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Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject ofvampires. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th-century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures ofgothic fiction with the publication ofPolidori'sThe Vampyre (1819), inspired by a story told to him byLord Byron. Later influential works includeThe Family of the Vourdalak (1839) byAleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy; thepenny dreadfulVarney the Vampire (1847);Sheridan Le Fanu's tale of alesbian vampireCarmilla (1872), andBram Stoker'sDracula (1897). Some authors created a more "sympathetic vampire", withVarney being the first,[1] and more recent examples such asMoto Hagio's seriesThe Poe Clan (1972–1976) andAnne Rice's novelInterview with the Vampire (1976) proving influential.[2]
Vampire fiction is rooted in the "vampire craze" between the 1720s and 1730s, which culminated in the official exhumations of suspected vampiresPetar Blagojevich andArnold Paole inSerbia under theHabsburg monarchy. One of the first works of art to touch upon the subject is the short German poemThe Vampire (1748) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, where the theme already has strong erotic overtones: a man whose love is rejected by a respectable and pious maiden threatens to pay her a nightly visit, drink her blood by giving her the seductive kiss of the vampire and thus prove to her that his teaching is better than her mother'sChristianity.[3] Furthermore, there have been a number of tales about a dead person returning from the grave to visit his/her beloved or spouse and bring them death in a way or another, thenarrative poemLenore (1773) byGottfried August Bürger being a notable 18th-century example (though the apparently returned lover is actually revealed to be death himself in disguise). One of its lines,Denn die Todten reiten schnell ("For the dead ride fast"), was to be quoted in Bram Stoker's classicDracula. A later German poem exploring the same subject with a prominent vampiric element wasThe Bride of Corinth (1797) byGoethe, a story about a young woman who returns from the grave to seek her betrothed:
From my grave to wander I am forced
Still to seek the God's long sever'd link,
Still to love the bridegroom I have lost,
And the lifeblood of his heart to drink.
The story is turned into an expression of the conflict betweenHeathendom and Christianity: the family of the dead girl are Christians, while the young man and his relatives are still pagans. It turns out that it was the girl's Christian mother who broke off her engagement and forced her to become a nun, eventually driving her to her death. The motive behind the girl's return as a "spectre" is that "e'en Earth can never cool down love". Goethe had been inspired by the story ofPhilinnion byPhlegon of Tralles, a tale fromclassical Greece. However, in that tale, the youth is not the girl's betrothed, no religious conflict is present, no actual sucking of blood occurs, and the girl's return from the dead is said to be sanctioned by the gods of theUnderworld. She relapses into death upon being exposed, and the issue is settled by burning her body outside of the city walls and making anapotropaic sacrifice to the deities involved.
The first mention of vampires in English literature appears inRobert Southey's monumental oriental epic poemThalaba the Destroyer (1801), where the main character Thalaba's deceased beloved Oneiza turns into a vampire, although that occurrence is actually marginal to the story. It has been argued thatSamuel Taylor Coleridge's poemChristabel (written between 1797 and 1801, but not published until 1816) has influenced the development of vampire fiction: the heroine Christabel is seduced by a female supernatural being called Geraldine who tricks her way into her residence. Though Coleridge never finished the poem, some argue that his intended plot had Geraldine eventually trying to marry Christabel after having assumed the appearance of Christabel's absent lover.[4] The story bears a remarkable resemblance to the overtly vampiric story ofCarmilla byJoseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1872).[original research?]
In a passage in hisepic poemThe Giaour (1813),Lord Byron alludes to the traditional folkloric conception of the vampire as a being damned to suck the blood and destroy the life of its nearest relations:
But first, on earth as vampire sent,
Thy corpse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghostly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corpse:
Thy victims ere they yet expire
Shall know thy demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers are withered on the stem.
