants with vampiric abilities. Others feed on energy rather than blood.
Eighteenth century
Vampire fiction is rooted in the 'vampire craze' of the 1720s and 1730s, which culminated in the somewhat bizarre official exhumations of suspected vampires Peter PlogojowitzPeter Plogojowitz
Peter Plogojowitz was a Serbian peasant who was believed to have become a vampire after his death and to have killed nine of his fellow villagers. The case was one of the earliest, most sensational and most well documented cases of vampire hysteria...
and Arnold Paole
Arnold Paole
Arnold Paole Arnold Paole Arnold Paole (Arnont Paule in the original documents; an early German rendition of a Serbian name or nickname, perhaps Арнаут Павле, Arnaut Pavle; died c...
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
under the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. One of the first works of art to touch upon the subject is the short German poem The Vampire (1748) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, where the theme already has strong erotic overtones: a man whose love is rejected by a respectable and pious maiden threatens to pay her a nightly visit, drink her blood by giving her the seductive kiss of the vampire and thus prove her that his teaching is better than her mother's Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Furthermore, there have been a number of tales about a dead person returning from the grave to visit his/her beloved or spouse and bring them death in one way or another, the narrative poem Lenore
Lenore (ballad)
Lenore, sometimes translated as Leonora, Leonore or Ellenore, is a poem written by German author Gottfried August Bürger in 1773, and published in 1774 in the Göttinger Musenalmanach...
(1773) by Gottfried August Bürger
Gottfried August Bürger
Gottfried August Bürger was a German poet. His ballads were very popular in Germany. His most noted ballad, Lenore, found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English adaptation and a French translation.-Biography:He was born in Molmerswende , Principality of Halberstadt, where...
being a notable 18th century example. One of its lines Denn die Toten reiten schnell ("For the dead ride fast") was to be quoted in Bram Stoker's classic Dracula. A later German poem exploring the same subject with a prominent vampiric element was The Bride of Corinth (1797) by Goethe, a story about a young woman who returns from the grave to seek her betrothed:
The story is turned into an expression of the conflict between Heathendom and Christianity: the family of the dead girl are Christians, while the young man and his relatives are still pagans. It turns out that it was the girl's Christian mother who broke off her engagement and forced her to become a nun, eventually driving her to death. The motive behind the girl's return as a "spectre" is that "e'en Earth can never cool down love". Goethe had been inspired by the story of Philinnion by Phlegon of Tralles
Phlegon of Tralles
Phlegon of Tralles was a Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, who lived in the 2nd century AD.His chief work was the Olympiads, an historical compendium in sixteen books, from the 1st down to the 229th Olympiad , of which several chapters are preserved in Eusebius' Chronicle, Photius...
, a tale from classical Greece
Classical Greece
Classical Greece was a 200 year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through 4th centuries BC. This classical period had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundation of Western civilizations. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, such as...
. However, in that tale, the youth is not the girl's betrothed, no religious conflict is present, no actual sucking of blood occurs, and the girl's return from the dead is said to be sanctioned by the gods of the Underworld
Greek underworld
The Greek underworld was made up of various realms believed to lie beneath the earth or at its farthest reaches.This includes:* The great pit of Tartarus, originally the exclusive prison of the old Titan gods, it later came to be the dungeon home of damned souls.* The land of the dead ruled by the...
. She relapses into death upon being exposed, and the issue is settled by burning her body outside of the city walls and making an apotropaic sacrifice to the deities involved.
The first mention of vampires in English literature appears in Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
's monumental oriental epic poem Thalaba the Destroyer
Thalaba the Destroyer
Thalaba the Destroyer is an 1801 epic poem composed by Robert Southey. The origins of the poem can be traced to Southey's school boy days, but he did not begin to write the poem until he finished composing Madoc at the age of 25. Thalaba the Destroyer was completed while Southey travelled in...
(1797), where the main character Thalaba's deceased beloved Oneiza turns into a vampire, although that occurrence is actually marginal to the story. It has been argued that Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
's poem Christabel (written between 1797 and 1801, but not published until 1816) has influenced the development of vampire fiction: the heroine Christabel is seduced by a female supernatural being called Geraldine who tricks her way into her residence and eventually tries to marry her after having assumed the appearance of an old beloved of hers. The story bears a remarkable resemblance to the overtly vampiric story of Carmilla
Carmilla
Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla...
by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1872).
Nineteenth century
In a passage in his epic poem The GiaourThe Giaour
"The Giaour" is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 and the first in the series of his Oriental romances. "The Giaour" proved to be a great success when published, consolidating Byron's reputation critically and commercially.-Background:...
(1813), Lord Byron alludes to the traditional folkloric conception of the vampire as a being damned to suck the blood and destroy the life of its nearest relations:
- But first, on earth as vampire sent,
Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;
- There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corse:
Thy victims ere they yet expire
Shall know the demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers are withered on the stem.
Byron also composed an enigmatic fragmentary story concerning the mysterious fate of an aristocrat named Augustus Darvell whilst journeying in the Orient — as his contribution to the famous ghost story competition at the Villa Diodati
Villa Diodati
The Villa Diodati is a manor in Cologny close to Lake Geneva. It is most famous for having been the summer residence of Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, John Polidori and others in 1816, where the basis for the classical horror stories Frankenstein and The Vampyre was laid.Originally called...
by Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
in the summer of 1816
Year Without a Summer
The Year Without a Summer was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C , resulting in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere...
, between him, Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
, Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
and John William Polidori (who was Byron's personal physician). This story provided the basis for The Vampyre
The Vampyre
"The Vampyre" is a short story or novella written in 1819 by John William Polidori which is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction...
(1819) by Polidori. Byron's own wild life became the model for Polidori's undead protagonist Lord Ruthven
Lord Ruthven (vampire)
Lord Ruthven is a fictional character. First appearing in print in 1816, he was one of the first vampires in English literature.-Origins:There is a genuine title of Lord Ruthven of Freeland which is a subsidiary title of the Earl of Carlisle in the United Kingdom...
. According to A. Asbjorn Jon 'the choice of name [for Polidori's Lord Ruthven] is presumably linked to Lady Caroline Lamb's earlier novel Glenarvon, where it was used for a rather ill disguised Byronesque character'
An unauthorized sequel to Polidori's tale by Cyprien Bérard called Lord Ruthwen ou les Vampires (1820) was attributed to Charles Nodier
Charles Nodier
Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier , was a French author who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the conte fantastique, gothic literature, vampire tales, and the importance of dreams as part of literary creation, and whose career as a librarian is often underestimated by literary...
. Nodier himself adapted "The Vampyre" into the first vampire stage melodrama, Le Vampire. Unlike Polidori's original story Nodier's play was set in Scotland. This in turn was adapted by the English melodramatist James Planché
James Planche
James Robinson Planché was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including extravaganza, farce, comedy, burletta, melodrama and opera...
as The Vampire; or, the Bride of the Isles (1820) at the Lyceum
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
(then called the English Opera House), also set in Scotland. Planché introduced the "vampire trap" as a way for the title fiend to appear in a dream at the beginning and then to vanish into the earth at his destruction. Nodier's play was also the basis of an opera called Der Vampyr
Der Vampyr
Der Vampyr is a Romantic opera in two acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück is based on the play Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut by Heinrich Ludwig Ritter, which itself was based on the short novel The Vampyre by John Polidori...
by the German composer Heinrich Marschner
Heinrich Marschner
Heinrich August Marschner , was the most important composer of German Romantic opera between Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, and is remembered principally for his operas Hans Heiling , Der Vampyr , and Der Templer und die Jüdin...
who set the story in a more plausible Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
. Planché in turn translated the libretto of this opera into English in 1827 where it was performed at the Lyceum also. Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
later redramatized the story in a play also entitled Le Vampire (1851). Another theatrical vampire of this period was 'Sir Alan Raby' who is the lead character of The Vampire (1852), a play by Dion Boucicault
Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the...
. Boucicault himself played the lead role to great effect, though the play itself had mixed reviews. Queen Victoria, who saw the play, described it in her diary as "very trashy".
A milestone in vampire literature was Elizabeth Caroline Grey
Elizabeth Caroline Grey
Elizabeth Caroline Grey , aka Mrs. Colonel Grey or Mrs. Grey, was a prolific English author of over 30 romance novels, silver fork novels, Gothic novels, sensation fiction and penny dreadfuls, active between the 1820s and 1867...
's The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress
The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress
The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress by Elizabeth Caroline Grey is alleged by anthologist Peter Haining to be the first vampire story written and published by a woman...
(1828), believed to be the first vampire story published by a woman. An important later example of 19th century Vampire fiction is the penny dreadful
Penny Dreadful
A penny dreadful was a type of British fiction publication in the 19th century that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing an penny...
epic Varney the Vampire
Varney the Vampire
Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood was a Victorian era serialized gothic horror story by James Malcolm Rymer . It first appeared in 1845–47 as a series of cheap pamphlets of the kind then known as "penny dreadfuls". The story was published in book form in 1847...
(1847) featuring Sir Francis Varney as the Vampire. In this story we have the first example of the standard trope in which the vampire comes through the window at night and attacks a maiden as she lies sleeping.
