Classic Horror Lovers discussion

I'm sure you can list some of your favorites here!


Besides the ones I'm sure are most obvious (and for good reason), I really liked For The Blood Is The Life: An Uncanny Gothic Vampire Tale by F. Marion Crawford, which we did for a group read.

Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu
The Lady in the House of Love, Angela Carter (might not be old enough to count as classic!)

I am reading Carmilla now and really enjoying it.

Varney the Vampire? Though I defy anyone to read the whole thing.

LOL! I have that on my Kindle -- I have yet to make it past the first chapter, the sudden random tense changes are too disconcerting.

Philip, I have the book. What a doorstopper!

Oh... Varney.

Given the choice between Varney and some of my students' poorly written papers, let's just say I might have to flip a coin.

(But Carmilla is excellent.)

That's a funny comment, Aaron. I'm not sure if I ever read Varney. Or maybe I think I've read it. Old age.

I'm reading Varney now! Someone told me it was written by several people over a few years & that it's all over the place. So I'm going into it with the expectations that it'll be sort of the literary equivalent of the original Dark Shadows. I'll have to show some patience, but I'm game for reading all of it (just not all at once!) btw- I read Carmilla & agree with y'all that it's great.

Forgive typos please; I'm tapping this out on my phone.

Naima, I hope you enjoy Varney. Let us know what you think.

Yes, please let us know.

My thoughts so far on on Varney the Vampire ...

The first page is an absolute feast of description: quivering, terrified, lovely maiden-cowering-before-evil-fiend. It's almost comic bookish in its effect -- which, I think is good, considering it's the written word instead of a graphic novel (though it was originally illustrated, my version doesn't have those - too bad!). As I read on, I became angry at Bram Stoker, because it seems he ripped off a lot of details for Dracula.

But at the point I just left off (page 60+ out of 800+), when the men are going down into the crypt to see if Varney's down there, it has started to feel lax and dull. Maybe I owe Stoker an apology for my earlier temper; Dracula has better pacing. But then I don't think Dracula was written as a serial. I only have 700+ more pages of Varney to go!

Cheering you on, Naima!

That's one very long journey!!!

Hahaha...well you know what they say about that first step!

Clarimonde by Theophile Gautier is really good, too. It was published in 1836.

oh very cool, Andrew. Thanks for the rec!

I finally read Carmilla, his prose in this story was finer than in his other stories, the way he build the supernatural,creepy mood was near perfect. Carmilla,Laura,the schloss(palace), the gothic country side etc was really well done. The kind of horror story, vampire horror i rate highly when its well written. Carmilla i might have expected to be less freaky ruthless monster which is a nice surprise. I liked how naturally her being lesbian was written. She wanted to love her girls before she feeded on them. It could have been tamer,less important part of the story for a story written in 1872

I'm always surprised when I read a popular story that has a lesbian slant or some other social factor written with ease and lack of judgement. I fall into the assumption that everyone prior to 1967 was a prude! I don't think I'll ever understand the intricacies of 18th & 19th century manners but I continue to study it because I write a lot of fiction set in those time frames & want to get it right.

Naima wrote: "I'm always surprised when I read a popular story that has a lesbian slant or some other social factor written with ease and lack of judgement. I fall into the assumption that everyone prior to 1967..."

Thats because us modern people like to think we have come so far and are not as prude, old fashioned as people in 19th century. There were open minded people then too even if their society was less open,free.

PHLEGON OF TRALLES Book of Marvels : 117-138 AD Philinium/The Bride from Amphipolis

AUGUSTUS HARE( is accounted as a real vampire story1680/1690) :The Vampire of Croglin Hal l

PU SONGLING : publication date 1740. publication in English 1880. GEORGE SULIE : 1913 The Corpse The Blood Drinker (Strange stories from the Lodge of Leisures)

HEINRICH AUGUST OSSENFELDER : 1748 Der Vampir

ΒURGER’S German ballad : 1773 Lenore

JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE : 1797 "The Bride of Corinth"

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE : 1797 Cristabel

JOHANN LUDWIG TIECK : 1800 Wake not the dead

ALEXANTRE DUMAS :1800 A visit to the theatre

IGNATZ FERDINAND ARNOLD : 1801 Der Vampyr

ROBERT SOUTHEY : 1801 Τhalaba the Destroyer

JOHN STAGG : 1810 The Vampyre

GEORGE GORDON (LORD BYRON) : 1813 The Giaour, June 17

E.T.A HOFFMAN :1814 Aurellia

GEORGE GORDON (LORD BYRON) : 1816 A Fragment of a Novel

J.W.POLIDORI : 1819 The Vampire

CYPRIEN BERARD : 1820 Lord Ruthven ou les Vampires

Anonymous, but falsely ascribed to Lord Byron. Taken from J. R. Plancke’s play of the same name, which in its turn was taken from Polypore’s The Vampire. Published by J. Charles of Mary Street, Dublin, c. : 1820 The Bride of the Isles
JOHN KEATS :1820 "La Belle Dame sans Marci"

