Vampire Novels & Literature
Vampire fiction is truly the Rodney Dangerfield of the literary world - like the deceased comedian, vampire novels don’t get no respect despite the fact that their roots are long and distinguished. The vampire novel was conceived during the cross-pollination of Eastern European lore with the 19th-century Romantics. Dr. Polidari bested Lord Byron when he wrote the first popular vampire story, The Vampyre, on the same weekend that Mary Shelly penned Frankenstein. Later in the century two Irish writers put their mark on vampires: Sheridan Le Fanu wrote the dreamy novella Carmilla and Bram Stoker penned the seminal vampire novel, Dracula. The genre has never been the same.
Bookstores and libraries are filled with vampire novels and short stories, some of them pulp version, others of real literary merit. Salem’s Lot was Stephen King’s second published novel and a tremendous success. Interview with a Vampire, written by Anne Rice in 1973 but not published until 1976, helped push the genre forward. In 1978, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro introduced the Count Saint-Germain and lovers of vampire fiction were introduced to the exploits of this 4,000-year-old vampire. Another critically acclaimed novel, The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas, was published in 1980 and the next year, Whitley Strieber’s The Hunger became a smash hit.
The rest as they say is history. Vampire literature proved to be a publishing behemoth. The modern vampire genre includes works of horror, mystery, romance, historical adventure, science fiction, fantasy, young adult, humor, chick lit, erotica and children’s literature. It has spawned countless short stories, literary series and sub-genres including Christian vampire fiction. Like the vampire itself, it will never die.