Heathcliff
Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)
Heathcliff is a fictional character in the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Owing to the novel's enduring fame and popularity, he is often regarded as an archetype of the tortured Romantic hero whose all-consuming passions destroy both himself and those around him.Legend has stereotyped...
in Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
's Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
(1847), is suspected by his housekeeper of being a vampire, in the final chapter of that novel.
Fascinating erotic fixations are evident in Sheridan le Fanu
Sheridan Le Fanu
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
's classic novella Carmilla
Carmilla
Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla...
(1872) which features a female vampire with lesbian inclinations who seduces the heroine Laura whilst draining her of her vital fluids. Le Fanu's story is set in the Duchy of Styria
Duchy of Styria
The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...
. Such central European locations became a standard feature of vampire fiction.
Another important example of the development of vampire fiction can be found in three seminal novels by Paul Féval: Le Chevalier Ténèbre (1860), La Vampire (1865) and La Ville Vampire (1874). Marie Nizet
Marie Nizet
Marie Nizet , married name Marie Mercier, was a Belgian writer.-Life:Marie Nizet was born in Brussels into a literary family. She was a student at Isabelle Gatti de Gamond's secondary girls' school...
's Le Capitaine Vampire (1879) features a Russian officer, Boris Liatoukine, who is a vampire.
The most famous Serbian vampire was Sava Savanović
Sava Savanovic
Sava Savanović is one of the most famous vampires in Serbian folklore.-Legend:Sava Savanović was said to have lived in an old watermill on the Rogačica river, at Zarožje village in the municipality of Bajina Bašta. It was said that he killed and drank the blood of the millers when they came to...
, famous from a folklore-inspired novel by Milovan Glišić
Milovan Glišic
Milovan Glišić was a Serbian writer, dramatist, translator, and literary theorist. He is sometimes referred to as the Serbian Gogol.-Biography:...
.
Dracula
Bram Stoker's DraculaDracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
(1897) has been the definitive description of the vampire in popular fiction for the last century. Its portrayal of vampirism as a disease (contagious demonic possession), with its undertones of sex, blood, and death, struck a chord in a Victorian Britain where tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
were common. A decade before in 1888, the press had sensationalized Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
's sexualized murders
Lust murder
A lust murder is a homicide in which the offender searches for erotic satisfaction by killing someone. Lust murder is synonymous with the paraphilic term erotophonophilia which is sexual arousal or gratification contingent on the death of a human being...
of prostitutes during his reign of terror in east London.
The name Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
was inspired by a real person, Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler). Ţepeş was a notorious Wallachian (Romanian) prince of the 15th century, also known as Vlad III Dracula. Unlike the historical personage, however, Stoker located his Count Dracula in a castle near the Borgo Pass in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, and ascribed to that area the supernatural aura it retains to this day in the popular imagination.
Stoker likely drew inspiration from Irish myths
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
of blood-sucking creatures. He was also influenced by Le Fanu's Carmilla. Le Fanu was Stoker's editor when Stoker was a theatre critic in Dublin, Ireland. Like Le Fanu, Stoker created compelling female vampire characters such as Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. She is the 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family. Her father is not mentioned in the novel and her elderly mother is simply stated as being Mrs. Westenra. Lucy is introduced as Mina Murray's best friend. In the 1931...
and the Brides of Dracula
Brides of Dracula
The Brides of Dracula are characters in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. They are three seductive female vampire "sisters" who reside with Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania, where they entrance male humans with their beauty and charm, and then proceed to feed upon them...
.
Stoker's vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...
was a strong influence on subsequent vampire literature.
Twentieth century
Though Stoker's Count Dracula remained an iconic figure, especially in the new medium of cinemaVampire films
Vampire films have been a staple since the silent days, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's Dracula, with over 170...
, as in the film Nosferatu, 20th century vampire fiction went beyond traditional Gothic horror and explored new genres such as science fiction. An early example of this is Gustave Le Rouge
Gustave Le Rouge
Gustave Henri Joseph Le Rouge was a French writer who embodied the evolution of modern science fiction at the beginning of the 20th century, by moving it away from the juvenile adventures of Jules Verne and incorporating real people into his stories, thus bridging the gap between Vernian and...
's Le prisonnier de la planète Mars (1908) and its sequel La guerre des vampires (1909), in which a native race of bat-winged, blood-drinking humanoids is found on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
.
Another influential example of vampire science fiction was I Am Legend by author Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
in (1954). The novel is set in a future Los Angeles overrun with undead cannibalistic/bloodsucking beings. The protagonist is the sole survivor of a pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
of a bacterium
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
that causes vampirism. He must fight to survive attacks from the hordes of nocturnal creatures, discover the secrets of their biology, and develop effective countermeasures. The novel was adapted into three movies: The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price in 1964, The Omega Man
The Omega Man
The Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It is based on the novel I Am Legend by American writer Richard Matheson...
starring Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
in 1971, and I am Legend (film)
I Am Legend
I Am Legend is a 1954 horror fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson. It was influential in the development of the zombie genre and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease...
starring Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
in 2007.
The latter part of the 20th century saw the rise of multi-volume vampire epics. The first of these was Gothic romance writer Marilyn Ross's Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...
series (1966–71) loosely based on the contemporary American TV series Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
. It also set the trend for seeing vampires as poetic tragic heroes rather than as the traditional embodiment of evil. This formula was followed in the popular Vampire Chronicles (1976–2003) series of novels by Anne Rice
Anne Rice
Anne Rice is a best-selling Southern American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history...
and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
-Biography:She was born in Berkeley, California. She attended Berkeley schools through high school followed by three years at San Francisco State College .In November 1969 she married Donald Simpson and divorced in February 1982...
's massive Saint-Germain series (1978–). Ross, Rice and Yarbro set the trend for multi-volume vampire sagas which are now a stock feature of mass-market fiction (see below for list). Rice's work also saw the beginning of the convergence of traditional Gothic ideas with the modern Gothic subculture and a more explicit exploration of the transgressive sexualities which had always been implicit in vampire fiction.
The 1981 novel The Hunger
The Hunger (novel)
The Hunger is a novel by Whitley Strieber. The plot involves a beautiful and wealthy vampire named Miriam Blaylock who takes human lovers and transforms them into vampire/human hybrids....
(adapted as a film in 1983) continued the theme of open sexuality and examined the biology of vampires, suggesting that their special abilities were the result of physical properties of their blood. The novel suggested that not all vampires were undead humans, but some were a separate species that had evolved alongside humans. This interpretation of vampires has since then been used in several science-fiction stories dealing with vampires, most famously the Blade
Blade (film)
Blade is a 1998 vampire superhero action horror starring Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff, loosely based on the Marvel Comics character Blade. The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Blade grossed $70 million at the U.S. box office, and $131.2 million worldwide...
movie series.
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
's Anno Dracula series
Anno Dracula series
The Anno Dracula series by Kim Newman—named after Anno Dracula , the series' first novel—is a work of fantasy depicting an alternate history in which the heroes of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula fail to stop Count Dracula's conquest of Great Britain, resulting in a world where vampires are common and...
(1992–) returns to Stoker's Count Dracula and gives the genre a somewhat post-modern spin. The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created and largely written by Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
, also explored vampire folklore in the light of postmodern and gender feminist theory.
Post-Colonial perspectives on the vampire legend are provided in Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican science fiction and fantasy writer and editor who lives in Canada. Her novels and short stories such as those in her collection Skin Folk often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.Hopkinson has...
's novel Brown Girl In The Ring (1998), which features the Soucouyant
Soucouyant
The soucouyant or soucriant in Dominica, Trinidadian and Guadeloupean folklore , is a kind of witch vampire.-Legend:...
, a vampire of Caribbean folklore, and in Tananarive Due
Tananarive Due
Tananarive Due is an American author.-Biography:Tananarive Priscilla Due was born in Tallahassee, Florida, the oldest of three daughters of civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due and civil rights lawyer John D. Due Jr...
's My Soul to Keep
My Soul to Keep
My Soul to Keep is a novel by writer Tananarive Due. A film version of this book is in production with actor Blair Underwood. It is the first book in Due's African Immortals Series and it followed by The Living Blood. The third book in the series, Blood Colony, was published in 2008.-Reviews:* by...
(1995) and its sequel The Living Blood
The Living Blood
The Living Blood is a novel by writer Tananarive Due. It is the second book in Due's African Immortals Series. It is preceded by My Soul to Keep, which was published in 1997, and is followed by Blood Colony, which was published in 2008....
(2001).
One of the more respected traditional vampire works of the twentieth century is Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's 'Salem's Lot, which reimagines the archetypal Dracula-type story in a modern American small town setting. King acknowledged the influence of Dracula on the work, as well as the violent, pre-Comics Code vampires portrayed in horror comics such as those released by E.C. Comics.
Twenty-first century
Many books based on vampires are still being published, including several continuing series. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles ended after many years, but many others have started up in the meantime. Paranormal romanceParanormal romance
Paranormal romance is a sub-genre of the romance novel. A type of speculative fiction, paranormal romance focuses on romance and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, blending together themes from the genres of traditional fantasy, science fiction, or horror...
