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Varney the Vampire

by James Malcolm Rymer, Curt Herr (Introduction)

3.35 of 5 stars 3.35 · rating details · 289 ratings · 24 reviews

After 100 years of neglect, the potboiler Penny Dreadful Varney The Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood returns in this innovative critical edition to entertain a whole new generation of readers. Sold for a penny a chapter on the streets of London in 1845, Varney the Vampire is a milestone of Vampire fiction, yet ignored and overlooked for nearly 100 years, until now!

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Paperback, 812 pages

Published October 31st 2007 by Zittaw Press (first published 1847)

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May 25, 2012 Adriana rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires, not-finished

I have to admit, upfront, that I didn’t finish this book. I plan to (someday), but right now all I really want is to put as much distance between me and Varney. The breaking point was getting to the end of my kindle version and realizing that, besides the 96 chapters contained in it, I had 124 more to look forward to. 124 more chapters filled with more and more repetitive actions, mindless chatter, and a vampire that instead of looking like this:

description

Is more and more looking like a 19th century versi...more I have to admit, upfront, that I didn’t finish this book. I plan to (someday), but right now all I really want is to put as much distance between me and Varney. The breaking point was getting to the end of my kindle version and realizing that, besides the 96 chapters contained in it, I had 124 more to look forward to. 124 more chapters filled with more and more repetitive actions, mindless chatter, and a vampire that instead of looking like this:

description

Is more and more looking like a 19th century version of this:

description

“Varney the Vampire or the Feast of Blood” starts promising enough. In the middle of a stormy night, a beautiful maiden is attacked by a vampire and left for dead while her brothers hunt the villain. As the story progresses we learn that the girl, Flora, survived the attack and is now the middle of a convoluted plot designed by her attacker to gain possession of the house her family inhabits. At first the mystery is compelling and I honestly couldn’t wait to read what happened next (hence the 3 star rating) but before long the rhythm of the story starts to become repetitive: Varney does something, a furious mob attacks, he hides. Then he finds some other hideout, another mob appears, and he runs again. Little by little the force of that first chapter, the strength and terrifying power of the monster that is so apparent there dilutes, and by the time I gave up all I had left was the silhouette of a broken man tumbling along and trying to atone for past mistakes.

That being said, I also believe that any self-respecting vampire fan should at least take a peek at this story. The influence it has on Dracula is clear, except for the restoring power of moonbeams and the ability of walking in daytime without any decrease in power. Varney (at the beginning, at least) has that hypnotic power over his victims that forces them to submit to his will, and a level of class and distinction that vampires didn’t have before. Too bad that at times he resembles Edward Cullen more than the Lord of Darkness, but at least he doesn’t sparkle.

The rest of the characters in “Varney the Vampire” are pretty bland. Flora and her fiancé, Charles Holland, fill the hero and heroine rolls to perfection, even desiring no harm upon the being that almost took away the sanity of said girl despite his many, many crimes. The only exceptions to the rule are Admiral Bell and his best friend/servant, Jack Pringle. Their constant arguments and expressions were a much welcome relief, even if later they also got a bit tedious.

But even after everything I said before, one has to keep in mind that this book was published as a series, a “penny dreadful”. It was meant to entertain and amuse through short chapters and it’s kind of unfair to judge it by today’s standards. It does manage to engage the attention and, with heavy (HEAVY) editing it could have been a memorable vampire tale. I hope to finish It one day and tell you how the story of “Varney the Vampire or the Feast of Blood” ends.
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Dec 06, 2010 Surreysmum rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century-anonymous, 2010, gothic, library

I read this potboiler, in this edition, when I was an undergraduate (a very, very long time ago), and have always had a yen to revisit it. I was pleasantly surprised, and very amused. This facsimile reprint gives ample evidence of how little care was bestowed on the physical production of the novel - it's the 1847 full-length edition that's reproduced, and it's just chock-a-block with bad chapter numbering and pagination, not to mention chunks of type being banged out of alignment or knocked out...more I read this potboiler, in this edition, when I was an undergraduate (a very, very long time ago), and have always had a yen to revisit it. I was pleasantly surprised, and very amused. This facsimile reprint gives ample evidence of how little care was bestowed on the physical production of the novel - it's the 1847 full-length edition that's reproduced, and it's just chock-a-block with bad chapter numbering and pagination, not to mention chunks of type being banged out of alignment or knocked out altogether from the edges of what I presume were stereotype plates. The proofreading could have used a bit of a boost too. But the anonymous author's lamentable tendency to shift back and forth between present and past tense whenever he embarks on a scene-setting "atmospheric" description notwithstanding, this is actually not a bad writer we have here. His vocabulary is extensive and correct; he has a better ability to compose a complex sentence grammatically than about 90% of today's undergraduates, and he has a fecundity of imagination equal to the task of padding out his chapters to the requisite number of inches for the week's instalment.

