Feast of Blood

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 348 Feast of Blood

Varney the Vampire is an extremely influential work in the vampire genre, first appearing as a serialized gothic horror story between 1845 and 1847. The was well before Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Varney was published as a series of weekly cheap pamphlets known as "penny dreadfuls," targeting a mass-market audience interested in fast-paced, suspenseful narratives.  By the way, the story is often referred to as The Feast of Blood.

The story revolves around Sir Francis Varney, the vampire of the title, and his interactions with the Bannerworth family. Varney the Vampire was the first story to refer to sharpened teeth for a vampire, noting: "With a plunge he seizes her neck in his fang-like teeth".

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Transcript

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 348 Feast of Blood

Varney the Vampire is an extremely influential work in the vampire genre, first appearing as a serialized gothic horror story between 1845 and 1847. The was well before Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Varney was published as a series of weekly cheap pamphlets known as "penny dreadfuls," targeting a mass-market audience interested in fast-paced, suspenseful narratives.  By the way, the story is often referred to as The Feast of Blood.

The story revolves around Sir Francis Varney, the vampire of the title, and his interactions with the Bannerworth family. Varney the Vampire was the first story to refer to sharpened teeth for a vampire, noting: "With a plunge he seizes her neck in his fang-like teeth".

Varney the Vampire is notable for several other reasons:

  Varney is portrayed as a complex character, vacillating between monstrous acts and sympathetic victimhood, which was very unusual for vampire stories of that time.

Varney possessed superhuman strength, enhanced speed, and mesmerization abilities. Unlike the majority of later vampires, he could withstand sunlight and had no fear of religious symbols.

Varney the Vampire was a significant influence on later vampire fiction, including Bram Stoker's Dracula, and played a crucial role in shaping the our conception of the modern vampire archetype in popular culture.

Now, the penny dreadful format significantly contributed to the popularity of Varney the Vampire in several ways.  For one thing, penny dreadfuls were comparatively cheap, costing only one penny per installment, making them affordable for the working class. This allowed a wide audience to access and follow Varney's story.

Even so, there were many extremely poor boys could not afford the one penny, and would gather in groups to read the latest penny dreadful.
The serial format of weekly installments kept readers engaged over an extended period, building anticipation for each new chapter.

And by the 1850s, there were up to a hundred publishers of penny fiction, with over a million boys' periodicals sold per week in the 1860s and 1870s. This mass production ensured wide distribution and readership.

Not surprisingly, Penny dreadfuls were aimed at young working-class men, providing them with exciting, sensational stories. Varney's supernatural and gothic elements appealed to this demographic.

And the serial nature of penny dreadfuls allowed for more extensive storytelling. 

For example, I earlier mentioned how Varney the Vampire ultimately totaled nearly 667,000 words. This expansive narrative provided ample opportunity for character development and plot twists.

Penny dreadfuls were also known for their lurid, over-dramatic, and sensational content. Varney's vampire storyline fits perfectly into this mold, captivating readers with its gothic horror elements - elements that were later refined and became part of Edgar Poe’s works.

The penny dreadful format thus provided an ideal vehicle for Varney the Vampire to reach a wide audience, maintain reader interest over an extended period, and establish itself as a significant work in vampire fiction.

Varney the Vampire was released in weekly installments over an extended period, maintaining reader interest and anticipation. Penny dreadfuls were known for their lurid and dramatic content, which perfectly suited Varney's gothic horror elements. The format allowed for plot inconsistencies and character development over time, which suited Varney's complex and sometimes contradictory nature and as an advertising tool. These elements combined to make Varney the Vampire a groundbreaking work that introduced many vampire tropes and influenced subsequent vampire fiction.
You may remember from earlier episodes how mythical vampires were perceived as mysterious and very dangerous figures.  But Varney the Vampire introduced a groundbreaking portrayal of a sympathetic vampire, which differed significantly from earlier vampire stories:

Varney was depicted as a multifaceted character, vacillating between monstrous acts and sympathetic victimhood. This complexity was unprecedented in vampire fiction of the time.

Varney is also portrayed as a creature tormented by his own existence, haunted by his evil acts. He often struggles with his vampiric nature, showing remorse and a desire to overcome his condition.

And unlike earlier vampires driven solely by bloodlust, Varney is motivated by distinctly human appetites, including a desire for wealth and women. This humanization of the vampire was a novel concept.