, inspired by Rice but mostly dropping the open sexuality of her characters in favour of more conventional sexual roles, is a remarkable contemporary publishing phenomenon. Romances with handsome vampires as the male lead include Lynsay Sands
Lynsay Sands
Lynsay Sands is an award winning Canadian author of over 30 books. She is noted for the humor she injects into her stories. While she writes both historical and paranormal novels, she is best known for her Argeneau series about a modern family of vampires.- Biography :Sands grew up in Southern...
' Argeneau family series (2003–), Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for over twenty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children...
The Southern Vampire Mysteries
The Southern Vampire Mysteries
The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris that were first published in 2001 and now serve as the source material for the HBO television series True Blood...
series (2001–), and Christine Feehan
Christine Feehan
Christine Feehan is an American romance-paranormal writer. She has published more than 26 novels, including five series, and numerous novellas since 1999.-Biography:...
's Carpathian series (1999–). However, Laurell K. Hamilton
Laurell K. Hamilton
Laurell Kaye Hamilton is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is the author of two series of stories. Hamilton is known for her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake series, featuring a professional zombie raiser/supernatural consultant for the police as the protagonist in a world where...
's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series has again shifted the genre boundaries from romance back toward the territory of erotica.
The occult detective
Occult detective
Occult detective stories combine the tropes of the detective story with those of supernatural horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, curses, and other supernatural elements...
sub-genre is represented by Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher is a New York Times Best Selling author most known for his contemporary fantasy book series The Dresden Files. He also wrote the Codex Alera series. Butcher grew up as the only son of his parents, and has two older sisters. He currently lives in Independence with his wife, Shannon K...
's The Dresden Files
The Dresden Files
The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher.He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in...
fantasy series (2000–), and Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for over twenty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children...
's Southern Vampire Mysteries (2001–).
In the field of juvenile and young adult literature, Darren Shan
Darren Shan
Darren O'Shaughnessy , who commonly writes under the pen name Darren Shan, is an Irish author. Darren Shan is also the main character in Shan's The Saga of Darren Shan young-adult fiction series. He also wrote The Demonata series as well as the stand-alone books, Koyasan and The Thin Executioner...
wrote a twelve-book series (The Saga of Darren Shan
The Saga of Darren Shan
The Saga of Darren Shan is a young adult 12 part book series written by Darren Shan about the struggle of a boy who has become involved in the world of vampires. As of October 2008, the book is published in 37 countries around the world, in 30 different languages...
) about a boy who becomes a vampire's assistant, beginning with Cirque Du Freak (2000) and ending with Sons of Destiny
Sons of Destiny
Sons of Destiny is the twelfth and final book in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. It was published as the third book of the Vampire Destiny trilogy by Little Brown and Company.-Synopsis:...
(2006). A film adaptation has been made of the first three books called Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009). He is also currently writing a prequel to The Saga, a series of four books all about Larten Crepsley (one of the main characters) starting with Birth of a Killer (2010) and finishing with Brothers to the Death (2012). Ellen Schreiber
Ellen Schreiber
Ellen Schreiber is an American young-adult fiction author.-Biography:Ellen Schreiber was an actress and a stand-up comedian before becoming an author; she was also a real-estate agent. She studied Shakespearean theater at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and comedy at The Second City of...
created a young-adult series about Raven Madison and her vampire boyfriend Alexander Sterling, starting with Vampire Kisses (2005). In Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld is an American author of science fiction. He was born in Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.-Books:...
's young-adult novel Peeps
Peeps (novel)
Peeps is a 2005 novel by Scott Westerfeld revolving around a parasite which causes people to become cannibalistic and repelled by that which they once loved. It follows the protagonist, Cal Thompson, as he lives with this parasite and tries to uncover a possible threat to the whole population of...
(2005), the protagonist carries a contagious parasite that causes vampire-like behavior.
The king of vampires Count Dracula also continues to inspire novelists, for example Elizabeth Kostova
Elizabeth Kostova
Elizabeth Johnson Kostova is an American author best known for her debut novel The Historian.-Early life:Elizabeth Z. Johnson was born in New London, Connecticut and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee where she graduated from the Webb School of Knoxville...
in The Historian
The Historian
The Historian interweaves the history and folklore of Vlad Ţepeş, a 15th-century prince of Wallachia known as "Vlad the Impaler", and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula together with the story of Paul, a professor; his 16-year-old daughter; and their quest for Vlad's tomb...
(2005).
Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist
John Ajvide Lindqvist
John Ajvide Lindqvist is a Swedish writer, mostly of horror novels and short stories. Ajvide Lindqvist grew up in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg. His debut novel Let the Right One In a romantic, social realistic vampire horror story published in 2004, enjoyed great success in Sweden and abroad...
's critically praised vampire story Låt Den Rätte Komma In (2004) about the relationship of a 12-year-old boy with a 200-year-old vampire child has now been translated into English as Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In , or Let Me In, is a 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. The story centers on the relationship between a 12-year-old boy, Oskar, and a centuries-old vampire child, Eli. It takes place in Blackeberg, a working class suburb of Stockholm, in the...
(2007) and a film adaptation has been produced. The story takes place in Blackeberg
Blackeberg
Blackeberg is a suburb of Stockholm built in the 1950s, and is part of the Bromma borough. Blackeberg was originally a croft first mentioned in 1599. The croft was demolished in 1861 by Knut Ljunglöf, who built a house, a stable, a mill and a saw instead. The saw and mill are now both cultural...
, a suburb of Stockholm. This particular novel does not follow the modern romantic trend, and instead focuses on a human-vampire friendship. Crucially, it retains many of the vampire traits popularized by Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
.
Peter Watts
Peter Watts
Peter Watts is a Canadian science fiction author and marine-mammal biologist.-Career:His first novel Starfish reintroduced Lenie Clarke from his 1990 short story, "A Niche"; Clarke is a deep-ocean power-station worker physically altered for underwater living and the main character in the sequels:...
' novel Blindsight has also explored a scientific basis for vampires, depicting them as an evolutionary offshoot from humanity who were not the dominant species on the planet solely due to an evolutionary glitch making them averse to Euclidean geometry.
Traits of vampires in fiction
The traits of the literary vampire have evolved from the often repulsive figures of folklore. Fictional vampires can be romantic figures, often described as elegant and sexy (compare demons such as succubusSuccubus
In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
and incubus
Incubus (demon)
An incubus is a demon in male form who, according to a number of mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have intercourse with them. Its female counterpart is the succubus...
). This is in stark contrast to the vampire of Eastern European folklore, which was a horrifying animated corpse. However as in folklore, the literary vampire is sustained by drinking blood. They do not need other food, water, or even oxygen. They are sometimes portrayed as being unable to eat human food at all, forcing them to either avoid public dining or mime chewing and eating to deceive their mortal victims. The fictional vampire, however, often has a pale appearance rather than the dark or ruddy skin of folkloric vampires and their skin is cool to the touch. As in folklore literary vampires can usually be warded off with garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
and symbols of Christian faith such as holy water
Holy water
Holy water is water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil.The use for baptism and...
, the crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
, or a rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
.
According to literary scholar Nina Auerbach
Nina Auerbach
Nina Auerbach is the John Welsh Centennial Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. Her special area of concentration is nineteenth-century England...
in Our Vampires Ourselves, the influence of the moon was seen as dominant in the earliest examples of vampire literature:
Bram Stoker's Dracula was hugely influential in its depiction of vampire traits, some of which are described by the novel's vampire expert Abraham Van Helsing
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...
.
Dracula has the ability to change his shape at will, his featured forms in the novel being that of a wolf, bat, dust and fog. He can also crawl up and down the vertical external walls of his castle, in the manner of a lizard. One very famous trait Stoker added is the inability to be seen in mirrors, which is not found in traditional Eastern European folklore. Dracula also had protruding teeth, though was preceded in this by Varney the Vampire and Carmilla.
In the novel, the vampire hunter Van Helsing prescribes that a vampire be destroyed by a wooden stake (preferably made of white oak
White oak
Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the Fagaceae family, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been...
) through the heart, decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
, drowning, or incineration. The vampire's head must be removed from its body, the mouth stuffed with garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
and holy water or relics, the body drawn and quartered, then burned and spread into the four winds, with the head buried on hallowed ground. The destruction of the vampire Lucy follows the three-part process enjoined by Van Helsing (staking, decapitation, and garlic in the mouth). Traditional vampire folklore, followed by Stoker in Dracula does not usually hold that sunlight is fatal to vampires, though they are nocturnal. It is also notable in the novel that Dracula can walk about in the daylight, in bright sunshine, though apparently in discomfort and without the ability to use most of his powers, like turning into mist or a bat. He is still strong and fast enough to struggle with and escape from most of his male pursuers, in a scene in the book. It is only with the 1922 film Nosferatu that daylight is depicted as deadly to vampires. Such scenes in vampire films
Vampire films
Vampire films have been a staple since the silent days, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's Dracula, with over 170...
, most especially the closing scene of the 1958 Dracula
Dracula (1958 film)
Dracula, also known as Horror of Dracula in the United States, is a 1958 British horror film. It is the first in the series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Carol Marsh, Melissa Stribling and...
film in which Count Dracula is burnt by the sun was very influential on later vampire fiction. For instance Anne Rice's vampire Lestat and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Count Saint Germain both avoid the lethal effects of daylight by staying closeted indoors during the day.