Byron also composed an enigmatic fragmentary story, published as "A Fragment" in 1819 as part of theMazeppa collection, concerning the mysterious fate of an aristocrat named Augustus Darvell whilst journeying in the Orient—as his contribution to the famous ghost story competition at theVilla Diodati byLake Geneva in thesummer of 1816, between him,Percy Bysshe Shelley,Mary Shelley andJohn William Polidori (who was Byron's personal physician). This story provided the basis forThe Vampyre (1819) by Polidori. Byron's own wild life became the model for Polidori's undead protagonistLord Ruthven. According to A. Asbjorn Jon, "the choice of name [for Polidori's Lord Ruthven] is presumably linked toLady Caroline Lamb's earlier novelGlenarvon, where it was used for a rather ill disguised Byronesque character".[5]
An unauthorized sequel to Polidori's tale by Cyprien Bérard calledLord Ruthwen ou les Vampires (1820) was attributed toCharles Nodier. Nodier himself adapted "The Vampyre" into the first vampire stage melodrama,Le Vampire. Unlike Polidori's original story, Nodier's play was set in Scotland. This, in turn, was adapted by the English melodramatistJames Planché asThe Vampire; or, the Bride of the Isles (1820) at theLyceum (then called the English Opera House), also set in Scotland. Planché introduced the "vampire trap" as a way for the title fiend to appear in a dream at the beginning and then to vanish into the earth at his destruction. Nodier's play was also the basis of an opera calledDer Vampyr by the German composerHeinrich Marschner, who set the story in a more plausibleWallachia. Planché, in turn, translated the libretto of this opera into English in 1827, where it was performed at the Lyceum also.Alexandre Dumas,père later redramatized the story in a play also entitledLe Vampire (1851). Another theatrical vampire of this period was "Sir Alan Raby", who is the lead character ofThe Vampire (1852), a play byDion Boucicault. Boucicault himself played the lead role to great effect, though the play itself had mixed reviews. Queen Victoria, who saw the play, described it in her diary as "very trashy".[6]
An important later example of 19th-century vampire fiction is thepenny dreadful epicVarney the Vampire (1847), featuringSir Francis Varney as the vampire. In this story, we have the first example of the standard trope in which the vampire comes through the window at night and attacks a maiden as she lies sleeping. Alexandre Dumas' 1849 novellaThe Pale Lady features the first Carpathian vampire nobleman, a young Moldavian noble and outlaw named Kostaki. Kostaki is a descendant of the WallachianBrancoveanu family, can hypnotise, and he sneaks into a maiden's chamber to make her follow him into his tomb. His bite can kill and turn a victim into a vampire within 15 days, unless that person washes the bite wounds with his vampire blood.Heathcliff inEmily Brontë'sWuthering Heights (1847) is suspected of being a vampire by his housekeeper at one point, which he immediately laughs off as "absurd nonsense".
Fascinating erotic fixations are evident inSheridan Le Fanu's classic novellaCarmilla (1872), which features a female vampire with lesbian inclinations who seduces the heroine Laura while draining her of her vital fluids. Le Fanu's story is set in theDuchy of Styria. Such central European locations became a standard feature of vampire fiction.
Another important example of the development of vampire fiction can be found in three seminal novels byPaul Féval:Le Chevalier Ténèbre (1860),La Vampire (1865) andLa Ville Vampire (1874).Marie Nizet'sLe Capitaine Vampire (1879) features a Russian officer, Boris Liatoukine, who is a vampire, embodying Russian imperialism in 1877 Romania.
In German literature, one of the most popular novels was Hans Wachenhusen'sDer Vampyr – Novelle aus Bulgarien (1878), which, on account of the author's first-hand experience of Ottoman society, includes a detailed description of the multicultural society of Bulgaria, and which contains an atmosphere that is "in some parts comparable toDracula".[7]
The most famous Serbian vampire wasSava Savanović, from a folklore-inspired novel,Ninety Years Later, byMilovan Glišić, first published in 1880.[8] Serbian vampires—albeit depicted first in French (1839) and then Russian (1884)—also appear inCount Tolstoy's novellaThe Family of the Vourdalak.
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs published the short story "Manor" in 1885, about two sailors and lovers. When the older of the two, Manor, drowns at sea he returns to his lover Har each night to suck his blood and lay together.
Bram Stoker'sDracula (1897) has been the definitive description of the vampire in popular fiction for the last century. Its portrayal of vampirism as a disease (contagious demonic possession), with its undertones of sex, blood, and death, struck a chord in a Victorian Britain wheretuberculosis andsyphilis were common.
Although it has been claimed that the character ofCount Dracula is based upon Vlad Draculesti III (Vlad the Impaler), also known as Vlad Ţepeş', a notorious 15th-centuryWallachian (Romanian) warlord, orVoivode, this has been debunked by multiple scholars.[9][10][11] Unlike the historical personage, however, Stoker located his Count Dracula in a castle near theBorgo Pass inTransylvania, and ascribed to that area the supernatural aura it retains to this day in the popular imagination.