Indeed, had "Varney the Vampire" been closed out at the end of what is now Volume 1, around page 450, I would have claimed for it some higher qualities, including an interesting suggestiveness about Varney's origins as a vampyre - or indeed, whether he really is a vampyre at all. The lengthy story arc, that of Varney's relations with the Bannerworth family, only really tells us that Varney is convinced that his life is under some sort of charm, and that he believes he has to prolong it periodically - every few months - by a little blood-sucking from a young beautiful female (no others need apply). There is some considerable effort to give Varney an ambivalent moral status; he is generous and charming, and also the victim or potential victim of some really repugnant mob violence. And the mysterious death-and-resurrection of which we eventually learn doesn't take place in typical vampire circumstances at all, but is the experimental resurrection of a hanged criminal by a young doctor.

After the Bannerworth story arc is concluded, the author (who has already been falling back on expedients like "nested" supernatural tales that have nothing to do with the main narrative), seems to run out of steam, and he merely plays two-to-ten-chapter variants on three scenarios: the vampire is resuscitated from death by moonlight upon his corpse, the vampire arrives in town and courts a respectable young lady in hopes of getting married and providing himself with a consistent source of blood, or the vampire appears in some place of public resort like an inn, and attacks a humble but beauteous young female in the middle of the night. In either of the latter cases, he is discovered - sometimes by some character from the previous adventure - and has to flee. The settings are varied (the most distant is a nunnery in Italy), and the nature, motives, and habits of the proposed victims are varied along a spectrum from the sentimental to the broadly comic, but any attempt at psychological subtlety pretty much goes out the window, and as our author goes through the motions, the "rules" of this author's vampire world seem to calcify (young female victims only, moonlight revives the corpse, and the natural world conspires to ensure that the corpse finds itself in moonlight); one wonders just how much this affected later readers?/authors like Stoker. In any case, there are clear signs of relief, I think, towards the end, when the author decides to wrap things up, and gives Varney a serious case of depression, and a suicidal impulse which results in his throwing himself into Vesuvius.

In the course of such a long tale, there are some choices that are cause for giggles for the reader (and quite possibly for the author). The fact that while all the upper-class young ladies have traditional Gothic-heroine names like Flora, Clare and Annabel, all the lower-class young ladies destined to be blood-sucked are without fail named Mary, certainly had me snorting. The red shirts of the vampire world, as it were. Then there was, in a late stage, the appearance of a character named Dr. Polidori (or Pollidori - both versions were used). And I think maybe someone went to a performance of Macbeth? because one of the few incidents that broke the tedious pattern of the second volume was a veritable calling together of a coven of vampires, on Hampstead Heath, of course.

There's something rather charming about the naively pre-Freudian nature of Varney's vampirism, or at least about the author's way of describing it. We are told many times that it is the vampire's nature to seek out only young beautiful women (which leaves the author in a bit of a bind if he also wants to follow up on the notion that taking someone's blood turns them into a vampire - this author does that only once and then kills off the young-lady-vampire very quickly after one indirectly described feeding from a "Mary" before things get too dicey with any possible lesbian implications). Far from making the sex=feeding connection, the author, from the vantage-point of Varney's internal dialogue, explicitly denies it. Especially in this century, with the current vampire mania being an explicit vehicle for the current younger generation's hormonal urges (of all persuasions and orientations), that the author could expect his readers not to make the connection is, well, rather sweet, though of course irritatingly heterosexist, etc. etc.

I see there is a new edition of "Varney the Vampyre" that unequivocally ascribes the authorship to James Malcolm Rymer, an attribution strongly suggested but not fully insisted upon by E.F. Bleiler, the editor of this late-70s facsimile reprint. So perhaps some day I shall hunt down the latest edition and find out more; for now, though, it's been a lovely little return visit to a class of literature that occupied much of my time and thoughts during some of the happiest days of my life. (less)

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Jul 26, 2012 D.M. Dutcher rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-poor-brain

God my brain. If you read this in the right mood it can be hilarious, but this is one hell of a slog for something that bears little resemblance to modern vampires and doesn't have plot holes, it has plot subways. I'm not even going to try to synopsize this, but just list the characters.

Flora Bannerworth: The chick. Varney wants to suck her blood, then softens to her, and just wants her out of the way so he can get into Bannerworth Hall. Is engaged to Charles Holland and her brother is Henry.