A well-known set of special powers and weaknesses is commonly associated with vampires in contemporary fiction. There is a tendency, however, for authors to pick and choose the ones they like, or find more realistic, and have their characters ridicule the rest as absurd. For example, in the movie Blade
Blade (film)
Blade is a 1998 vampire superhero action horror starring Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff, loosely based on the Marvel Comics character Blade. The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Blade grossed $70 million at the U.S. box office, and $131.2 million worldwide...
, the vampire hunter Blade
Blade (comics)
Blade is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
tells Karen Jenson what kills vampires (stakes, silver, and sunlight), and dismisses tactics seen in vampire movies (namely crosses and running water) as ineffective in killing vampires. Some vampires can fly. This power may be supernatural levitation, or it may be connected to the vampire's shape-shifting ability. Some traditions hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless he or she is invited in. Generally, a vampire needs be invited in only once and can then come and go at will. Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel Salem's Lot explored an unusual direction with this myth in having one of the protagonists revoke a vampire's invitation to a house; the vampire was forced to flee the building immediately.
Some tales maintain that vampires must return to a coffin or to their "native soil" before sunrise to take their rest safely. Others place native soil in their coffins, especially if they have relocated. Still other vampire stories such as Le Fanu's Carmilla
Carmilla
Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla...
maintain that vampires must return to their coffins, but sleep in several inches of blood as opposed to soil. Vampires are generally held to be unable to bear children, though the concept of a "half vampire" and similar creatures does exist in folklore and in some modern fiction. Some fictional vampires are fascinated with counting, an idea derived from folk stories about vampires being compelled to stop and count any spilled grain they find in their path. The most famous fictional counting vampire is likely Muppet character Count von Count
Count von Count
Count von Count, often known simply as "The Count", is one of the Muppet characters on Sesame Street, performed by Jerry Nelson. The Count is a vampire modeled after Bela Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula.-Description:...
on television's Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
. Other examples include a fifth season
The X-Files (season 5)
-Episodes:Episodes marked with an asterisk are part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk are part of the series' Alien Mythology....
episode of the X-Files titled Bad Blood, and the Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
novel, Carpe Jugulum
Carpe Jugulum
Carpe Jugulum ) is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the twenty-third in the Discworld series. It was first published in 1998....
by Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
. Some modern fictional vampires are portrayed as having magical powers beyond those originally assigned by myth, typically also possessing the powers of a witch or seer. Such examples include Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Drusilla was a seer before she was a vampire, and carried those powers into her undeath), Olivia Nightshade from The Nightshade Chronicles
Vampire hybrids
The DhampirDhampir
A Dhampir in Balkan folklore is the child of a vampire father and a human mother. The term is sometimes spelled dhampyre, dhamphir, or dhampyr. Dhampir powers are similar to those of vampires, but without the usual weaknesses...
/Dunpeal, the offspring of a vampire and a human known from Serbian folklore, has been popularized in recent fiction. Currently the most well known of these beings is D, the eponymous character from the Vampire Hunter D novel series by Hideyuki Kikuchi.
Literature
- The Vampire by Heinrich August Ossenfelder (1748).
- The GiaourThe Giaour"The Giaour" is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 and the first in the series of his Oriental romances. "The Giaour" proved to be a great success when published, consolidating Byron's reputation critically and commercially.-Background:...
by Lord Byron (1813). - Christabel by Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
(1816). - "The VampyreThe Vampyre"The Vampyre" is a short story or novella written in 1819 by John William Polidori which is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction...
" by John William Polidori (1819). - "La Morte AmoureuseLa Morte Amoureuse"La Morte Amoureuse" is a short story written by Théophile Gautier and was published in La Chronique de Paris in 1836. It tells the story of a priest named Romuald who falls in love with Clarimonde, a beautiful woman who turns out to be a vampire....
" by Théophile GautierThéophile GautierPierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
(1836). - "The Family of the Vourdalak" by Count Alexis TolstoyAleksey Konstantinovich TolstoyCount Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, often referred to as A. K. Tolstoy , was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright, considered to be the most important nineteenth-century Russian historical dramatist...
(1843). - Varney the VampireVarney the VampireVarney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood was a Victorian era serialized gothic horror story by James Malcolm Rymer . It first appeared in 1845–47 as a series of cheap pamphlets of the kind then known as "penny dreadfuls". The story was published in book form in 1847...
or The Feast of Blood by James Malcolm RymerJames Malcolm RymerJames Malcolm Rymer was a British nineteenth century writer of penny dreadfuls, and is the probable author of Varney the Vampire and co-author of The String of Pearls , in which the notorious villain Sweeney Todd makes his literary debut.Information about Rymer is sketchy...
(or Thomas Peckett PrestThomas Peckett PrestThomas Peckett Prest was a British hack writer, journalist and musician. He was a prolific producer of penny dreadfuls. He is now remembered as the co-creator of the fictional Sweeney Todd, the 'demon barber' immortalized in his The String of Pearls...
) (1847). - "The Mysterious Stranger" by AnonymousAnonymous workAnonymous works are works, such as art or literature, that have an anonymous, undisclosed, or unknown creator or author. In the United States it is legally defined as "a work on the copies or phonorecords of which no natural person is identified as author."...
. Translated from the original German, this vampire tale appeared in the English magazine Odds and Ends in (1860). - Le Chevalier Ténèbre (Knightshade) by Paul Féval (1860).
- La Vampire (The Vampire Countess) by Paul Féval (1865).
- CarmillaCarmillaCarmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla...
(1872) by Sheridan le FanuSheridan Le FanuJoseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
. - La Ville Vampire (Vampire City) by Paul Féval (1874).
- "After Ninety Years" by Milovan GlišićMilovan GlišicMilovan Glišić was a Serbian writer, dramatist, translator, and literary theorist. He is sometimes referred to as the Serbian Gogol.-Biography:...
(1880). - "The Fate of Madame Cabanel" by Eliza Lynn LintonEliza Lynn LintonEliza Lynn Linton , was a British novelist, essayist, and journalist.-Life:The daughter of a clergyman and granddaughter of a bishop of Carlisle, she arrived in London in 1845 as the protégé of poet Walter Savage Landor. In the following year she produced her first novel, Azeth, the Egyptian;...
(1880). - Manor by Karl Heinrich UlrichsKarl Heinrich Ulrichsfor the periodical directory, see Ulrich's Periodicals DirectoryKarl-Heinrich Ulrichs , is seen today as the pioneer of the modern gay rights movement.-Early life:...
(1884). - The True Story of the Vampire by Count Stanislaus Eric StenbockEric StenbockCount Eric Stanislaus Stenbock was a Baltic German poet and writer of macabre fantastic fiction.-Life:Stenbock was the count of Bogesund and the heir to an estate near Kolga in Estonia...
(1894). - LilithLilith (novel)Lilith is a fantasy novel written by Scottish writer George MacDonald and first published in 1895. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in September 1969.Lilith is considered among...
by George MacDonaldGeorge MacDonaldGeorge MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. It was C.S...
(1895). - DraculaDraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
by Bram StokerBram StokerAbraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
(1897). - "The Tomb of Sarah" by F. G. LoringF. G. LoringFrederick George Loring was an English naval officer, wireless expert, and writer.-Family:Loring was born on 11 March 1869 in Ryde, Isle of Wight, the eldest son of Admiral Sir William Loring , and his wife, Frances Louisa Adams...
(1900). - The House of the Vampire by George Sylvester ViereckGeorge Sylvester ViereckGeorge Sylvester Viereck was a German-American poet, writer, and propagandist.-Biography:...
(1907). - The Lair of the White Worm by Bram StokerBram StokerAbraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
(1911). - "For the Blood is the Life" (1911) by F. Marion Crawford.
- "Wampir" ("The Vampire") (1911) by Władysław Reymont.
- "The Room in the TowerThe Room in the TowerThe Room in the Tower is a short horror story by E.F. Benson, published in 1912. A shortened version was republished by Penguin Books in Level 2.-Plot summary:...
" (1912) by E.F. Benson. - "Bewitched" (1927) by Edith WhartonEdith WhartonEdith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
. - "The Dark Castle" (1931) by Marion Brandon.
- "Revelations in Black" (1933) by Carl JacobiCarl Richard JacobiCarl Richard Jacobi was an American author. He wrote short stories in the horror, fantasy, science fiction and crime genres for the pulp magazine market.-Biography:...
. - There were no Asper Ladies (1946) by Eugene Ascher.
- "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" (1949) by Fritz LeiberFritz LeiberFritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...
. - I Am Legend by Richard MathesonRichard MathesonRichard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
(1954). - Natural History (Les històries naturals in the original Catlan) by Joan Perucho (1960). Translated into English by David H. Rosenthal in 1988.
- "The Longest Night" by Ray RussellRay RussellRay Russell was an American writer of short stories, novels, and screenplays. In 1991 he received the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement....
(1960). - "Pages from a Young Girl's Journal" (1973) by Robert AickmanRobert AickmanRobert Fordyce Aickman was an English conservationist and writer of fiction and nonfiction. As a writer, he is best known for his supernatural fiction, which he described as "strange stories".-Life:...