Stoker likely drew inspiration fromIrish myths of blood-sucking creatures. He was also influenced by Le Fanu'sCarmilla. Le Fanu was Stoker's editor when Stoker was a theater critic inDublin, Ireland. Like Le Fanu, Stoker created compelling female vampire characters such asLucy Westenra and theBrides of Dracula.
Stoker's vampire hunterAbraham Van Helsing was a strong influence on subsequent vampire literature.
Though Stoker's Count Dracula remained an iconic figure, especially in thenew medium of cinema, as in the filmNosferatu (1922), 20th-century vampire fiction went beyond traditional Gothic horror and explored new genres such as science fiction. An early example of this isGustave Le Rouge'sLe prisonnier de la planète Mars (1908) and its sequelLa guerre des vampires (1909), in which a native race of bat-winged, blood-drinking humanoids is found onMars. In the 1920 novellaLa Jeune Vampire (The Young Vampire), byJ.-H. Rosny aîné, vampirism is explained as a form of possession by souls originating in another universe known simply as the Beyond.
Possibly the most influential example of modern vampire science fiction isRichard Matheson'sI Am Legend (1954).[12] The novel is set in a future Los Angeles overrun with undead cannibalistic/bloodsucking beings. The protagonist is the sole survivor of apandemic of abacterium that causesvampirism. He must fight to survive attacks from the hordes of nocturnal creatures, discover the secrets of their biology, and develop effective countermeasures. The novel was adapted into three movies:The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price in 1964,The Omega Man starringCharlton Heston in 1971, andI Am Legend starringWill Smith in 2007.
The latter part of the 20th century saw the rise of multi-volume vampire epics. The first of these was Gothic romance writerMarilyn Ross'sBarnabas Collins series (1966–71) loosely based on the contemporary American TV soap operaDark Shadows. It also set the trend for seeing vampires as poetic, tragic heroes rather than as the traditional embodiment of evil. This formula was followed in the popularVampire Chronicles (1976-2018) series of novels byAnne Rice andChelsea Quinn Yarbro's massive Saint-Germain series (1978–). Ross, Rice and Yarbro set the trend for multi-volume vampire sagas which are now a stock feature of mass-market fiction (see below for list). Rice's work also saw the beginning of the convergence of traditional Gothic ideas with the modernGothic subculture and a more explicit exploration of the transgressive sexualities which had always been implicit in vampire fiction.
Stephen King, while not a writer of multi-volume epics on vampires, has become a very influential horror writer of the late 20th and early 21st century, evidenced by the nearly sixty books he has published over the past 50 years selling around the world in multiple languages. King's repertoire often hybridizes traditional vampire folklore with the coy charm inspired by Bela Lugosi's performance while increasing the physical violence, carnage, and overall butchery. His work describes very graphically in detail the ruthlessness of what essentially is a supernatural, parasitic predator that unleashes itself and intrudes on ordinary life for ordinary people, a recurring theme of his books. According to King himself, he was still a teacher at a high school when one of the books the class was studying was Bram Stoker'sDracula. Over dinner, he asked his wife,Tabitha, what would happen if Dracula came back in the 20th century. "He'd probably be run over by a Yellow Cab on Park Avenue and killed," his wife replied, and it was from there that she suggested a different, rural setting.[13]
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Salem's Lot, the book that resulted from that conversation, was published in 1975 as the follow-up toCarrie[13]; as of 2022, the process of weaving vampires into his stories is ongoing. King's overall body of work spans the late 20th and early 21st centuries andSalem's Lot has over the years become one of his most important works.[14] The title references a Maine town calledJerusalem's Lot and it is the centerpiece of two full novels and one short story, plus twelve other books that reference the town's existence within the multiverse that runs through all Stephen King books.[15] King acknowledged the influence ofDracula on the work, as well as the violent, pre-Comics Code vampires portrayed in horror comics such as those released byE.C. Comics.[16] King also has written several other works with vampires included in them in both long and short form includingThe Little Sisters of Elluria (1998), "The Nightflier" (1993, inNightmares and Dreamscapes), and several books in his seriesThe Dark Tower (1982-2012) which also contains at least one character fromSalem's Lot. Many of these have been brought to film and television as well as comic books.[17][18]
The 1981 novelThe Hunger (adapted as a film in 1983) continued the theme of open sexuality and examined the biology of vampires, suggesting that their special abilities were the result of physical properties of their blood. The novel suggested that not all vampires were undead humans, but some were a separate species that had evolved alongside humans. This interpretation of vampires has since then been used in several science-fiction stories dealing with vampires, most famously theBlade movie series. The 1982 novelFevre Dream by notable authorGeorge R. R. Martin tells the tale of a race of living vampires, extremely human-like butobligate predators on humans, set in the MississippiRiverboat era, where one of them has developed adietary supplement to "cure" them, and is fighting for the right and opportunity to distribute it.
