Editing Vampire literature (section)

===19th century===
The first mention of vampires in English literature appears in [[Robert Southey]]'s monumental oriental epic poem ''[[Thalaba 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 that [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]'s poem ''[[Christabel (poem)|Christabel]]'' (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.<ref>Leatherdale, C. (1993) ''Dracula: The Novel and the Legend'':46&ndash;9.</ref>  The story bears a remarkable resemblance to the overtly vampiric story of [[Carmilla]] by [[Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu]] (1872).{{original research inline|date=April 2013}}

In a passage in his [[epic poem]] ''[[The 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:

<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 90%">But first, on earth as vampire sent, <br/> Thy corpse shall from its tomb be rent: <br/> Then ghostly haunt thy native place, <br/> And suck the blood of all thy race;</span>

<span style="font-size: 90%">There from thy daughter, sister, wife, <br/> At midnight drain the stream of life; <br/> Yet loathe the banquet which perforce <br/> Must feed thy livid living corpse: <br/> Thy victims ere they yet expire <br/> Shall know thy demon for their sire, <br/> As cursing thee, thou cursing them, <br/> Thy flowers are withered on the stem.</span>
</blockquote>

Byron also composed an enigmatic fragmentary story, published as "[[Fragment of a Novel|A Fragment]]" in 1819 as part of the ''[[Mazeppa (poem)|Mazeppa]]'' collection, concerning the mysterious fate of an aristocrat named Augustus Darvell whilst journeying in the Orient&mdash;as his contribution to the famous ghost story competition at the [[Villa Diodati]] by [[Lake Geneva]] in the [[Year Without a Summer|summer of 1816]], between him, [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]], [[Mary Shelley]] and [[John William Polidori]] (who was Byron's personal physician). This story provided the basis for ''[[The Vampyre]]'' (1819) by Polidori. Byron's own wild life became the model for Polidori's undead protagonist [[Lord Ruthven (vampire)|Lord Ruthven]]. According to A. Asbjorn Jon, "the choice of name [for Polidori's Lord Ruthven] is presumably linked to [[Lady Caroline Lamb]]'s earlier novel ''[[Glenarvon]]'', where it was used for a rather ill disguised Byronesque character".<ref>A. Asbjorn Jon (2003) 'Vampire Evolution', in ''Metaphor'' 3, 2003: 19&ndash;23.</ref>

An unauthorized sequel to Polidori's tale by Cyprien Bérard called ''Lord Ruthwen ou les Vampires'' (1820) was attributed to [[Charles 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 melodramatist [[James Planché]] as ''[[The Vampire (play)|The Vampire; or, the Bride of the Isles]]'' (1820) at the [[Lyceum]] (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 called ''[[Der Vampyr]]'' by the German composer [[Heinrich Marschner]], who set the story in a more plausible [[Wallachia]]. Planché in turn translated the libretto of this opera into English in 1827, where it was performed at the Lyceum also. [[Alexandre Dumas|Alexandre Dumas, ''père'']] later redramatized the story in a play also entitled ''Le Vampire'' (1851). Another theatrical vampire of this period was "Sir Alan Raby", who is the lead character of [[The Phantom (play)|''The Vampire'']] (1852), a play by [[Dion 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".<ref>David J. Skal (2001) ''Vampires: Encounters With The Undead'': 47&ndash;8.</ref>

An important later example of 19th-century vampire fiction is the [[penny dreadful]] epic ''[[Varney the Vampire]]'' (1847), featuring [[Sir 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. [[Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)|Heathcliff]] in [[Emily Brontë]]'s ''[[Wuthering 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 in [[Sheridan Le Fanu]]'s classic novella ''[[Carmilla]]'' (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 the [[Duchy 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 by [[Paul Féval]]: ''Le Chevalier Ténèbre'' (1860), ''La Vampire'' (1865) and ''La Ville Vampire'' (1874). [[Marie Nizet]]'s ''Le Capitaine Vampire'' (1879) features a Russian officer, Boris Liatoukine, who is a vampire.

In German literature, one of the most popular novels was Hans Wachenhusen's ''Der Vampyr &ndash; 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 to ''Dracula''".<ref>J. Gordon Melton, ''The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead'', Visible Ink Press, 2010, p. 287.</ref>

The most famous Serbian vampire was [[Sava Savanović]], from a folklore-inspired novel, ''Ninety Years Later'', by [[Milovan Glišić]], first published in 1880.<ref>[[Milovan Glišić|Glišić, Milovan]], "Posle devedeset godina" (''Ninety Years Later'').</ref> Serbian vampires—albeit depicted first in French (1839) and then Russian (1884)—also appear in [[Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy|Count Tolstoy]]'s novella ''[[The 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. 

====''Dracula''====
Bram Stoker's ''[[Dracula]]'' (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 where [[tuberculosis]] and [[syphilis]] were common.

Although it has been claimed that the character of [[Count Dracula]] is based upon Vlad Draculesti III ([[Vlad the Impaler]]), also known as Vlad Ţepeş', a notorious 15th-century [[Wallachia]]n (Romanian) warlord, or [[Voivode]], this has been debunked by multiple scholars.<ref>{{Cite web|title=No, Bram Stoker Did Not Model Dracula On Vlad The Impaler|url=https://gizmodo.com/no-bram-stoker-did-not-model-dracula-on-vlad-the-impal-1648969679|access-date=2021-07-31|website=Gizmodo|date=21 October 2014 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Miller|first=Elizabeth|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/171541362|title=Dracula : sense and nonsense.|date=2006|publisher=Desert Island Books|isbn=1-905328-15-X|location=[Place of publication not identified]|oclc=171541362}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Acocella|first=Joan|date=2009-03-08|title=In the Blood|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/03/16/in-the-blood|access-date=2021-07-31|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}}</ref> Unlike the historical personage, however, Stoker located his Count Dracula in a castle near the [[Borgo Pass]] in [[Transylvania]], and ascribed to that area the supernatural aura it retains to this day in the popular imagination.

Stoker likely drew inspiration from [[Irish mythology|Irish myths]] of blood-sucking creatures. He was also influenced by Le Fanu's ''Carmilla''. Le Fanu was Stoker's editor when Stoker was a theater critic in [[Dublin]], Ireland. Like Le Fanu, Stoker created compelling female vampire characters such as [[Lucy Westenra]] and the [[Brides of Dracula]].

Stoker's vampire hunter [[Abraham Van Helsing]] was a strong influence on subsequent vampire literature.