Editing Varney the Vampire

{{Short description|1847 novel by James Malcom Rymer}}
{{about|the 19th-century gothic horror story|the English adventurer and pirate|Francis Verney}}
{{Infobox book
| name       = Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood
| image      = Varney the Vampire or the Feast of Blood.jpg
| caption    = Cover from one of the original publications.
| author     = [[James Malcolm Rymer]] <br> [[Thomas Peckett Prest]]
| pub_date   = 1845–1847 (serial) <br> 1847 (book)
| country    = United Kingdom
| language   = English
| publisher  = 
| media_type = Print
| genre      = [[Penny dreadful]]/[[Gothic horror]]
| pages      = 876 (book)
}}
'''''Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood''''' is a [[Victorian era|Victorian-era]] serialized [[gothic horror]] story variously attributed to [[James Malcolm Rymer]] and [[Thomas Peckett Prest]]. It first appeared in 1845–1847 as a series of weekly cheap [[pamphlet]]s of the kind then known as "[[penny dreadful]]s". The author was paid by the typeset line,<ref>{{cite book|author=David J. Skal|author-link=David J. Skal|year=1996|title=V is for Vampire: An A to Z Guide to Everything Undead|publisher=[[Plume (publisher)|Plume]]|pages=210–212}}</ref> so when the story was published in book form in 1847, it was of epic length: the original edition ran to 876 double-columned pages<ref>The last page number of the 1847 edition is printed as 868, but this does not take into account that pages 577–584 were repeated.</ref> and 232 chapters.<ref>The last chapter of the 1847 edition is printed as "CCXX" (220), but this was due to numerous errors in the chapter numbering, possibly caused by confusion over roman numerals, resulting in 12 more actual chapters than the final chapter numeral would indicate.</ref> Altogether it totals nearly 667,000 words.<ref>Calculated from [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/PreVarn.html the complete text at the University of Virginia]</ref>

It is the tale of the [[vampire]] Sir Francis Varney, and introduced many of the [[trope (literature)|trope]]s present in [[vampire fiction]] recognizable to modern audiences.<ref name=AFP/> It 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".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-cronin/did-vampires-not-have-fan_b_8415636.html |title=Did Vampires Not Have Fangs in Movies Until the 1950s? |work=[[HuffPost]] |first=Brian |last=Cronin |date=29 October 2015 |access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref>

==Story==
===Setting===
The story has a confused setting. While ostensibly set in the early eighteenth century,<ref name="Hellman"/> there are references to the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and other indicators that the story is contemporary to the time of its writing in the mid-nineteenth century. Varney's adventures also occur in various locations including [[London]], [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Winchester]] and [[Naples]].

===Human characters===
The plot concerns the troubles that Sir Francis Varney inflicts upon the Bannerworths, a formerly wealthy family driven to ruin by their recently deceased father.<ref name="Hellman"/> Initially the Bannerworths consist of Mrs Bannerworth and her adult children Henry, George, and Flora (George is never mentioned by name after the thirty-sixth chapter). A family friend, Mr Marchdale, lives with the Bannerworths in early chapters. Later, Flora's fiancé Charles Holland, his seafaring uncle Admiral Bell, and Bell's jovial assistant Jack Pringle also take residence with the Bannerworths.

===Varney===
Though the earliest chapters give the standard motives of blood sustenance for Varney's actions toward the family, later ones suggest that Varney is motivated by monetary interests. The story is at times inconsistent and confusing, as if the author did not know whether to make Varney a literal [[vampire]] or simply a human who acts like one. Varney bears a strong resemblance to a portrait in Bannerworth Hall, and the implication throughout is that he is actually Marmaduke Bannerworth (or Sir Runnagate Bannerworth; the names are confused throughout the story), but that connection is never clarified. He is portrayed as loathing his condition, and at one point he turns Clara Crofton, a member of another family he terrorizes, into a vampire for revenge.