As the story progresses, Varney is presented with increasing sympathy as a victim of his condition rather than an inherently evil being. This portrayal contrasted sharply with the purely malevolent vampires of earlier tales.

And Varney's curse of vampirism is presented as a punishment for past misdeeds, adding a layer of tragedy to his character. This backstory provided a rationale for his condition, eliciting reader sympathy.

This sympathetic depiction of vampires was unmatched in contemporary tales of vampirism and would not be thoroughly explored again until much later works like Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" in 1976.

But before we continue, I want to say a bit about how the visual elements of penny dreadfuls enhanced their appeal - and I’m going somewhere with this.

You see, the visual elements of penny dreadfuls played a crucial role in enhancing their appeal to readers.  For example, the cover pages often depicted intense moments from the stories, serving as a powerful advertising tool to entice potential readers.  And each page typically contained a picture of the described action, with text at the bottom. This visual storytelling approach made the narratives more engaging and accessible, especially for poorly educated readers.

The illustrations often portrayed exciting and dramatic scenes, reflecting the sensational content of the stories. This visual sensationalism appealed to readers seeking escapism from their daily lives. Penny dreadfuls - although there were exceptions -  usually contained few words, ranging from a line or two to a few paragraphs per page. The emphasis on visuals made them easily digestible for a wide audience. The illustrated magazine format of penny dreadfuls, comparable to modern comic books, made them visually appealing and easy to follow. And the illustrations allowed for vivid portrayals of violence, supernatural elements, and scandalous themes, pushing the boundaries of Victorian morality in a visually striking manner.

These visual elements combined to create an immersive and exciting reading experience, contributing significantly to the popularity and widespread appeal of penny dreadfuls among Victorian readers.

The cover art of penny dreadfuls played an especially crucial role in attracting readers.The front cover tended to feature eye-catching illustrations that served as a powerful advertising tool, drawing potential readers' attention. Cover images often depicted intense, shocking, or dramatic scenes from the stories, reflecting the sensational content within.
The illustrations provided a visual teaser of the narrative, enticing readers to purchase the publication to learn more.  And while initially created for adults, the vivid cover art appealed strongly to children, helping expand the readership to younger demographics.

The shocking imagery on covers was also a key factor in driving sales, with one publisher demanding "more blood – much more blood!" from illustrators. Cover art often acted as a teaser for future installments, encouraging readers to follow the serialized stories. Such visual elements of penny dreadfuls, particularly the cover art, were essential in making these publications accessible and appealing to a wide audience, including those with limited literacy skills.

But getting back to Varney the Vampire - 

Varney the Vampire introduced many tropes that became staples of vampire fiction. For example, Varney possessed sharp fangs that leave two puncture wounds on his victims' necks. He also had superhuman strength and hypnotic powers.  And unlike most later vampires - Nosferatu being an exception - Varney could move about in daylight and have no particular fear of crosses or garlic. Varney is portrayed as a multifaceted character, vacillating between monstrous acts and sympathetic victimhood. He struggles with his vampiric nature, often showing remorse for his evil deeds.

And while initially driven by bloodlust, Varney is also motivated by human desires such as wealth and women. The narrative provides multiple, sometimes contradictory, backstories for Varney. In one version, he's cursed with vampirism after betraying a royalist to Oliver Cromwell and accidentally killing his own son.

Varney's character was groundbreaking for its time, presenting a sympathetic vampire long before this became a common trope in vampire fiction. His complex nature and internal struggles set him apart from the purely malevolent vampires of earlier tales, influencing subsequent works in the genre.

Such elements combined to make Varney the Vampire a groundbreaking work that introduced many vampire tropes and influenced subsequent vampire fiction. Varney is portrayed as a multifaceted character, constantly torn between his monstrous nature and his human desires. He vacillates between evil acts and moments of remorse, showing a level of internal conflict unprecedented in vampire fiction of the time.

And as the story progresses, Varney is increasingly depicted as a victim of his condition rather than an inherently evil being. This sympathetic portrayal was groundbreaking for its era. Varney is tormented by his own existence and haunted by his evil acts. Varney often plays the role of a vampire self-consciously, sometimes making light of his own nature in a way that borders on farcical.