. - 'Salem's Lot by Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
(1975). - "The Night Flyer" by Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
. - The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee CharnasSuzy McKee CharnasSuzy McKee Charnas is an American novelist and short story writer, writing primarily in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. She has won several awards for her fiction, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. A selection of her short fiction was collected...
(1980). - Vampyr by Jan Jennings (1981).
- The Keep by F. Paul WilsonF. Paul WilsonFrancis Paul Wilson is an American author, primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer . Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog while still in medical school , and continued to write science fiction...
(1981). - They ThirstThey ThirstThey Thirst is a horror novel by Robert R. McCammon, first published in 1981. It is the author's fourth novel, and is one of the books that he now intentionally keeps out of print. It details the relentless possession of Los Angeles by vampires, who quickly transform the city into a necropolis...
by Robert McCammon (1981). - Castle Dubrava (1982) by Yuri Kapralov.
- The Curse of the Vampire (1982) by Karl AlexanderKarl Alexander (writer)Karl Alexander is an American writer. He is the author of Time After Time, which was adapted into a successful film of the same title in 1979, and several other novels. Jaclyn the Ripper, the sequel to Time After Time, was published in March 2011.-External links:*...
. - Fevre DreamFevre DreamFevre Dream is a 1982 vampire novel written by bestselling novelist George R. R. Martin. It is set on the antebellum Mississippi River beginning in 1857; it has been described by some as "Bram Stoker meets Mark Twain." The book was first published in the U. S. in 1982 by Poseidon Press and still...
by George R. R. MartinGeorge R. R. MartinGeorge Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...
(1982). - The Delicate Dependency by Michael Talbot (1982).
- The Dragon WaitingThe Dragon WaitingThe Dragon Waiting: A Masque of History is a fantasy novel by John M. Ford, published in 1983. It won the 1984 World Fantasy Award.-Plot summary:...
by John M. FordJohn M. FordJohn Milo "Mike" Ford was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet.Ford was regarded as an extraordinarily intelligent, erudite and witty man. He was a popular contributor to several online discussions...
(1983). - The Light at the EndThe Light at the EndThe Light at the End is a 1986 vampire novel by John Skipp & Craig Spector which became a New York Times bestseller and is often credited as the book that started the splatterpunk movement.-Story:...
by John SkippJohn SkippJohn Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on the 1989 anthology Book of the Dead, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal and Cody Goodfellow...
and Craig SpectorCraig SpectorCraig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...
(1986) - How Dear the Dawn by Marc Eliot (1987).
- My Lover, My Cousin, My Vampire by Summermist Steeligian (1987).
- The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories edited by Alan RyanAlan RyanAlan James Ryan, FBA was Warden of New College, Oxford, and Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford and currently a lecturer at Princeton University....
(1988). - Those Who hunt the Night (UK title: Immortal Blood) by Barbara HamblyBarbara HamblyBarbara Hambly is an award-winning and prolific American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction...
(1988). - The Stress of Her RegardThe Stress of Her RegardThe Stress of Her Regard is a 1989 horror/fantasy novel by Tim Powers. It was nominated for the 1990 World Fantasy and Locus Awards in 1990, and won a Mythopoeic Award...
by Tim PowersTim PowersTimothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...
(1989). - Vampire$Vampire$Vampire$ is a 1990 horror novel by John Steakley. A dark fantasy with a contemporary setting, the novel concerns a company called Vampire$, Inc...
by John SteakleyJohn SteakleyJohn William Steakley, Jr. was an American author, best known for his science fiction writing. He published two major novels, Armor and Vampire$ ; the latter was the basis for John Carpenter's Vampires movie...
(1990). - The Silver KissThe Silver KissThe Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause published in 1992, available in hardcover and Mass Market Paperback. In 2009, the book is republished with two bonus short stories by Klause: The Summer of Love and The Christmas Cat....
by Annette Curtis KlauseAnnette Curtis KlauseAnnette Curtis Klause is an American author and librarian, specializing in young adult fiction. Annette is currently a children's materials selector for Montgomery County Public Libraries in Montgomery County, Maryland. Born in Bristol, England, she now lives in Hyattsville, Maryland with her...
(1991). - The Gilda Stories by Jewelle GomezJewelle GomezJewelle Gomez is an American author, poet, critic and playwright. She lived and worked in New York City for twenty-two years working in public television, theatre as well as philanthropy before relocating to the West Coast...
(1991). - Vampire of the Mists by Christie GoldenChristie GoldenChristie Golden is an award-winning author who lives in Loveland, Colorado, United States. She has written over thirty novels and several short stories in fantasy, horror and science fiction.-Career:...
(1991) - Knight of the Black Rose by James LowderJames LowderJames Daniel Lowder is an American author and editor, working most often within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres.-Early life and education:...
(1991) - Lost Souls by Poppy Z. BritePoppy Z. BritePoppy Z. Brite is an American author. Brite initially achieved notoriety in the gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s after publishing a string of successful novels and short story collections...
(1992). - Suckers by Anne Billson (1993).
- Darkness on the Ice by Lois TiltonLois TiltonLois Tilton is a science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and horror writer. She won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in the short form category for her story "Pericles the Tyrant" in 2006. In 2005, her story, "The Gladiator's War" was a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette...
(1993). - Daughters of Darkness (1993) edited by Pam Keesey. An anthology of lesbian vampireLesbian vampireLesbian vampirism is a trope in 20th century exploitation film that has its roots in Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novella Carmilla about the predatory love of a female vampire for a young woman :...
stories (1993).- Dark Angels (1995). A second anthology on the same theme.
- The books I, Strahd, Memories of the Vampire (1993) and I, Strahd, the War with Azalin by P.N. Elrod tells the tale of the vampire lord Strahd von ZarovichStrahd von ZarovichCount Strahd von Zarovich is a fictional character originally appearing as the feature villain in the highly popular Advanced Dungeons and Dragons adventure module I6: Ravenloft. Later, this character and his world would be explored in followup modules, novels, and a campaign setting called...
who occupies the castle RavenloftRavenloftRavenloft is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a pocket dimension called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces called domains brought together by a mysterious force known only as "The Dark...
. - The Night Inside by Nancy Baker (1995).
- Travelling with the Dead by Barbara HamblyBarbara HamblyBarbara Hambly is an award-winning and prolific American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction...
(1995). A sequel to Immortal Blood. - The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires by Brian StablefordBrian StablefordBrian Michael Stableford is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published as by Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford...
(1996). - "The Kiss" (1996) by Kathryn Reines.
- Dracula the UndeadDracula the Undead (book)Dracula the Undead is a sequel written to Bram Stoker's classic novel by Freda Warrington. The book was commissioned by Penguin books as a sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula for the centenary of the latter's first publication. It takes place 7 years after the original...
by Freda WarringtonFreda WarringtonFreda Warrington is a British author, known for her epic fantasy, vampire and supernatural novels.Her earliest novels, the Blackbird series, were written and published when she was just finishing her teen years; in the intervening years she has seen numerous stand-alone novels and a trilogy published...
(1997). Commissioned by Penguin books as a sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula for the centenary of the latter's first publication. - Carpe JugulumCarpe JugulumCarpe Jugulum ) is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the twenty-third in the Discworld series. It was first published in 1998....
by Terry PratchettTerry PratchettSir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
(1998). - Cowboy and The Vampire: A Very Unusual Romance by Clark Hays (1999).
- SunshineSunshine (book)Sunshine is a fantasy novel featuring vampires written by Robin McKinley and published by Berkley Publishing Group in 2003. Sunshine won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature in 2004.-Plot summary:...
by Robin McKinleyRobin McKinleyRobin McKinley is a distinguished author of fantasy and children's books who has written sixteen books to date. Her latest book Pegasus was published in 2010...
(2003). - What Big Teeth You Have: A Vampire Tale by Jimmy Autrey (2004).
- Let the Right One InLet the Right One InLet the Right One In , or Let Me In, is a 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. The story centers on the relationship between a 12-year-old boy, Oskar, and a centuries-old vampire child, Eli. It takes place in Blackeberg, a working class suburb of Stockholm, in the...
(Låt Den Rätte Komma In in the original Swedish) by John Ajvide LindqvistJohn Ajvide LindqvistJohn Ajvide Lindqvist is a Swedish writer, mostly of horror novels and short stories. Ajvide Lindqvist grew up in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg. His debut novel Let the Right One In a romantic, social realistic vampire horror story published in 2004, enjoyed great success in Sweden and abroad...
(2004). Translated into English 2007. - The HistorianThe HistorianThe Historian interweaves the history and folklore of Vlad Ţepeş, a 15th-century prince of Wallachia known as "Vlad the Impaler", and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula together with the story of Paul, a professor; his 16-year-old daughter; and their quest for Vlad's tomb...
by Elizabeth KostovaElizabeth KostovaElizabeth Johnson Kostova is an American author best known for her debut novel The Historian.-Early life:Elizabeth Z. Johnson was born in New London, Connecticut and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee where she graduated from the Webb School of Knoxville...