Kim Newman'sAnno Dracula series (1992–) returns to Stoker's Count Dracula, looking at an alternate world where Dracula defeated Van Helsing's group and conquered Britain, and gives the genre a somewhatpostmodern spin. The television seriesBuffy the Vampire Slayer, created and largely written byJoss Whedon, also explored vampire folklore in the light ofpostmodern andfeminist theory, defining the 'condition' as humans who were made to drink vampire blood after the vampire drinks from them, with turned vampires being essentially demons possessing human corpses;Buffy and its spin-off,Angel, also feature the character ofAngel in a prominent role, with Angel being a vampire who was cursed with hissoul, restoring his capacity for compassion, but also forcing him to live with the guilt of what he did as a regular vampire.
Post-Colonial perspectives on the vampire legend are provided inNalo Hopkinson's novelBrown Girl in the Ring (1998), which features theSoucouyant, a vampire of Caribbean folklore, and inTananarive Due'sMy Soul to Keep (1995) and its sequelThe Living Blood (2001).
In 1989, a comprehensive bibliography of vampire literature was published – Margaret L. Carter'sThe Vampire in Literature. A Critical Bibliography (Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.: Umi Research Press).
One of the best-known stories ofNobel Prize winning Israeli writerShmuel Yosef Agnon is "The Lady and the Peddler" (האדונית והרוכל). It tells of Yosef the Peddler who wanders a great East European forest and encounters a lonely house inhabited by a mysterious lady named Helen. First finding refuge there from a pouring rain, he is eventually seduced to stay and enter into a sexual relationship. Eventually, however, he discovers that she is in the habit of killing her husbands, devouring them and drinking their blood, which keeps her young and beautiful, and that she had done it to 17 men before him. She also tries to kill Yosef but fails, wounds herself and eventually dies. She is then eaten by birds while Yosef the Peddler picks up his pack and resumes his wanderings.
Many books based on vampires are still being published, including several continuing series.Paranormal romance, inspired by Anne Rice, but mostly dropping the open sexuality of her characters in favor of more conventional sexual roles, is a remarkable contemporary publishing phenomenon.[19] Romances with handsome vampires as the male lead includeLynsay Sands' Argeneau family series (2003–),Charlaine HarrisThe Southern Vampire Mysteries series (2001–2013), andChristine Feehan's Carpathian series (1999–). However,Laurell K. Hamilton'sAnita Blake: Vampire Hunter series has again shifted the genre boundaries from romance back toward the territory of erotica.
Theoccult detective subgenre is represented byJim Butcher'sThe Dresden Files fantasy series (2000–), andCharlaine Harris'sThe Southern Vampire Mysteries (2001–2013).
In the field of juvenile and young adult literature,Darren Shan wrote a 12-book series (The Saga of Darren Shan) about a boy who becomes a vampire's assistant, beginning withCirque Du Freak (2000) and ending withSons of Destiny (2006). A film adaptation has been made of the first three books calledCirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009). He is also currently writing a prequel to theSaga, a series of four books all aboutLarten Crepsley (one of the main characters) starting withBirth of a Killer (2010) and finishing withBrothers to the Death (2012).Ellen Schreiber created a young adult series about Raven Madison and her vampire boyfriend Alexander Sterling, starting withVampire Kisses (2005). InScott Westerfeld's young adult novelPeeps (2005), the protagonist carries a contagious parasite that causes vampire-like behavior.
Count Dracula also continues to inspire novelists, for exampleElizabeth Kostova inThe Historian (2005).
Swedish authorJohn Ajvide Lindqvist's critically praised vampire storyLåt den rätte komma in (2004), about the relationship of a 12-year-old boy with a 200-year-old vampire child, has now been translated into English asLet the Right One In (2008) anda film adaptation has been produced. The story takes place inBlackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm. This particular novel does not follow the modern romantic trend, and instead focuses on a human-vampire friendship. Crucially, it retains many of the vampire traits popularized byDracula.