And sometimes Varney’s character seem to express a moral ambiguity. His character fluctuates between predator and friend, gentleman and fiend, making him more morally ambiguous than the straightforwardly villainous vampires of other tales.

This combination of traits made Varney a precursor to the modern, sympathetic vampire who lives among humans but struggles to adapt to human norms. His complex characterization influenced subsequent works in the genre and laid the groundwork for many contemporary vampire stories.

Of course, when we experience a story about a vampire, it is usually though an online source, a movie, TV show, or book, but the serialization of Varney the Vampire significantly impacted its popularity and reception in several ways. Varney the Vampire was written for the for a mass-market audience, making it widely accessible to a large readership. The serial format allowed it to be sold at an affordable price, typically a penny per installment, which made it accessible to more people. The serial ran for almost two years, which was unprecedented at the time. This extended run allowed the story to develop and evolve, keeping readers engaged over a long period.

The episodic nature of the serial required writers to produce stories at breakneck speed, focusing on fast pace and galloping suspense rather than coherence or subtle character development. This approach catered to the tastes of an unsophisticated literary audience craving sensational stories.  In fact, sometimes characters would come and go without explanation.  And the serialized format allowed the author(s) to change rules and plot points as the series progressed, similar to many modern television programs. This flexibility enabled the story to adapt to reader preferences and maintain interest over time.

The longevity of the series afforded the author or authors time to round out Varney's tragic character, resulting in reader sympathy. This gradual development of a complex, sympathetic vampire was a significant innovation in vampire literature.

Like many modern television programs, the serial format had the potential to be endless, allowing for continuous expansion of the story and character development.

And despite its reputation as a piece of sensationalist media, Varney the Vampire became one of the most popular literary works of its time.

The serialization of Varney the Vampire not only made it a commercial success but also allowed for the introduction and development of many tropes that would become staples of vampire fiction, influencing the genre for generations to come.

One fascinating aspect of Varney the Vampire is not just how it became an extremely popular piece of work when it was written, but how it influenced the development of vampire fiction as a genre.

This penny dreadful significantly influenced the entire development of vampire fiction as a genre. Varney the Vampire introduced many key elements that became staples of vampire lore and storytelling:

Varney basically introduced the Eastern European aristocratic vampire.

And among the vampire characteristics it described are vampires leaving puncture marks on victims' necks, vampires with superhuman strength and hypnotic powers, and the concept of vampires being revived by moonlight.

As far as narrative element, Varney would often center action around graveyards, introduced the vampire hunt as a plot device, and used the posthumous epistle as a plot device.

Regarding character development, Varney created the first sympathetic vampire character, presented a complex, enigmatic vampire figure, and 
introduced the concept of a vampire who despises his condition.

Varney established many tropes later used in countless vampire stories,
influenced subsequent works like "Carmilla" and “Dracula”, and laid the groundwork for the modern vampire story in general.

Varney the Vampire's influence extends beyond its immediate contemporaries. It shaped the vampire archetype that would evolve throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, contributing to the development of sympathetic vampire characters in modern literature and media. Despite being overshadowed by such later works as Dracula, Varney's impact on the genre is significant, earning it the description of "the most influential vampire story that nobody reads".

In fact,Varney the Vampire introduced several themes that were uncommon in contemporary vampire tales of its time. You have a relatively sympathetic portrayal of the vampire. Varney is depicted as a complex, tormented character who regrets his evil acts and is haunted by his own existence. This sympathetic depiction was unmatched in other vampire stories of the era and would not be revisited until much later works like Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.

Unlike traditional vampires solely driven by bloodlust, Varney is motivated by distinctly human appetites and has human motivations, seeking wealth and women not just for their blood.

Varney vacillates between being a monster and a victim, sometimes even acting altruistically. This moral complexity was definitely unusual for vampire characters of the time.

Varney is portrayed as loathing his condition, attempting to save himself from his vampiric nature. This concept of a vampire struggling against their own nature was also innovative for its time.

The narrative provides various explanations for Varney's vampirism, including a curse and scientific revival through galvanism. This approach added depth to the character and explored different potential causes of vampirism - certainly making vampirism more nuanced.

These themes contributed to the creation of the modern, sympathetic vampire archetype that lives among humans but struggles to adapt to human norms. Varney's complex characterization and inner turmoil paved the way for future vampire stories that explore the humanity and moral struggles of their undead protagonists.