Over the course of the book, Varney is presented with increasing sympathy as a victim of circumstances. He tries to save himself, but is unable to do so. He ultimately commits suicide by throwing himself into [[Mount Vesuvius]], after having left a written account of his origin with a sympathetic priest.<ref name="Hellman"/> According to Varney, he was cursed with [[vampirism]] after he betrayed a [[royalist]] to [[Oliver Cromwell]], and subsequently killed his own son accidentally in a fit of anger.<ref name="Hellman"/> He "dies" and is revived several times in the course of his career. This afforded the author a variety of [[origin story|origin stories]]. In one of these, a [[medical student]] named Dr. Chillingworth applies [[galvanism]] to Varney's hanged corpse and revives him. This sub-plot parallels the earlier story of ''[[Frankenstein]]'' by [[Mary Shelley]] and film adaptations which introduce electricity as Dr. Frankenstein's means of creating the monster.

==Legacy==
Scholars including A. Asbjørn Jøn have suggested that ''Varney'' was a major influence on later [[vampire fiction]], including ''[[Dracula]]'' (1897) by [[Bram Stoker]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280805194|title = From Nosteratu to Von Carstein: shifts in the portrayal of vampires|last = Jøn|first = A. Asbjørn|date = 2001|journal = Australian Folklore: A Yearly Journal of Folklore Studies|access-date = 30 October 2015|pages = 97–106|issue = 16}}</ref> Many of today's standard vampire tropes originated in ''Varney'': Varney has fangs, leaves two puncture wounds on the necks of his victims, comes through a window to attack a sleeping maiden, has hypnotic powers, and has superhuman strength.<ref name=AFP>Skal, David J. (1996). ''V is for Vampire''. p. 99. New York: Plume. {{ISBN|0-452-27173-8}}.</ref><ref name="Undead">Lisa A. Nevárez (2013). ''The Vampire Goes to College: Essays on Teaching with the Undead''. p. 125. McFarland {{ISBN?}}</ref> Unlike later fictional vampires, he is able to go about in daylight and has no particular fear of either crosses or garlic.<ref name="Hellman">{{cite book|last1=Hellman|first1=Roxanne|title=Vampire Legends and Myths|date=2011|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|page=217}}</ref> He can eat and drink in human fashion as a form of disguise, but he points out that human food and drink do not agree with him.<ref name="Hellman"/> This is also the first example of the "sympathetic vampire", a vampire who despises his condition but is nonetheless a slave to it.<ref name="Undead"/>

== In popular culture ==
The makers of [[Marvel Comics]] were influenced by this story. In the [[Marvel Universe]], "[[Varnae]]" is the name of the first vampire, created by the people of [[Atlantis (Marvel Comics)|Atlantis]] before it sank.<ref>"Vampire". ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead''. Issue 5. 1985 Ser. 20. Feb. 1988. [http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=85728#1]</ref>

In the thirteenth episode of the 1991 television series ''[[Dracula: The Series]]'', Varney treated Dracula (going by Alexander Lucard in the series) from blood poisoning. He was played by Sam Malkin.

In the sixth episode of the TV series ''[[Penny Dreadful (TV series)|Penny Dreadful]]'' (2014), [[Abraham Van Helsing]] gives a copy of ''Varney the Vampire'' to [[Victor Frankenstein]], explaining that the story is more truth than fiction and that the mysterious creature the series' characters are pursuing is a vampire.<ref>{{cite news|title=Penny Dreadful' Kicks Into a Terrifying New Gear in Episode 6 as Eva Green Takes BDSM to Another Level|url=http://www.indiewire.com/2014/06/review-penny-dreadful-kicks-into-a-terrifying-new-gear-in-episode-6-as-eva-green-takes-bdsm-to-another-level-25305/|work=[[IndieWire]]}}</ref>

