Varney the Vampire, by James Malcolm Rymer

Victorian Vampire Fiction Attributed to Thomas Preskett Prest

Oct 22, 2009

Varney the Vampire is a serial novel published from 1845 to 1847. It introduced many tropes associated with the modern vampire.

Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood was a Victorian serial novel published anonymously between 1845 and 1847. Although hardly a great work of literature in its own right, Varney the Vampire is responsible for introducing many tropes popular in later vampire fiction, and is thus an important link in the development of the fictional vampire before Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Varney the Vampire was originally published as a penny dreadful, serial novels printed a chapter at a time which catered to Great Britain's newly literate lower classes. The story was written in the Gothic tradition and catered to the growing popular interest in fictional vampires, which began with John Polidori's tale "The Vampyre" (1821). The story was immensely successful and ran for over 200 chapters.

Although Varney the Vampire was long attributed to Thomas Preskett Prest (1810-1859), author of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Recent style analysis, however, has established its author as James Malcolm Rymer (1814-1881). Still, it is possible that other authors occasionally filled in and not all of the chapters were written by Rymer.

Many aspects of Varney's vampirism are unfamiliar in modern vampire lore. Like Lord Ruthven in "The Vampyre," he can be healed by the light of the full moon. (Rymer exploits this for dramatic effect far too often; while Ruthven's death and resurrection happens once in "The Vampyre" and forms an important plot point, Varney dies and is resurrected countess times throughout Varney the Vampire.) Like the later Dracula, he does not die when exposed to sunlight; this is an invention of the movies. Neither do religious objects affect him.

At the same time, Varney marks an important step in the transformation of the vampire from an ugly, mindless, undead killer to a handsome, seductive, and sympathetic figure. Varney feeds on young women, has superhuman strength and healing abilities, can hypnotize his victims, and spends much of the story struggling with his vampiric nature. Eventually he commits suicide by throwing himself into Mount Vesuvius.

The idea of the sympathetic vampire, made famous by Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire, has become the rule rather than the exception in modern stories, from the television series Dark Shadows, Forever Knight, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to countless paranormal romances such as Twilight.

Literature critics and historians of vampire lore hardly miss a chance to insult Varney the Vampire. In Dracula: The Connoisseur's Guide, Leonard Wolf describes Varney as "a braying ass of a totally different color from those Continental vampire fictions," and quotes E.F. Bleiler's warning in The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural: "Varney the Vampire is not recommended reading for most people; it is chaotic, badly written, padded and somewhat longer than War and Peace and Gone with the Wind combined."

This is a result, of course, of the penny dreadful style; writers were paid by the word and stories were dragged out as long as possible in order to make money. Still, Wolf acknowledges the story's capacity to entertain.

The only critic who seems to take Varney the Vampire seriously is Montague Summers (who, on the other hand, tends to take everything very seriously). In The Vampire in Europe, he remarks that the author (whom he takes to be Thomas Preskett Prest) "has certainly studied the Vampire legends and traditions with some care" and even prints the work's entire first chapter.

Bleiler's warning is certainly a fair one, and Summers' pedestal far too high. But regardless of the internal inconsistencies and "lurid coloratura" of Varney the Vampire, it is worth reading (in part, and not too seriously) to understand the development of the vampire from its legendary predecessor to its fictional form today.

The copyright of the article Varney the Vampire, by James Malcolm Rymer in 18th & 19th Century British Fiction is owned by Amelia Hill. Permission to republish Varney the Vampire, by James Malcolm Rymer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.