CHARLES NOSIER : 1821 Smarra ou Les Demons de la nuit, 1820 Il Vampiro

ETIENNE-LEON de LAMOTHE-LANGON : 1825 La Vampire

E. CAROLINE GREY : 1828 The skeleton Count, or The vampire Mistress

THEOPHILE GAUTHIER : 1830 Clarimonde {La Morte Amoureuse}

HENRY THOMAS LIDDELL : 1833 The Vampire Bride

NIKOLAI GOGOL : 1835 Viy

ALEXEI TOLSTOY : 1840 The Curse of the Vourdalak

THOMAS PRESET PREST : 1845 Varney the Vampire or The feast of Blood

SMYTH UPTON : 1845 The Last of the Vampire

JAMES CLERK MAXWELL : 1845 The Vampyre

ALEXANTRE DUMAS : 1849 The pale faced lady,

ALEXANTRE DUMAS : 1851 Le Vampire

THEOPHILE GAUTHIER : 1852 Aria Marcella, souvenir de Pompeii

P. –A. PONSON DU TERRAIL (adapted by BRIAN STABLEFORD) : 1853 la Baronet Trespasser

PAUL FERAL (adapted by BRIAN STABLEFORD ) : 1856 The Vampire Countess

CHARLES BAUDELAIRE : 1857 The Fountain of Blood, The Vampire, Metamorphoses of the Vampire

{ANONYMOUS } : 1860 The Mysterious Stranger

MARY ELIZABETH BRANDON :1860 The cold embrace

PAUL FEVAL : 1860 Nightshade, ( The Vampire Brothers )

IVAN TURGENEV : 1861 Phantoms

ΑRΙSTOTELIS VΑLΑORITIS : 1867 The Vrikolakas

WILLIAM GILBERT : 1867 The last lords of Gardonal

PAUL FEVAL : 1867 The Vampire City

JULES DORNAY ( stage play adapted by FRANK MORLOCK ) : 1868 Lord Ruthven Begins

MARY ELIZABETH BRANDON : 1869 Good Lady Ducayne

SERINTAN LE FANU : 1872 Carmilla

HENRIK JOHAN IBSEN : 1881 Vampires

OWEN MEREDITH (Robert lord Lytton) : 1882 The Vampire

JULIAN HAWTHORNE : 1883 The Grave of Ethelind Fionguala

JOHN KEATS :1884 Lamia, The raven

KARL HEINRICH ULRICH : 1884 Manor

VASILE ALECSANDRI : 1886 Vampire (Strigoiul)