Dimitris Lyacos's second book of thePoena Damni trilogyWith the People from the Bridge handles the vampire legend in the context of a ritualistic post-theatrical drama performance.[20] In a dystopian setting, under the arches of a derelict bridge, a group of social outcasts[21] present an unconventional, non-Gothic version of a vampire drawing from ancient Greek religion[22] and literature,Christian eschatology as well as traveler reports of vampire epidemics in the Balcans.[23] The story is recounted in aminimalist style that makes no explicit mention to vampires, the undead, graves or the Underworld, conveying, nevertheless, the underlying theme unambiguously and in striking physical detail.[24]
Peter Watts' novelBlindsight has explored a scientific basis for vampires, depicting them as an evolutionary offshoot from humanity who were not the dominant species on the planet solely due to an evolutionary glitch making them averse to Euclidean geometry (right angles cause seizures in what is called "Crucifix Glitch", leading to them dying out when modern technology with all its structures swept the world). Implied to have vastly superior intelligence and problem-solving capabilities, they were recreated from gene snippets for special tasks, with special drugs alleviating their crucifix glitch. One particularly important vampire trait is their ability to hibernate for extended periods of time, which makes cryogenic stasis possible and is applied to astronauts via gene-therapy. At the end of the novel it is implied the vampires have taken control of earth and may be exterminating baseline humanity.
In recent years, vampire fiction has been one of many supernatural fiction genres used in the creation ofmashups. These works combine either a pre-existing text or a historic figure with elements of genre fiction. One of the best-known of these works isAbraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter bySeth Grahame-Smith, in which the historicAbraham Lincoln has a fictional secret identity as a hunter of evil vampires.
The 21st century brought more examples of vampire fiction, such asJ. R. Ward'sBlack Dagger Brotherhood series, and other highly popular vampire books which appeal to teenagers and young adults. Such vampiricparanormal romance novels and allied vampiricchick-lit and vampiricoccult detective stories are a remarkably popular and ever-expanding contemporary publishing phenomenon.[25]L. A. Banks'The Vampire Huntress Legend Series,Laurell K. Hamilton's eroticAnita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, andKim Harrison'sThe Hollows series, portray the vampire in a variety of new perspectives, some of them unrelated to the original legends. Vampires in theTwilight series (2005–2008) byStephenie Meyer ignore the effects of garlic and crosses and are not harmed by sunlight, although it does reveal their supernatural status.[26]Richelle Mead further deviates from traditional vampires in herVampire Academy series (2007–2010), basing the novels on Romanian lore with two races of vampires, one good and one evil, as well as half-vampires.[27]
In recent years, there has been more vampire fiction that discusses more political issues. These political issues usually revolve around gender and sexuality. This was first seen with Fanu'sCarmilla in 1872. Today, female vampires represent womanhood and the tension of cultural norms. Especially when it comes to sexuality. These ideas are explored in new novels such as, Kat Dunn'sHungerstone (2025) andWoman Eating byClaire Kohda.Hungerstone is a contemporary novel retelling that ofCarmilla. It explores sapphic relationships, while also discussing womanhood in desire. While,Women Eating, discusses the need of desire and acceptance in society through the appetite of a vampire. Through speculative fiction, like fantasy or science fiction, political topics can be discussed in metaphors. Especially for gender and sexuality topics. Vampire fiction has been a great example of this, that is still relevant today.[28]
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The traits of the literary vampire have evolved from the often repulsive figures of folklore. Fictional vampires can be romantic figures, often described as elegant and sexy (compare demons such assuccubi andincubi). This is in stark contrast to the vampire of Eastern European folklore, which was a horrifying animated corpse. However, as in folklore, the literary vampire is sustained by drinking blood. They do not need other food, water, or even oxygen. They are sometimes portrayed as being unable to eat human food at all, forcing them to either avoid public dining or mime chewing and eating to deceive their mortal victims. The fictional vampire, however, often has a pale appearance rather than the dark or ruddy skin of folkloric vampires and their skin is cool to the touch. As in folklore, literary vampires can usually be warded off withgarlic and symbols of the Christian faith, such asholy water, acrucifix, or arosary.
