History of Vampire Literature – Part 2

History of Vampire Literature Part 2

Last week I published part 1 of this series. If you didn’t catch it you can find it here. I may have gone a bit overboard with my dive into vampire literature and the different variations of vampire lore. But I figure if you’re into something, you might as well go big!

My last post discussed The Vampyre (1816) by John Polidori, Varney the Vampyre (1845-1847) by James Macolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest from Penny Dreadfuls, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), Interview with the Vampire (1977) by Anne Rice, and The Hunger by Whitley Strieber (1981).

Contemporary Vampire Books and Characters

First published in 1991 and now a hit TV series with not one but two spinoffs, The Vampire Diaries, beginning with The Awakening, this may be may favorite vampire series. L. J. Smith’s vampires burn to death in the sun but can be protected by rings spelled by witches specific only to that vampire. They can be killed by a wooden stake to the heart or having their heads or hearts ripped off/torn out. In this series one can become a vampire by drinking vampire blood, dying, and then feeding on human blood. The vampires crave human blood but animal blood will sustain them. They gain strength as they age, but all have heightened senses and are able to compel humans into thinking or doing anything. Vervain herb elixir ingested or leaves worn by a human prevents compulsion. The vervain also weakens vampires but they may build up a tolerance by drinking it. Witches are a big part of this series as well. A being can never be both a witch and a vampire, although hybrid vampire werewolves are possible.

Without a doubt, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer pushed me over the edge from mere fascination to outright fandom when it came to vampire literature. Some true vampire fans hate Twilight and the sparkling vampires created by this author. I however, fell in love with Bella’s plight and challenging relationships. Meyer’s vampires like others are fast, strong, and have heightened senses. Like The Vampire Diaries, they feel emotions more intensely. They can only be killed by breaking apart the pieces of their stone-like bodies and burning them. Craving human blood, the vampires may use animal blood as a substitute. A ‘high council’ rules over them, forbidding vampires to kill conspicuously or divulge their secrets to the humans. You may become a vampire by being bitten such that enough vampire venom surges through your system transforming you into a vampire. New vampires are stronger than old.

I highly enjoyed these books. In the series, vampyres live among humans almost as a separate race. If you are marked to become a vampyre, then you must turn or die. In the first book, Marked, teenager Zoey becomes marked and leaves her home to join the vampyre clan in a boarding school-like setting. The vampires are fast and strong and don’t have to consume blood, but many humans shun them as evil creatures.

Bella Forrest’s vampires in A Shade of Vampire series live separate from humans. Some humans are aware of their presence and a secret army attempts to protect the human population from these creatures. The vampires live on secret islands and horde humans to use for their sustenance. Ms. Forrest is quite prolific and I’ve enjoyed several books in this series. The first book centers around seventeen year-old Sofia who is kidnapped by the vampires and taken to their island becoming a princess of sort to a royal vampire.

I will wrap-up with my own iteration of vampire lore. In the Kingdom Journals Series, vampires have evolved as a separate species from humans. They live among humans in secret as well as in their own clans. They are organized and police themselves with a Vampire Council. As a separate race of humans, they can bear children who grow to the age of eighteen and become static for six-hundred to eight-hundred years before their bodies start to deteriorate and then die. They are strong, fast, must eat a natural diet, and do not need blood to survive. Blood, human blood especially, makes them stronger and buoys their healing abilities. Because they can procreate, they may mate with humans, forming human-vampire hybrids who retain qualities of both humans and vampires. This means vampire-witch hybrids, beings with both vampire qualities and ability to perform magic, are possible. These vampire-witch hybrids, because of their strength and power, are forbidden by both vampire and witch law. In the first book of the series, Kingdom of Embers, a vampire-witch hybrid teen, Alena, lives in secret with her Vampire Chancellor mother. When Alena discovers she may be a special witch and teams with the son of the most powerful witch in the world, she jeopardizes the precarious peace with the witches her mother spent her whole life crafting.

Check out my Kingdom Journals Series, beginning with Kingdom of Embers, FREE here with newsletter signup. The entire series can be found in ebook, paperback, and audio (last book coming out April 2021 in audio).

Because my summary of vampire literature became so long, I broke it into two chunks. The Early Vampire Literature can be found on my blog with this link.

What are your favorite vampire reads? Share in the comments.

Happy reading! Tricia