Varney the vampire, or The feast of blood. A romance of exciting interest

Reprint of edition published London: E. Lloyd, 1853

Varney the vampire was originally published in 1847 as a novel by J. M. Rymer, and then re-issued in 1853 in weekly parts. The vampire villain is an engrossing hero: monstrously corpse-like yet sympathetic, criminal but resourceful, a serial killer who is immortal. The story is fast-paced and atmospheric from the start. Rymer plays up the erotic possibilities of his story: a young and beautiful girl sprawled across the bed with her hair and clothes loose, attacked by a vampire who “seizes her neck in his fang-like teeth”. This must be the ultimate glamorisation of violence: the vampire villain is darkly handsome, and his victim’s terror only increases the sense of excitement.

718.c.97.167, p. 1

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