Varney is one of the main characters in ''Strange Practice'' (2017) and its sequels by [[Vivian Shaw]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/vivian-shaw/strange-practice/|title=''Strange Practice'' by Vivian Shaw|work=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|date=15 May 2017|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/07/26/537085986/strange-practice-the-doctor-is-in|title=''Strange Practice'': The Doctor Is In|publisher=[[NPR]]|first=Jason|last=Sheehan|date=26 July 2017|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2017/07/26/book-reviews-strange-practice-by-vivian-shaw/|title=Healthcare for All, Even the Monsters: ''Strange Practice'' by Vivian Shaw|date=26 July 2017|work=[[Tor.com]]|first=Liz|last=Bourke|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref>

The 2017 film ''[[The Man Who Invented Christmas (film)|The Man Who Invented Christmas]]'' shows [[Charles Dickens]] reading it at the time that he was developing the supernatural elements of his novella ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''; however, ''Varney'' was not published until 1845, and the film's action is set in 1843.<ref>Sobczynski, P. (22 November 2017). ''The Man Who Invented Christmas'' at [https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-man-who-invented-christmas-2017 Roger Ebert.com]</ref>

In 2020, the fifth season episode 'The Stakeout' of BBC anthology series ''[[Inside No. 9]]'' features PC Varney, named after the character and played by Reece Shearsmith. 

In 2021, Varney appears as a character in ''[[Castlevania (TV series)|Castlevania]]'' season 4, as an alter ego of [[Death (Castlevania)|Death]] (voiced by [[Malcolm McDowell]]), used to operate beneath notice to advance his goals.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-14|title=Castlevania: Who Is Varney?|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/castlevania-varney-malcolm-mcdowell/|access-date=2021-05-18|website=Den of Geek|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Authorship ==
The story was published by [[Edward Lloyd (publisher)|Edward Lloyd]], whose policy was not to allow authors to put their name on their published work. Due to this there is disagreement over the authorship of many works published by his company. ''Varney the Vampire'' is generally considered to have been co-written by [[James Malcolm Rymer]] and [[Thomas Preskett Prest]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Haugtvedt|first=Erica|date=2016|title='Sweeney Todd' as Victorian Transmedial Storyworld|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26166527|journal=Victorian Periodicals Review|volume=49|issue=3 |pages=443–460|doi=10.1353/vpr.2016.0027 |jstor=26166527 |s2cid=164738572 }}</ref> However, E. F. Bleiler has argued that Rymer is most likely the author due to the differences in how he wrote dialogue compared to Prest.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=McGuire|first=Riley|date=2016|title=The Victorian Unspeakable: Stammering and Same-Sex Intimacy between Men|journal=DiGeSt. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies|volume=3|issue=2 |pages=43–57|doi=10.11116/jdivegendstud.3.2.0043 |jstor=10.11116/jdivegendstud.3.2.0043 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Rymer|first1=James Malcolm|title=Sweeny Todd; The String of Pearls|last2=Collins|first2=Dick|publisher=Wordsworth Editions|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84022-632-4|chapter=Introduction}}</ref> Louis James also considered Rymer the most likely author, citing a piece of the manuscript in his handwriting.<ref name=":0" />

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* [[E. S. Turner]]'s ''Boys Will be Boys'' (1948) discusses this story and many others.

== External links ==
* [https://archive.org/details/VarneyTheVampyre Varney the Vampyre]
* {{Gutenberg|no=14833|name=Varney the Vampire}}
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/PreVarn.html The complete text at the University of Virginia]
* [http://varney.50megs.com/varney/images.htm Images and Illustrations from The Varney Image Page]
* {{librivox book | title=Varney, the Vampyre | author=Thomas Peckett Prest}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varney The Vampire}}
[[Category:1840s fantasy novels]]
[[Category:British Gothic novels]]
[[Category:British horror novels]]
[[Category:Penny dreadfuls]]
[[Category:Vampire novels]]
[[Category:Fictional vampires]]
[[Category:Fictional suicides]]
[[Category:Novels first published in serial form]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1845]]