(2005). - FledglingFledgling (novel)Fledgling is a science fiction novel by Octavia Butler and published in 2005.-Plot summary:The novel tells the story of Shori, who appears to be a 10 or 11 year old African-American girl, but is actually a 53 year old member of a race called "Ina". It is eventually revealed that the Ina are the...
by Octavia Butler (2005). - Renfield: Slave of Dracula by Barbara HamblyBarbara HamblyBarbara Hambly is an award-winning and prolific American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction...
(2006). - The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo (2006).
- "Morrigan's Cross", "Dance of the Gods" and "Valley of Silence" (The Circle Trilogy) by Nora RobertsNora RobertsNora Roberts is a bestselling American author of more than 209 romance novels. She writes as J.D. Robb for the "In Death" series, and has also written under the pseudonym Jill March...
(2006). - Empire V (the original Russian title Ампир В is an acronym of the word "vampire") by Victor PelevinVictor PelevinVictor Olegovich Pelevin is a Russian fiction writer. His books usually carry the outward conventions of the science fiction genre, but are used to construct involved, multi-layered postmodernist texts, fusing together elements of pop culture and esoteric philosophies...
(2006) - FanglandFanglandFangland is a 2007 novel written by John Marks, a former producer for 60 Minutes. It is a reimagined story for the Dracula tale by Bram Stoker, setting in a post 9/11 New York. Like its predecessor, Fangland is written in parts as a epistolary novel through e-mails, diary entries and letters...
by John Marks (2007). - Asetian Bible by Luis Marques (2007).
- The Society of S (2007) and The Year of Disappearances (2008) by Susan Hubbard.
- Twelve by Jasper KentJasper KentJasper Kent is an English author and composer. As a composer his work is generally in the field of musical theatre and his novels include Twelve and Thirteen Years Later, the first two books of the Danilov Quintet.- Biography :...
(2009). - A Sigh for Life's Completion by Sara Kuhns (2009).
- Blood Hunger by A. M. EsmondeA. M. EsmondeA. M. Esmonde is a horror writer and producer. The zombie horror was his first work to be published, followed by the vampire horror ]] and popular zombie novel ....
(2010). - Blood Oath by Christopher FarnsworthChristopher FarnsworthChristopher Farnsworth is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the President's Vampire series of novels from G.P. Putnam's Sons and a former journalist.-References:...
(2010). - Blood and Sunlight: A Maryland Vampire StoryBlood and Sunlight: A Maryland Vampire StoryBlood and Sunlight: A Maryland Vampire Story is a 2010 novel, the debut release from author Jamie Wasserman.- Synopsis :...
by Jamie Wasserman (2010) - Modern Marvels - Viktoriana by Wayne ReinagelWayne ReinagelWayne Reinagel is an American author and graphic artist, primarily known for his historical fiction novels.-Biography:Born in Collinsville, Illinois, United States...
(2011)
Fiction series
There are several recent series in vampire fiction, of variable literary quality. They tend to either take the form of direct sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s (or prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
s) to the first book published or detail the ongoing adventures of particular characters.
- David Wellington's Thirteen BulletsThirteen Bullets (novel)Thirteen Bullets is a vampire novel by David Wellington, published in serial online in March, 2006.-Plot introduction:Thirteen Bullets takes place in Pennsylvania in the year 2003, in a setting similar to the real world, but where vampires and other supernatural forces are rare but accepted phenomena...
, 99 Coffins99 Coffins99 Coffins is a 2007 vampire novel written by David Wellington. It is a sequel to 2006's Thirteen Bullets.- Plot :After having faced down vampires in the previous novel, Laura Caxton is more than happy to continue her career as a trooper in the Pennsylvania State Police...
, Vampire Zero, 23 Hours (Laura Caxton, James Arkeley series) - Lara AdrianLara AdrianLara Adrian is the international bestselling paranormal romance author of the vampire Midnight Breed series from Random House Books. Past recognitions include being awarded "Bestselling Debut Author of 2007" from Borders Books for Kiss of Midnight and "One of Amazon.com's Top 10 Best Romance Novels...
's Midnight Breed series (2007–). - Elaine BergstromElaine BergstromElaine Bergstrom is an American author in the genres of fantasy and horror. She has had 13 novels published.-Biography:Bergstrom was born in Cleveland and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin....
's Austra Vampires series (1989–). - L.J. Smith'sL. J. Smith (author)Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters...
The Vampire Diaries - Jim ButcherJim ButcherJim Butcher is a New York Times Best Selling author most known for his contemporary fantasy book series The Dresden Files. He also wrote the Codex Alera series. Butcher grew up as the only son of his parents, and has two older sisters. He currently lives in Independence with his wife, Shannon K...
's The Dresden FilesThe Dresden FilesThe Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher.He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in...
series (2000–). It should be noted that not all of these novels concern themselves largely with vampires, but a war between vampires and wizards figures heavily in the story. - Kresley ColeKresley ColeKresley Cole is a bestselling, award-winning author of paranormal and historical romance novels.-Biography:Before becoming a writer, Cole was a world-ranked athlete, coach, and graduate student...
's The Immortals After Dark series (2006-) - Nancy A. CollinsNancy A. CollinsNancy A. Collins is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has alsowritten for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs...
's Sonja Blue series (1989–). - MaryJanice DavidsonMaryJanice DavidsonMaryJanice Davidson is an American author who writes mostly paranormal romance, but also young adult literature and non-fiction....
's UndeadUndead (series)Undead is a paranormal romance book series by MaryJanice Davidson about Betsy Taylor. Betsy Taylor loses her job and is killed in the same day , only to awake undead in a funeral home...
series (2004–). - P. N. ElrodP. N. ElrodPatricia N. Elrod is an American novelist specializing in urban fantasy. She's written in the mystery, romance, paranormal, and historical genres with at least one foray into comedic fantasy. Elrod is also an editor, having worked on several collections for Ace Science Fiction, DAW, Benbella Books,...
's Vampire Files series (1990–). - Christine FeehanChristine FeehanChristine Feehan is an American romance-paranormal writer. She has published more than 26 novels, including five series, and numerous novellas since 1999.-Biography:...
's Dark series (1999–). - Joey W Hill Vampire Queen series (2007–).
- Christopher GoldenChristopher GoldenChristopher Golden is an American author of horror, fantasy, and suspense novels for adults, teens, and young readers.Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. He is a graduate of Tufts University...
's Saints and Shadows Saga (1994–2003). - Laurell K. HamiltonLaurell K. HamiltonLaurell Kaye Hamilton is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is the author of two series of stories. Hamilton is known for her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake series, featuring a professional zombie raiser/supernatural consultant for the police as the protagonist in a world where...
's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series (1993–). - Charlaine HarrisCharlaine HarrisCharlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for over twenty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children...
's Southern Vampire Mysteries (2001–). - Kim HarrisonKim HarrisonKim Harrison is a nom de plume of American author Dawn Cook. Under the name of Harrison, she is best known for her Rachel Morgan urban fantasy series set in an alternate history where a worldwide pandemic caused by genetically modified tomatoes led to the death of a large portion of the world's...
's HollowsHollows (series)The Hollows series is a series of mystery novels in an urban fantasy alternate history setting by Kim Harrison that take place primarily in the city of Cincinnati. The city itself is mostly separated in two parts: The main part of the town and the enclave on the opposite side of the Ohio River...
series (2004–). - Tanya HuffTanya HuffTanya Sue Huff is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science-fiction series. One of these, her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title Blood...
's Blood Books series (1991–1997). - Charlie HustonCharlie HustonCharlie Huston is an American author of crime novels and superhero comic books. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the actress Virginia Louise Smith...
's Joe Pitt casefiles series (2005–). - Jasper KentJasper KentJasper Kent is an English author and composer. As a composer his work is generally in the field of musical theatre and his novels include Twelve and Thirteen Years Later, the first two books of the Danilov Quintet.- Biography :...
's Danilov Quintet (2009–). - Sherrilyn KenyonSherrilyn KenyonSherrilyn Kenyon is a bestselling US writer. Under her own name she writes Urban Fantasy, but is best known for her Dark-Hunter vampire series. Under the pseudonym Kinley MacGregor she wrote historicals also with paranormal elements...
's Dark-Hunter (2002–). - E. E. KnightE. E. KnightE. E. Knight is the pen name for a science fiction and fantasy writer, born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He grew up in Stillwater, Minnesota and now resides in Oak Park, Illinois with his wife, newborn daughter and young son....
's Vampire EarthVampire EarthVampire Earth is a series of science fiction/dark fantasy novels written by E. E. Knight, who is also known for writing the Age of Fire series novels.- Background : The story begins in 2065 in a post-apocalyptic American setting...
series (2003–). - Brian LumleyBrian LumleyBrian Lumley is an English horror fiction writer.Born in County Durham, he joined the British Army's Royal Military Police and wrote stories in his spare time before retiring with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1980 and becoming a professional writer.He added to H. P...
