The Blood of the Vampire

IN 1897 there were two vampire novels that year. One called Dracula, which has never been out of print, been translated into numerous languages, had more movies made from it than one can count, and has become a touch stone for popular world culture.

The Other one was The Blood of the Vampire by Marryat.

One could describe the Marryat book like this: The ways and means, the foibles and prejudices, the culture, society and mating rituals of the upper English (and lower English nobility) at the close of the Victorian period.

In short, one could remove every aspect of vampirism, rework the novel very very slightly, and it would hold together as a novel of the late victorian period. Vampirism, in the Stoker model, which is the model the world has adopted, is about 99.9% absent.

This is a novel of the time, which shows us, the modern reader, what they, in that time period, were concerned with. Vampirism, is thus a pretext for the exploration of the English of the period. I'm not entirely convinced that there is any vampirism in the novel at all. And that it's all just bad luck, coincidence, naiveté, and a doctor giving destructive advice for the "good of their patient".

Strangely enough Dracula will live on, age after age. This vampire has slumbered for quite awhile between new editions and now it's time to open the crypt once again. Perhaps she'll be rousted by those curious about the English of over a hundred years ago, but not by vampire hunters. They would find slim pickings if not the dust of disappointment.