ANN CRAWFORD : 1887 A mystery of the Campagna

ΕΜΙΛΥ GERARD : 1888 The Land Beyond the Forest

NISBET HUME : 1890 The Vampire Maid, The Old Portait

F.G.LORING : 1890 The Tomb of Sarah

RICHARD BURTON : 1893 Vikram and the Vampire

ERIC STENBOCK : 1894 The true story of a Vampire

GARETH P. JONES : 1895 The Pobratim, A Slav Novel

GEORGE MAC DONALD :1895 Lilith

MADISON JULIUS CAWEIN : 1896 The Vampire

BRAM STOKER : 1897 Dracula

H. B. MARRIOTT WATSON : 1899 The stone chamber

R. CAMPBELL THOMPSON : 1903 The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia {The Seven Demons of Sumerians }

C. BRYSON TAYLOR : 1904 In the dwellings of the wilderness

LUIGI CAPUANO : 1907 A Case of alleged Vampirism

FRANZ HARTMANN : 1909 An Authenticated Vampire Story

ALGERNON BLACKWOOD : 1910 The singular death of Morton

SCOTT’S “Minstrelsy of Scottish Border” ,volume 2nd : 1910 The Vampire Bride

Ε.F.BENSON : 1912 The Room in the Tower

F. MARION CRAWFORD : 1912 For the Blood Is the Life

ASKEW, ALICE, and CLAUDE ASKEW : 1914 Aylmer Vance and the Vampire

CONRAD AIKEN : 1914 The Vampire

JAN NERUDA : 1920 The Vampire

Ε.F.BENSON : 1920 Mrs. Amworth

VICTOR ROMAN : 1925 Four Wooden Stakes

EDITH WHARTON : 1925 Bewitched

DION FORTUNE{ pseudonym for VIOLET MARY FIRTH} : 1926 Blood-Lust

DERLETH AUGUST : 1926 Bat’ s Belfry

Mrs EVERIL WORRELL MURPHY : 1927 The Canal

SEABURY QUINN: 1927 The man who cast no shadow

BASSET MORGAN :1927 The wolf woman

CLARK ASHTON SMITH : 1930 The end of the story

SYDNEY HENRY HORLER : 1930 The Vampire

HORLER SYDNEY : 1930 The Believer

M.R.JAMES : 1931 An Episode of Cathedral History

KIRK MASHBURN : 1931 Placide’s wife

MARION BRANDON : 1931 The dark castle

ROBERT E. HOWARD : 1932 The horror from the mound

EDMOND HAMILTON (HUGH DAVIDSON): 1932 Vampire village, The Vampire Master

HUGH BARNETT CAVE : 1932 Stragella

CARL JACOBI : 1933 Revelations in Black

WALTER FITZWILLIAM STARKIE : 1933 The old man’ s story

RAYMOND WETSTONE : 1935 The thirsty dead

ARTHUR J. BURKS : 1935 Murder brides

EARL PEIRCE, Jr. : 1936 Doom of the house of Duryea

LLOYD ARTHUR ESHBACH : 1936 Isle of the Undead

CLARK ASHTON SMITH : 1937 The death of Ilalotha

HENRY KUTTNER : 1937 I, The Vampire

FREDERICK IGNATIUS COWLES : 1938 The Vampire of Kaldenstein

ROBERT BARBOUR JOHNSON: 1939 The silver coffin

LESTER DEL REY : 1939 Cross of fire

ROBERT BLOCH : 1939 The cloak

MANLY WADE WELLMAN : 1940 When it was Moonlight

MILLER P. SCHUYLER : 1941 Over the River

CLARK ASHTON SMITH : 1942 Rendezvous in Averoigne,

FRANK BELKNAPLONG and OTIS ADELBERT KLINE : 1943 Return of the undead

D.SCOTT.MONCRIEF: 1948 Schloss Wappenbourg

GREYE LA SPINA : 1949 The Antimacassar

Lamprini wrote: "PHLEGON OF TRALLES Book of Marvels : 117-138 AD Philinium/The Bride from Amphipolis

AUGUSTUS HARE( is accounted as a real vampire story1680/1690) :The Vampire of Croglin Hal l

PU SONGLING : ..."
Wow. What a valuable list! Thanks SO much for sharing this.

Ann wrote: "Lamprini wrote: "PHLEGON OF TRALLES Book of Marvels : 117-138 AD Philinium/The Bride from Amphipolis

AUGUSTUS HARE( is accounted as a real vampire story1680/1690) :The Vampire of Croglin Hal l

..."
well, thanks Ann, have a good journey

This is a nice list, Lamprini; thanks a lot for sharing. There are at least a handful of these that I’ve never before encountered. An ultra-tiny nitpick which I mention only because you seem so particular about the publication dates — M. R. James’ “An Episode of Cathedral History” first saw print in 1914 (in The Cambridge Review). It was later collected in A Thin Ghost and Others (in 1919) and then again in The Collected Ghost Stories Of M. R. James (in 1931).

Fantastic list, Lamprini!

There are two other excellent vampire stories not on your list. The first is "The Black Vampyre" published in 1819, which is the first vampire story by an American. The second is "Pepopukin in Corsica" published in 1826. You can find them annotated in The Best Vampire Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Vampire Anthology.

Thanks for the exhaustive list, Lamprini!

Naima wrote: "My thoughts so far on on Varney the Vampire ...

The first page is an absolute feast of description: quivering, terrified, lovely maiden-cowering-before-evil-fiend. It's almost comic bookish in its..."

This current version of Varney the Vampire remains a source of confusion, at least for me. Back when I was a kid, I read on several occasions that most of the original material had been lost. Is the current version a shortened edition, or did someone recover the source material?

Danielle The Book Huntress (Self-Proclaimed Book Ninja) wrote: "Thanks for the exhaustive list, Lamprini!"

Lamprini's knowledge of the classic vampire genre is extensive, Danielle.

Andrew wrote: "Fantastic list, Lamprini!

There are two other excellent vampire stories not on your list. The first is "The Black Vampyre" published in 1819, which is the first vampire story by an American. The s..."

Andrew wrote: "Fantastic list, Lamprini!

There are two other excellent vampire stories not on your list. The first is "The Black Vampyre" published in 1819, which is the first vampire story by an American. The s..."

THANKS ANDREW I WILL ALSO READ THEM.MUST!!!!!!

Danielle The Book Huntress (Self-Proclaimed Book Ninja) wrote: "Thanks for the exhaustive list, Lamprini!"

if you start reading you will just lose yourself.

David wrote: " Danielle The Book Huntress (Self-Proclaimed Book Ninja) wrote: "Thanks for the exhaustive list, Lamprini!"

Lamprini's knowledge of the classic vampire genre is extensive, Danielle."

wow david, i am a LOVER what can i say?

Canavan wrote: "This is a nice list, Lamprini; thanks a lot for sharing. There are at least a handful of these that I’ve never before encountered. An ultra-tiny nitpick which I mention only because you seem so par..."
thank you.i do appreciate it.

So far from my research I do for Hundred Year Old Horror I have come across several classic vampire books. Notable ones being Carmilla and Varney the Vampire which many people on this thread have mentioned already. Of course there's Dracula as well but what I've noticed is that none of the books seem to take away from one another. They all have the same theme but all seem to have different takes on Vampirism and some are quite graphic for books written so long ago.