She...more

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Oct 03, 2010 Derek Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read a free download, and only because I'd heard it was perhaps the first genuine vampire novel, from the early 19th century. Nobody even seems to be sure who actually wrote it (in those magazine-serialized "penny dreadful" days of pay-by the-word). OK, it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. But if you can download it for free, dip into it now and then, giggle and put it away again. It's, well...friendly. I mean, the vampire isn't a wholly bad guy, the "rational" debunker is a little wacko...more

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Oct 10, 2012 James Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, know-when-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It took me ages to finish this book, which is reputedly longer than War and Peace & Gone with the Wind combined. Yet it's a rewarding slog, if heavy-going at times; one can see the vampire sub-genre forming before one's eyes. The book was originally published in weekly instalments as a "Penny Dreadful" and came out over a couple of years. Clearly, the author (now presumed to have been Rymer rather than Prest) had little opportunity to plan the thing from week to week and the story is all ove...more It took me ages to finish this book, which is reputedly longer than War and Peace & Gone with the Wind combined. Yet it's a rewarding slog, if heavy-going at times; one can see the vampire sub-genre forming before one's eyes. The book was originally published in weekly instalments as a "Penny Dreadful" and came out over a couple of years. Clearly, the author (now presumed to have been Rymer rather than Prest) had little opportunity to plan the thing from week to week and the story is all over the place.

The initial plot has Varney, who may or may not be a genuine vampire, terrorising a family called the Bannerworths for financial rather than occult reasons. After the Bannerworth plot exhausts itself, Varney is then propelled into a variety of other adventures, too many of which (at least 5) involve him nearly getting a young maiden to the altar only to be exposed for what he is at the eleventh hour. For me, the most enjoyable of these involves him disguising himself as the mysterious Baron Stolmuyer of Saltzburgh, buying a country pile and attempting to con a craven member of the local middle-classes into giving him her daughter. The mother, as so many of the characters herein, has a certain Dickensian vitality and the writing is for the most part entertaining enough carry the reader through the extreme marathon of reading the entire book.

Most of the tropes of later Vampire fiction are here in nascent form, although Varney has no fear of daylight, garlic nor crosses. He has fanged teeth and feasts from the necks of young women, one of whom he turns into a vampire herself. Varney is killed a number of times but rises under the power of moonbeams; there is a striking chapter where Varney joins some others of his tribe to resurrect a fellow vampire by disinterment and exposure to La Luna. Varney is a Romantic, almost existentially suffering creature and often bitterly regrets his life as a vampire; his end (and the book's) is a jump into the volcano Vesuvius, where presumably the moonshine will not penetrate and he will die a longed-for death.

It is never quite clear how long Varney has been a vampire. In the Bannerworth plot, he seems to be recently made one but later he writes a memoir about having been first made vampire in the era of the English Civil War. Other occasions contradict this. Clearly the author had trouble remembering what he had previously written; understandable as he was doubtless bashing out other Dreadfuls at the same time as this.

For any student of the vampire sub-genre, Varney is essential if exhausting reading. Others might approach with caution, depending on their tolerance for picaresque narrative, Victorian caricatures and attitudes, an authorial editorialising voice and a hell of a lot of repetition. But there's also a lot of enjoyment to be had in the pages of Varney. I am glad to have gone through it.(less)

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Apr 25, 2011 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars

More than a little long and I can see why some folks didn't persevere..it's a lenghty tome and maybe due to it's serial type status is repetitive to circumstance and dialogue throughout...not to mention diversions and tales that really have nothing to do with the actual story.
That said there is also much to commend it..as a work it does have some humour and is acknowledged as presenting certain aspects to the whole Vampire mythos (Dracula included).
It really gathers pace about half way through.....more

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Nov 09, 2010 Brook rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i finally finished this book after many weeks and a nice overdue charge at the library... my quest to read the classic vampire novels that started it all is one book closer. it was a strange vampire story, but mostly very very wordy. 3 pages to describe how he ran across a field and many little tangent stories intertwined, but off the plot. i'm not sure how people back in the day talked like this, let alone read like this. i'd get tired of hearing myself. i will however check out the remaining b...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Christopher F. added it

The bad news is that the Project Gutenberg free ebook version of this I read had only 96 out of 110 or so chapters, so I still don't know how it ends, darnit. The good news is: despite being a "penny dreadful" it holds up extremely well against Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's too long by far, and the dialogue is hilariously stilted, but the latter is also true of Dracula, and Varney is smarter in a lot of ways, including excellent scenes of an angry mob becoming convinced that every neighbor might b...more

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Mar 05, 2008 R. marked it as to-read

Var-neeey, Varney Vampire; King of the Wild Frontierrrr...

