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Probably one of the most recognizable Vampire stories out there today![/caption]I mean the earliest known concepts of Vampirism itself goes back centuries, and so does their work in literature!
This goes back as far as 1720 when Heinrich August Ossenfelder wrote the short German Poem called, 'The Vampire' while the, 'vampire craze' was still in full swing!
During this time though, there were a lot of works coming out regarding loved ones coming back from the grave (a sort of vampire's tale), such as the poem, 'Lenore' by Gottfried August Bürger... Now before I continue this though, I should explain that during the reign of the, 'Hapsburg's' in Austria during the 18th century, there was a strong Vampire craze that had kind of began to take shape, and of course during times like this, people tend to like to write about it, which leads me to my last notable example for the 18th century...
This example of course being, The Bride of Cornith (1797) by Goethe, a German writer, who wrote this tale about a bride who comes back from the dead to look for his groom!
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The Bride Of Corinth is a classic 18th century, 'Vampire' Poem.[/caption]As for the 18th century, their were a lot more examples of works that were based around, 'Vampires', in literature, but considering that during the time in areas like, 'Germany' and, 'Austria' there was a sort of, 'Vampire craze' going on there, I thought that these might be some of the better examples of Vampires in literature that I could think of!
In the 19th century though is when when Vampire works of fiction really began to take shape...
What i mean by that is that for example, in the early 1800s there was a ghost story competition that composed some of the better writers of that nature at the time, including Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John William Polidori... Now Lord Byron went on to write a sort of a fragmented tale of what happened to a lord by the name of Augustus Darvell while he was traveling through the Orient... This would later be the inspiration for the novel, The Vampyre (1819)...
After this though. there would be a sort of unauthorized sequel to, The Vampyre, called, Lord Ruthwen ou les Vampires (1820) by Cyprien Bérard... After all of this though would come a sort of milestone in the whole Vampire genre... in the form of a novel written by: Elizabeth Caroline Grey called, The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress (1828). Now this time would be some what of a historic note because this book would mark the first time that a female author had published a Vampire story!
After this though, there would be vampire works of fiction that were being produced in the British version of Victorian, 'pulp magazines'!
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Varney The Vampire is a great example of a novel that was from the, 'pulpish' style magazine that came out in Victorian England called, 'Penny Dreadful'[/caption]Another major contribution to the Vampire genre would come from Sheridan le Fenu's erotica novella, Carmilla (1872) which would help create the concepts and a staple in a lot works of Vampiric fiction, in the concept of the Vampire story taking place in Eastern Europe!
And the last, yet probably most prolific contribution to Vampire literature would be Bram Stoker's, Dracula (1897)... All I am gonna say is if you haven't seen any of the movies yet? Do so! If you haven't read any of the novels yet... Do so!
Now as for the twentieth century, there are a ton of great examples of Vampire literature in the 20th century... But since this is a brief history, I thought that I would mention a few of the more prolific authors that did some amazing work for the genre...
Now as mentioned above we have Anne Rice with, The Vampire Chronicles, which she published the first of that series in 1976 with, Interview With The Vampire, (and which 2 of the books would be adapted in to 2 movies, Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), and Queen Of The Damned (2002).) Another one being, the Barnabas Collins novel series... (which would later be turned in to both a TV series and a movie starring Johnny Depp (A Nightmare On Elm Street).
And yet another one (and I think this particular novel may have been one of the most impactful to the modern horror movie genre, is Richard Matheson's. I Am Legend (1954). What I mean by that is that in this book the, 'Vampires' for the most part appear to be undead monster, (a different take then the more classic lusty euro trash blood suckers of the more common variety...) And this that this concept for vampire has been adapted for Zombies in a lot of the more modern Zombie movies, as well as possessed movies as well, and the last thing that I thought that I would mention here on this book is the fact that in movie format, this movie is one of the most remade Vampire movies of all time... (Short of, 'Dracula')!
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I Am Legend maybe one of the more impactful modern Vampire novels on the horror movie genre that has come around since, 'Dracula'![/caption]And then lastly the one that I thought I would mention here is Stephen King's. 'Salem's Lot' now I haven't read this one yet, but it is an interesting concept.. (that sadly has not been explored to much in that it has to do with the concept of what if a whole group of Vampires could hide out in small town Americana and not get caught!
The next one that I thought that I would mention here is for the 21st century is the concept of the, 'Vampire Romance Novel', and how it has sort of insinuated itself as the seeming current standard for Vampire novels!
What I mean by this, is that there has for most of the time that works of Vampire fiction have been around, a sort of erotic subtext to the story, it was something that was more connected to a story line that would interest both men and women, but with the release of, 'Twilight' and the like, the stories, (as well as the movies that are being created from these stories) generally these days are more geared toward women!
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A scene from, "Twilight'... A movie based on the, 'Vampire Romance' novel of the same name![/caption]Well I hope you enjoyed this brief history of vampires in literature, and with the sub genre still producing more works out there, lets see what comes next!