According to literary scholarNina Auerbach inOur Vampires, Ourselves, the influence of the moon was seen as dominant in the earliest examples of vampire literature:
For at least fifty years after Planche's Vampire, the moon was the central ingredient of vampire iconography; vampire's solitary and repetitive lives consisted of incessant deaths and – when the moon shone down on them – quivering rebirths. Ruthven, Varney and Raby need marriage and blood to replenish their vitality but they turn for renewed life to the moon...a corpse quivering to life under the moon's rays is the central image of midcentury vampire literature; fangs, penetration, sucking and staking are all peripheral to its lunar obsession.
Bram Stoker'sDracula was hugely influential in its depiction of vampire traits, some of which are described by the novel's vampire expertAbraham Van Helsing.Dracula has the ability to change his shape at will, his featured forms in the novel being that of a wolf, bat, mist and fog. He can also crawl up and down the vertical external walls of his castle in the manner of a lizard. One very famous trait that Stoker added is the inability to be seen in mirrors, which is not found in traditional Eastern European folklore, as Stoker combined the folklore ofJiangshi being terrified of their own reflection with the material fact of the silver backed mirrors of the time. Dracula also had protruding teeth, though was preceded in this by Varney the Vampire and Carmilla.In Anne Rice's books, the vampires appear their best self of the age they were turned into a vampire; for instance, when Claudia was turned into a vampire, her golden curls became tight and voluminous, her skin turns a pale but smooth and clear, and rids her of the rotting disease. But it also seems like a curse as she retains her child-body for her entire vampire lifetime and any modifications on her body, such as even cutting her hair, grows it back to the same length as it was before.A similar occurrence can be observed in theTwilight series - when Bella is turned into a vampire, her wounds heal, hair becomes healthy and shiny, her broken back and ribs get mended, the color comes back to her skin, and her sunken eyes, cheeks and skinny body return to a healthy state; in fact she is brought back to life from the brink of death by turning her into a vampire.
In theDracula novel, the vampire hunter Van Helsing prescribes that a vampire be destroyed by a wooden stake (preferably made ofwhite oak) through the heart,decapitation, drowning, or incineration. The vampire's head must be removed from its body, the mouth stuffed withgarlic and holy water or relics, the body drawn and quartered, then burned and spread into the four winds, with the head buried on hallowed ground. The destruction of the vampire Lucy follows the three-part process enjoined by Van Helsing (staking, decapitation, and garlic in the mouth).
Traditional vampire folklore, followed by Stoker inDracula, does not usually hold that sunlight is fatal to vampires, though they are nocturnal. It is also notable in the novel that Dracula can walk about in the daylight, in bright sunshine, though apparently in discomfort and without the ability to use most of his powers, like turning into mist or a bat. He is still strong and fast enough to struggle with and escape from most of his male pursuers. Fatal exposure to sunlight of a vampire in their coffin dates at least as far back asThe Story Of Yand Manor House (1898) by E. and H. Heron; such scenes invampire films however, most especially 1922'sNosferatu and the closing scene of the 1958 filmDracula in which Count Dracula is burnt by the sun, were very influential on later vampire fiction. For instance, Anne Rice's vampire Lestat and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Count Saint-Germain both avoid the lethal effects of daylight by staying closeted indoors during the day.[29]
A well-known set of special powers and weaknesses is commonly associated with vampires in contemporary fiction. There is a tendency, however, for authors to pick and choose the ones they like, or find more realistic ones, and have their characters ridicule the rest as absurd. For example, in the movieBlade, the vampire hunterBlade tells Karen Jenson what kills vampires (stakes, silver, and sunlight), and dismisses tactics seen in vampire movies (namely crosses and running water) as ineffective.[30] Some vampires can fly. This power may be supernatural levitation, or it may be connected to the vampire's shape-shifting ability. Some traditions hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless he or she is invited in. Generally, a vampire needs be invited in only once and then can come and go at will.Stephen King's novelSalem's Lot explored an unusual direction with this myth in having one of the protagonists revoke a vampire's invitation to a house; the vampire was forced to flee the building immediately. This is also featured in the American TV seriesTrue Blood, where Sookie withdraws her invitation on a number of occasions, causing vampires to be thrown out by supernatural forces. Also, inThe Vampire Diaries when a newly turned vampire wakes up in a house that he was not invited into, he immediately flees.