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Jan 19, 2012 Bettielee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I feel weird giving it 4 stars... but I loved the rollicking pace and the authors occasional "asides" - meaning, the little stories thrown in for no reason. But it was a mix of scary and funny, the ridiculous, the sublime. You have to be patient with it and remember you are reading a penny dreadful - this isn't Shakespeare or Bram Stroker, for that matter. It's all about sensationalism. The ending upset me... but I won't ruin it for you.

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Jul 09, 2011 Nayt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Before Dracula, before Carmilla, before Twilight (shudder) came Varney. Easily one of the greatest unknown vampire novels out there. It actually beats out most all of the well known vampire novels too. Added with being a Penny Dreadful, this is novel is filled with plenty of vampire action and a long time-spanning narrative.

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Dec 13, 2010 Raven Carluk rated it 2 of 5 stars

I tried getting through Varney the Vampire, and just couldn't do it. Sometimes, I just don't get why classics are considered classics. I was so bored, and started skimming, and then was still too bored to keep reading. But I tried. That counts for something, right?

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Mar 05, 2013 Richard Broad rated it 5 of 5 stars

A lengthy tale, hard going, and at times incredibly repetitive. It has taken, with a break in between, over the course of two years to read this tyrannosaurian vampire novel; and yet, it has been worth every moment.

As an avid fan of nineteenth century vampire fiction, this penny dreadful encapsulates many of the modern myths of the contemporary vampire. Carmilla and Dracula owe much of their content to Varney: a vampire who is more human than monster, more monster than myth. Truly a great read w...more

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Jul 02, 2011 João is currently reading it

A unique perspective on the final quarter of the british countryside on the 17th century. Quite picturesque, despite the gloomy presence of the ever-mighty Sir Francis Varney.

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May 06, 2010 emily added it

Shelves: life-s-too-short

I just can't. Honestly, despite getting it free (not even for a penny! how dreadful!), I can't slog my way through this one.

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Dec 22, 2008 Jim marked it as to-read

If I can ever find the dang thing without paying through the nose I WANT it.

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Oct 16, 2011 Harbowoputra Harbowoputra is currently reading it

No glitters! Yay \^_^/

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Aug 29, 2011 Nabilla rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, vampire

Well I got to the end of this book and I'm still not sure what I think of it. It was not a chore to read like I thought it might be and it was one large story rather than a series of shorter ones like I expected. I say one large story, however more than once the author instead shoehorned in a completely unrelated story with different settings and characters for no apparent reason. The kindle version is minus the illustrations which I wouldn't mind but the kindle keeps reminding you [Illustration...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Duckie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, gothic

Soooo fabulously trashy. Rivals "Twilight" in number of swoons per chapter and rigid adherence to 19th-century gender roles, but this has better spelling.

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Jul 04, 2008 Jay added it

didn't read this particular edition, the 3 volume arno press facsimile edition with all the illustrations and two columns of text, it is an epic work and reading all of it is the best way i say, sir francis varney is a very intriguing fellow that feels bad for what he does, but he does it anyway, he tries not to sometimes but it was entertaining and you can see the connections between this and its more famous counterpart, Dracula

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Mar 30, 2012 Heather marked it as to-read

I have to say that this book is interesting. This dates before Dracula. I stumbled upon it by accident and since it was a free kindle download I couldn't pass it up. This was written in the 1800s in weekly chapters. "It sold for a penny a chapter on the streets of London in 1845." The language is pretty amazing to follow.

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Apr 10, 2010 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars

Love the style of writing. Didn't finish.

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Nov 02, 2011 Ben rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gave-up

Was curious because I read that Stoker took a lot of inspiration from this. The first four pages had me hooked. Then I held out for another 500 pages before realizing that I hadn't been scared, or even interested, for quite a while.

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Aug 12, 2010 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hilarious...so campy

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May 24, 2013 Susan Butler rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 23, 2013 Susan Williams rated it 3 of 5 stars

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About James Malcolm Rymer

James Malcolm Rymer was a British nineteenth century writer of penny dreadfuls, and is the probable author of Varney the Vampire, often attributed to fellow writer Thomas Peckett Prest, and co-author (with Prest) of The String of Pearls, in which the notorious villain Sweeney Todd makes his literary debut.

Information about Rymer is sketchy. In the London Directory for 1841 he is listed as a civil...more

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Books by James Malcolm Rymer

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

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The Black Monk or The Secret of the Grey Turret

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