's NecroscopeNecroscope (series)Necroscope is the title of a series of horror novels by British author Brian Lumley.The term necroscope, as defined in the series, describes someone who can communicate with the dead...
series (1986–). - Richelle Mead's Vampire AcademyVampire academy*Vampire Academy , a paranormal romance novel from Richelle Mead.*Vampire Academy , the novel series of Richelle Mead's novel.*Vampire Academy , a Romance Fantasy drama film based on the novel....
and soon to be coming Bloodlines (Richelle Mead novel)Bloodlines (Richelle Mead novel)Bloodlines is the first book in the spin-off series of the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. It follows the story of narrator Sydney Sage, the alchemist who helped Rose in Blood Promise, Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice...
series - P.C. Cast and Kristin CastKristin CastKristin Cast is the coauthor of the House of Night series for young adults with her mother, P.C. Cast.She graduated from Broken Arrow Senior High in 2005....
's House of Night series - Sienna Mercer's My Sister the VampireMy Sister the VampireMy Sister the Vampire is a series of vampire fiction novels for children written by Sienna Mercer.My Sister the Vampire presents the adventures of two identical twins, Olivia Abbott and Ivy Vega, who play central roles in the story...
series. - Christopher Moore's A Love Story series (1995–2007).
- Kim NewmanKim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
's Anno Dracula series (1992–). - Caridad Piñeiro's The CallingThe CallingThe Calling is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, best known for their hit single, "Wherever You Will Go." The group formed in 2000 and have released two albums. They have been on an indefinite hiatus since 2005.-Band history:...
series (2004–). - Anne RiceAnne RiceAnne Rice is a best-selling Southern American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history...
's Vampire Chronicles series (1976–2003). - Marilyn Ross's Barnabas CollinsBarnabas CollinsBarnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...
series (1966–1971). - Fred SaberhagenFred SaberhagenFred Thomas Saberhagen was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his Berserker series of science fiction short stories and S.F...
's Vlad Tepes series (1975–2002). - Darren ShanDarren ShanDarren O'Shaughnessy , who commonly writes under the pen name Darren Shan, is an Irish author. Darren Shan is also the main character in Shan's The Saga of Darren Shan young-adult fiction series. He also wrote The Demonata series as well as the stand-alone books, Koyasan and The Thin Executioner...
's The Saga of Darren ShanThe Saga of Darren ShanThe Saga of Darren Shan is a young adult 12 part book series written by Darren Shan about the struggle of a boy who has become involved in the world of vampires. As of October 2008, the book is published in 37 countries around the world, in 30 different languages...
series (2000–2006). - Maggie ShayneMaggie ShayneMaggie Shayne is an American author of more than 50 romance and paranormal novels. She has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA Award...
's Wings in the Night series (1993–). - Jeanne C. SteinJeanne C. SteinJeanne C. Stein is an American Urban Fantasy author living in Colorado.She now lives in Colorado, but was raised and educated in San Diego, which is the setting for her contemporary vampire fantasy....
's Anna Strong series - Whitley StrieberWhitley StrieberLouis Whitley Strieber is an American writer best known for his horror novels The Wolfen and The Hunger and for Communion, a non-fiction account of his perceived experiences with non-human entities. Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the film about...
's Hunger series (1981–2002). - JR Ward's Black Dagger BrotherhoodBlack Dagger BrotherhoodThe Black Dagger Brotherhood is a paranormal romance series by author J. R. Ward. The series focuses on six vampire brothers and warriors who live together and defend their race against Lessers, de-souled humans who threaten their kind....
series (2005–). - Freda WarringtonFreda WarringtonFreda Warrington is a British author, known for her epic fantasy, vampire and supernatural novels.Her earliest novels, the Blackbird series, were written and published when she was just finishing her teen years; in the intervening years she has seen numerous stand-alone novels and a trilogy published...
's Bloodwine series (1992–). - Gene WolfeGene WolfeGene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying into the religion. He is a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the...
's Urth: Book of the Short SunThe Book of the Short SunThe Book of the Short Sun is a trilogy by Gene Wolfe, comprising On Blue's Waters , In Green's Jungles , and Return to the Whorl . It is the sequel to Wolfe's tetralogy The Book of the Long Sun, and has connections to The Book of the New Sun...
trilogyTrilogyA trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
(1999–2001). - Chelsea Quinn YarbroChelsea Quinn Yarbro-Biography:She was born in Berkeley, California. She attended Berkeley schools through high school followed by three years at San Francisco State College .In November 1969 she married Donald Simpson and divorced in February 1982...
's Saint-Germain series (1978–). - Guillermo del ToroGuillermo del ToroGuillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
with Chuck Hogan The StrainThe StrainThe Strain is the first novel of a vampire trilogy, co-authored by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.The book was released on June 2, 2009. The second installment, The Fall, was released on September 21, 2010...
(La trilogía de la oscuridad) (2009 - ). - Kevin & Kyle Reynolds KISMET : Vampire Detective series by Suzanne LaRosa-Herlihy (2009-)
- Katherine Silva's The Monstrum Chronicles (2010- ).
- Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson series (2006- ). Note: Vampires are not the focus of this series, but they are featured in every book (Stefan Uccello), especially books 2 and 4, Blood Bound and Bone Crossed, respectively.
White Wolf
White Wolf, Inc.
White Wolf Publishing is an American gaming and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant and White Wolf Magazine, and was initially led by Mark Rein·Hagen of the former and Steve and Stewart Wieck of the latter. Since White Wolf Publishing, Inc. merged with...
, a maker of role playing games, releases novels set in the fantasy world of its Vampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
game. These series of novels were released in 13-book sets, each corresponding to one of the 13 clans of vampires in their game universe.
Juvenile fiction
- 4 HUNTERS series by lord NRM (2011)
- The Little VampireThe Little VampireThe film version of the story was released in 2000 and stars Jonathan Lipnicki, Richard E. Grant, Jim Carter, and Alice Krige.-Plot:Tony Thompson is an only child whose family has moved to Scotland from California. In the new country, he has no friends, and he is picked on and beaten up by bullies...
series, by Angela Sommer-BodenburgAngela Sommer-BodenburgAngela Sommer-Bodenburg is the author of a number of fantasy books for children. Her most famous contribution to the field of children's fantasy is "The Little Vampire" series which has sold over 10 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages...
(1979). - The BunniculaBunniculaBunnicula is a children's book series written by James Howe about a vampire bunny that sucks the juice out of vegetables. It is also the name of the first book in the series, published 1979 .The story is centered on the Monroe family and their pets and is told from the perspective of their dog...
series by Deborah HoweDeborah HoweDeborah Howe wrote the children's books Bunnicula and Teddy Bear's Scrapbook along with her husband James Howe in the late 1970s. She died of cancer at age 31 after Bunnicula was published. She graduated from Boston University and worked as a theater actress before becoming a writer...
and James HoweJames HoweJames Howe is the American author of over 80 juvenile and young adult books, including the Bunnicula series, about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables.-Biography:...
(1979). - The Darkangel series by Meredith Ann PierceMeredith Ann PierceMeredith Ann Pierce - is a fantasy writer and librarian. Her books deal in fantasy worlds with mythic settings and frequently feature young women who first wish only to love and be loved, yet who must face hazard and danger to save their way of life, their world, and so on, usually without being...
(1982–1990). - The Vampire Diaries series by L. J. Smith (author)L. J. Smith (author)Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters...
(1991–). - Night WorldNight WorldNight World is a series of ten young-adult fantasy novels by American author L. J. Smith. The series presents a story in which vampires, witches, werewolves and shape-shifters live among humans without their knowledge...
series by L.J. SmithL. J. Smith (author)Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters...
(1996-) - The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis KlauseAnnette Curtis KlauseAnnette Curtis Klause is an American author and librarian, specializing in young adult fiction. Annette is currently a children's materials selector for Montgomery County Public Libraries in Montgomery County, Maryland. Born in Bristol, England, she now lives in Hyattsville, Maryland with her...
(1992). - The Last VampireThe Last VampireThe Last Vampire series consists of books written by Christopher Pike and chronicles the life of the 5,000 year old "last vampire", Sita. A seventh book, The Eternal Dawn was released in late 2010.-The Last Vampire :...
series by Christopher PikeChristopher Pike (author)Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of American author Kevin Christopher McFadden . He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction, but whose expertise is in the thriller genre. The pseudonym Christopher Pike is allegedly a reference to the captain of the USS Enterprise in the Star...
(1994–). - Companions of the Night (1995) by Vivian Vande VeldeVivian Vande VeldeVivian Vande Velde is an American author who writes books primarily aimed at young adults. She currently resides in Rochester, New York....
. - Amelia Atwater-RhodesAmelia Atwater-RhodesAmelia Atwater-Rhodes is an American author of fantasy and young adult literature. She was born in Silver Spring, Maryland and lived most of her life in Concord, Massachusetts. Her debut novel, In the Forests of the Night, was published in 1999, when she was just fourteen years old...
's novels In the Forests of the NightIn the Forests of the NightIn the Forests of the Night is a vampire novel written by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, and published in 1999. Originally entitled White Wine, she wrote it at the age of 13, and an English teacher helped her to publish it...
(1999), Demon in My ViewDemon in My ViewDemon in My View is a vampire novel written by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, and published in 2000. Originally entitled Bitter Life, it was published when the author was 16. It is the follow-up to In the Forests of the Night, which she wrote at the age of 13...