Some tales maintain that vampires must return to a coffin or to their "native soil" before sunrise to take their rest safely. Others place native soil in their coffins, especially if they have relocated. Still other vampire stories, such as Le Fanu'sCarmilla, maintain that vampires must return to their coffins, but sleep in several inches of blood as opposed to soil. Vampires are generally held to be unable to bear children, though the concept of a "half vampire" and similar creatures does exist in folklore and in some modern fiction. Some fictional vampires are fascinated with counting, an idea derived from folk stories about vampires being compelled to stop and count any spilled grain that they find in their path. The most famous fictional counting vampire is likely theMuppet characterCount von Count on television'sSesame Street. Other examples include afifth season episode of theX-Files titledBad Blood, and theDiscworld novel,Carpe Jugulum byTerry Pratchett. Some modern fictional vampires are portrayed as having magical powers beyond those originally assigned by myth, typically also possessing the powers of a witch or seer. Such examples includeDrusilla fromBuffy the Vampire Slayer (Drusilla was a seer before she was a vampire, and carried those powers into her undeath), andOlivia Nightshade fromThe Nightshade Chronicles. Also, vampires from theVampire Academy books, also known as the moroi, are skilled in elemental magic. Also, in theTwilight series, certain vampires appear to have special gifts like Edward (telepathy), Alice (visions), Bella (shielding), that are either supernatural or evolved from their own personalities like Victoria (survival instinct).
Thedhampir, the offspring of a vampire and a human known from Serbian folklore, has been popularized in recent fiction.
There are several recent series in vampire fiction, of variable literary quality. They tend to either take the form of directsequels (orprequels) to the first book published or detail the ongoing adventures of particular characters.
White Wolf, a maker ofrole-playing games, releases novels set in the fantasy world of itsVampire: The Masquerade game. These series of novels were released in 13-book sets, each corresponding to one of the 13 clans of vampires in their game universe.
Comic books and graphic novels which feature vampires includeVampirella (Warren Publishing, 1969),Morbius the Living Vampire (Marvel, 1971),The Poe Clan (Shogakukan 1972),The Tomb of Dracula (Marvel Comics, 1972),Blade (Marvel, 1973),I...Vampire (DC Comics, 1981),Hellsing (Shonen Gahosha, 1997),Vampire Girl (Shodensha, 1999–unknown),30 Days of Night (IDW Publishing, 2002),Chibi Vampire (Monthly Dragon Age, 2003),JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Weekly Shonen Jump 1986–2004,Ultra Jump 2004-)Rosario + Vampire (Monthly Shōnen Jump 2004),Vampire Knight (LaLa, 2005),Blood Alone (MediaWorks, 2005),Dracula vs. King Arthur (Silent Devil Productions, 2005),Dance in the Vampire Bund (Media Factory, 2006),Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures (Dabel Brothers Productions/Marvel Comics, 2007),Half Dead (Dabel Brothers Productions/Marvel Comics, 2007),Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight (Dark Horse Comics, 2007),Black Rose Alice (Akita Shoten, 2008),Nosferatu (Viper Comics, 2010),Twilight: The Graphic Novel (2010)[55] andHe's My Only Vampire (Kodansha, 2010).[56]
Proinsias Cassidy, the supporting lead male inGarth Ennis' comic book seriesPreacher (DC/Vertigo, 1995), is a vampire of Irish origin. In addition, many major superheroes have faced vampire supervillains at some point. In the Belgo-French comicLe Bal du rat mort,[57] police inspector Jean Lamorgue is a hybrid vampire and he is a king of rats. He is guiding an invasion ofrats inOstend and he sucks the blood of his human victims.
In 2009,Zuda Comics launchedLa Morté Sisters, a story of teenage vampirism in a Catholic orphanage taking place in SouthPhiladelphia. The story follows new girl Maddie in a world of ninja nuns and black magic.[58]
American Vampire, created by Scott Snyder, was published in 2010. It explores the idea of the evolution of vampires, leading to new species throughout American history.
Magazines which feature vampires includeBite me magazine (launched 1999). Typical features include interviews with vampire actors, features on famous vampire film classics, vampire-related news, forthcoming vampire film and book releases.
Defunct vampire magazines includeCrimson (England);Journal of the Dark (US), Father Sebastiaan'sVampyre Magazine (US) andThe Velvet Vampyre (available to members of the disbanded The Vampyre Society, England).
Translated byEdna St. Vincent Millay
Anti-war poetry
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