TRANSYLVANIA ISN’T THE ONLY COUNTRY WITH VAMPIRES by Tony-Paul de Vissage
TRANSYLVANIA ISN’T THE ONLY COUNTRY WITH VAMPIRES
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Romania—specifically that section of it called Transylvania—isn’t the only place having vampires. It’s just the one people think of, thanks to Bram Stoker’s little epic. In fact, the first vampire novel to gain attention in the literary world was set in England. Oui—that’s right. The Vampyre by Dr. John Polidori, was an English creation, but how many, other than we vamp-aficionados, are aware of that? And if asked to named the world’s first vampire, how many would say the name of its villain, Lord Ruthven?
Dracula wins that title, fangs down!
Like a thousand other countries, Ireland has its own vampire. The dearg-due (also spelled dearg-due, and pronounced dah rag-du ah). Though the vampire in Forever, My Vampire is male but called a dearg-due, the true one is female, a cross between the succubus and the vampires…the red bloodsucker. Her story is typically romantic and tragic. A young woman forced by her father to marry a cruel man, she kills herself, then rises to exact revenge upon husband and parent. After that, she carries her vengeance far afield as she attacks any man she meets, draining him dry of his life…and his blood. The only way to prevent a dearg-due from rising and creating its own special havoc is to pile the grave high with stones. Their weight holds the evil spirit inside.
As to my vampire…
[image error]When I wrote Forever, My Vampire, I decided to be different, ignoring Transylvania in lieu of Ireland, which has its own special vampire. Oh, my hero/villain hails from Hungary but that’s only mentioned briefly. And the city he says he comes from actually does exist. It’s called Lugos, and is the town from which Bela Lugosi took his stage name. Appropriate, non? The Irish town is made up, however. Balleywalegh’s a place knowing what to do with vampires and it doesn’t involve giving them the key to the city, unless it’s presented on the end of a well-sharpened stake.
I also chose to set my story in a slightly inappropriate era…the Twenties. 1929 to be exact, when the movies were just becoming the rage, the automobiles were still fairly rare, and any woman showing more than an ankle was considered “fast”…or worse…a flapper. The perceived vampire is also different…he can dance the Charleston and drives a Stutz Bearcat…and that fact drives the lasses wild.
The time is just enough of a blend of the old century and the new to make it different.
Don’t think my tale of a vampire descending on a little Irish village is a tragic one, though. Nor is it bloody. It’s more whimsical, filled with Irish lilts and brash Gaelic characters…though it does have its shivery moments. It also pokes fun at all the clichés with which the movies have filled the vampire tale…the villagers descending on the manor house, the vampire being fended off with garlic and stakes, the cornered vampire cursing his attackers… It’s all there, as tongue…uh, fang…in cheek as you can get without being a cruel burlesque. If anything, it’s a gentle bit of fun at the genre’s expense.
BLURB:
In 1821, the good men of Balleywalegh drove a monster from their midst…or so they thought.
Now, it’s 1926 and a light again shines in the deserted manor house window. The 
vampire has returned…or so they think.
Karel Novotny has the same name as the fiend, but he can’t be a vampire…can he?
The girls of Balleywalegh adore Karel, especially Seamus Flannery’s daughter Brigid, but when the lasses come down with a mysterious ailment, and their fathers start sharpening their stakes, Seamus has to discover the truth fast, or Karel may not survive to become his son-in-law.
Will the real vampire please stand up?
EXCERPT:
Gentlemen,” Conor instructed, “ask th’ lady o’ your choice for th’ first dance.”
“Do you dance, Mr. Novotny Karel?” Brigid’s eyes held a teasing look.
“Dance? I…” He appeared uncertain what to answer. “Well… ”
“Oh, come on. This first dance is a waltz. Everyone knows how to waltz.” Before he could protest, she caught his hand, dragging him to the dance floor, a cleared space at the end of the room where tables and chairs had been pushed out of the way.
To one side, Conor and his two eldest drew their bows across their fiddles, while Paddy Shea blew into his clarinet, and his wife did an arpeggio on the keys of the old upright rolled into a space near the kitchen door. The first notes of the Blue Danube Waltz floated over the heads of those now crowding onto the dance floor.
Seamus, not being much of a dancer, didn’t participate, thankful Maeve, knowing how those two left feet of his could hurt when trampling on her little toes, didn’t insist. Instead, they stood on the sidelines, watching as the young people milled about, some keeping good time to the music, some woefully inept.
Novotny, definitely wasn’t one of the latter.
Th’ lad’s damned graceful, Seamus thought as he watched the young man guide Brigid about the floor.
She smiled up at him, obviously pleased by his performance. Seamus felt his heart sink. His mother had always told him young woman liked a man who could dance. He was certain Novotny was about to prove her correct.
He didn’t finish the dance with Brigid, however. Several of her friends, obviously not considering it bold, cut in, taking him away from her for a few moments, while a couple of the lads swept Brigid into an embrace one after the other. Too quickly in [image error]Seamus’ opinion, the two reclaimed each other through a second waltz, then a third. When the music slid into a two-step, Brigid didn’t let Novotny leave the floor, but held his hand and simply stood there with the others milling around them until he once more put his arm about her and continued to dance.
The next dance was the Charleston, and Seamus was subjected to the sight of his daughter and the young foreigner bouncing all over the dance floor. There were a few other couples knowledgeable enough to know the steps to that scandalous American dance but they were soon stepping aside, giving the two more room. When Seamus looked away from the waving arms, shimmying hips, and flying legs, he was startled to see Maeve, still standing next to him, bouncing slightly and snapping her fingers.
“Well, it does have a lively beat,” she defended herself in answer to his stare.
Shaking his head, Seamus glanced back at the dancers as the music once more changed, to a foxtrot, this time. Apparently Novotny was acquainted with that one as well.
He stayed on the floor until the musicians called it quits by playing a fanfare, and Conor announced loudly, “An’ now, let’s bring on th’ vittles.”
Panting slightly, Novotny offered Brigid his arm and led her from the floor.
Seamus hadn’t realized until that moment he’d been holding his breath. Just a little.
~*~
Forever, My Vampire is available from wordwooze Publishing through Amazon in Kindle and paperback and will soon be released in audio book, also: https://www.amazon.com/Forever-My-Vampire-Tony-Paul-Vissage-ebook/dp/B08D81LQSJ/
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