(2000), Shattered MirrorShattered MirrorShattered Mirror is a vampire novel written by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, published in 2001 when the author was 17. W. B. Yeats’ poem "The Two Trees", which references broken glass, appears in the beginning of the book, and is the inspiration for the title...
(2001), Midnight PredatorMidnight PredatorMidnight Predator is a vampire novel written by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, published in 2002 when the author was 18. The novel was an ALA Quick Pick and “a must-read” according to School Library Journal, who also wrote that “the plot and characters are so skillfully intertwined that each one moves the...
(2002), Persistence of Memory (2008). - Saga of Darren ShanThe Saga of Darren ShanThe Saga of Darren Shan is a young adult 12 part book series written by Darren Shan about the struggle of a boy who has become involved in the world of vampires. As of October 2008, the book is published in 37 countries around the world, in 30 different languages...
also known as the Cirque Du Freak series (2000–4) series by Darren ShanDarren ShanDarren O'Shaughnessy , who commonly writes under the pen name Darren Shan, is an Irish author. Darren Shan is also the main character in Shan's The Saga of Darren Shan young-adult fiction series. He also wrote The Demonata series as well as the stand-alone books, Koyasan and The Thin Executioner...
. - SweetbloodSweetbloodSweetblood is a young adult novel by Pete Hautman, first published in 2003. It is the story of a teenage girl's encounter with the vampire subculture. The novel "was recognized as a YALSA Best Book for Young Adults and received the Minnesota Book Award for Best Youth Literature".-Plot summary:So...
by Pete HautmanPete HautmanPete Hautman is the author of many well received young adult novels, one of which, Godless, won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Hautman moved to St. Louis Park, Minnesota at the age of five. He later graduated from St...
(2003). - Ellen SchreiberEllen SchreiberEllen Schreiber is an American young-adult fiction author.-Biography:Ellen Schreiber was an actress and a stand-up comedian before becoming an author; she was also a real-estate agent. She studied Shakespearean theater at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and comedy at The Second City of...
's Vampire Kisses series (2005–). - PeepsPeeps (novel)Peeps is a 2005 novel by Scott Westerfeld revolving around a parasite which causes people to become cannibalistic and repelled by that which they once loved. It follows the protagonist, Cal Thompson, as he lives with this parasite and tries to uncover a possible threat to the whole population of...
by Scott WesterfeldScott WesterfeldScott Westerfeld is an American author of science fiction. He was born in Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.-Books:...
(2005). - Twilight series by Stephenie MeyerStephenie MeyerStephenie Meyer is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages...
(2005–2008) - The Last DaysThe Last Days (novel)The Last Days, a horror novel by Scott Westerfeld, is a companion book to Peeps. It takes place in New York, during the end of civilization hinted upon in Peeps.- Plot summary :...
by Scott WesterfeldScott WesterfeldScott Westerfeld is an American author of science fiction. He was born in Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.-Books:...
(2006). - Facade of Shadows by Rick Chiantaretto (2006).
- Blue Bloods and Masquerade: A Blue Bloods Novel by Melissa de la CruzMelissa de la CruzMelissa de la Cruz is an American author, known for her work in young-adult fiction. Her works include the Au Pair series of novels and the Blue Bloods series.-Biography:...
(2006, 2007). - Richelle Mead's Vampire AcademyVampire academy*Vampire Academy , a paranormal romance novel from Richelle Mead.*Vampire Academy , the novel series of Richelle Mead's novel.*Vampire Academy , a Romance Fantasy drama film based on the novel....
series (2006–2010). - Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich SmithCynthia Leitich SmithCynthia Leitich Smith is a New York Times best-selling author of fiction for children and young adults. A member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, she writes fiction for children centered on the lives of modern-day American Indians. These books are taught widely by teachers in elementary, middle...
(2007). - The House of NightHouse of Night (series)House of Night is a series of vampire-based fantasy novels by American author P. C. Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast. It follows the adventures of Zoey Redbird, a sixteen-year-old girl who has just become a fledgling Vampyre and is required to attend the House of Night boarding school in Tulsa,...
series by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast (2007–). - The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine JinksCatherine JinksCatherine Jinks is an Australian author. She has written more than 30 books for all ages, and has won many awards, including the Children's Book Council Of Australia Book of the Year Award three times, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction, the IBBY...
(2009). - Little DraculaLittle DraculaLittle Dracula is a British series of children's books and an American animated television series that originally aired on FOX. Little Dracula revolves around a green-skinned, child vampire who aspires to be like his father, Big Dracula, yet also enjoys rock 'n roll and surfing...
series by Martin WaddellMartin WaddellMartin Waddell is a prolific, award winning children's author. He has lived most of his life in Newcastle, County Down and is most famous for his engaging Big Bear, Little Bear and Little Dracula series....
& Joseph Wright (1986–2001). - The Morganville Vampires Series series by Rachel CaineRachel CaineRachel Caine is a pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and horror novels. She also publishes media tie-in novels as Julie Fortune.-Personal life:...
(2006–). - Star Donovan's Young Vampire Adventures (2008 - ).
- A Night at Tears of Crimson by Michelle Hughes (2010-)
- Kevin & Kyle KISMET Vampire Detectives series by Suzanne LaRosa-Herlihy(2009 - )
- The Fair Hero Series by Kerry Rockwood White
Comic books
Comic books and graphic novels which feature vampires include VampirellaVampirella
Vampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and costume designer Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 . Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostess, in...
(Warren Publishing, 1969), Tomb of Dracula
Tomb of Dracula
The Tomb of Dracula is a horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces...
(Marvel Comics, 1972), I...Vampire (DC Comics, 1981), Morbius, the Living Vampire
Morbius, the Living Vampire
Morbius, the Living Vampire, is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Gil Kane, the character, a living human suffering from vampiric abilities resulting from scientific rather than supernatural means, first appeared as...
(Marvel, 1971), Blade
Blade (comics)
Blade is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
(Marvel, 1973), 30 Days of Night
30 Days of Night
30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic book mini-series written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property....
(IDW Publishing, 2002), Chibi Vampire (Monthly Dragon Age, 2003), Rosario + Vampire
Rosario + Vampire
, often shortened to , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akihisa Ikeda. The story revolves around Tsukune Aono, a boy who accidentally gets enrolled in a school inhabited by monsters and demons. He quickly befriends Moka Akashiya, a vampire who soon develops an obsession with...
(Monthly Shōnen Jump 2004), Vampire Knight
Vampire Knight
is a shōjo manga and anime series written by Matsuri Hino. The series premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa magazine and is still on-going. Chapters are collected and published in collected volumes by Hakusensha, with eleven volumes currently released in Japan. The manga series is licensed in...
(LaLa, 2005), Twilight: The Graphic Novel
Twilight: The Graphic Novel
Twilight: The Graphic Novel is a graphic novel by Young Kim, an adaptation of the first thirteen chapters of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer...
(2010), Blood Alone
Blood Alone
Blood Alone is a vampire manga with crime fiction undertones, written by , author of Boogiepop Dual. It was originally published as a dōjinshi.-Plot:...
(MediaWorks, 2005), Dracula vs. King Arthur (Silent Devil Productions, 2005), Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures (Dabel Brothers Productions/Marvel Comics, 2007), Half Dead (Dabel Brothers Productions/Marvel Comics, 2007), Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote the...
(Dark Horse Comics, 2007), and Hellsing
Hellsing
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It first premiered in Young King Ours in 1997 and ended in September 2008. The individual chapters are collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Shōnen Gahosha. As of March 2009 all chapters have been released in 10 volumes in...
(Shonen Gahosha, 1997).
Proinsias Cassidy, the supporting lead male in Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...
's comic book series Preacher
Preacher (comics)
Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....
(DC/Vertigo, 1995), is a vampire of Irish origin. In addition, many major superheroes have faced vampire supervillains at some point. In the Belgo-French comic Le Bal du rat mort, police inspector Jean Lamorgue is a hybrid vampire and he is a king of rats. He is guiding an invasion of rats
RATS
RATS may refer to:* RATS , Regression Analysis of Time Series, a statistical package* Rough Auditing Tool for Security, a computer program...
in Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
and he sucks the blood of his human victims.
In 2009, Zuda Comics launched La Morté Sisters
La Morté Sisters
LaMorté Sisters is a webcomic from DC imprint Zuda Comics, created by Tony Trov, Johnny Zito and Christine Larsen. It was selected as Zuda's Instant Winner in October, 2009.- Synopsis :...
. A story of teenage vampirism in a Catholic orphanage taking place in South Philadelphia. The story follows new girl Maddie in a world of ninja nuns and black magic.
In 2010 Author Kevin Given launched "Karl Vincent: Vampire Hunter" which features vampire Sebastian Vasilis. Sebastian is revealed to be Radu Cel Frumos, the brother of Vlad the Impaler, Dracula.
Magazines
Magazines which feature vampires include Bite me magazine (launched 1999). Typical features include interviews with vampire actors, features on famous vampire film classics, vampire-related news, forthcoming vampire film and book releases.Defunct vampire magazines include Crimson (England); Journal of the Dark (USA), Father Sebastiaan's Vampyre Magazine (USA) and The Velvet Vampyre (available to members of the disbanded The Vampyre Society, England).