Before "Twilight," "Interview With the Vampire" and "Dracula," there were stories of fiends that rose from their graves in search of blood.
An abundance of these tales emerged in various publications during the Victorian era.
Most of these stories were inspired or based on old European folklore and given a sexy spin. Some were the results of a writer's nightmares that were exacerbated by the disease-ridden, shallow-grave culture of the times.
In "Dracula's Guest," Michael Sims brings together some of the most influential Vampire-based short stories in literary history. (Sims is mostly known for his nonfiction writing and as editor of various literary collections including "The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime.")
This collection includes "The End of My Journey," "The Vampire," the first chapter of "Varney the Vampire, Or the Feast of Blood" and "Dracula's Guest," penned by Lord Byron, John Polidori, James Malcolm Rymer and Bram Stoker, respectively.
To have these four pioneering works together with the other 18 stories is nothing short of amazing.
Readers can see the influence of these works on modern horror stories and films.
For example, "The Family of the Vourdalak," written by Aleksei Tolstoy (Leo's cousin), arguably could have been the inspiration for some of the "House of Usher" stories and films.
And after reading Sims' commentary, there is little doubt that "The Mysterious Stranger," penned by an anonymous author, could have inspired Stoker to write the big daddy of vampire books, "Dracula."
For within the pages of "The Mysterious Stranger" there are character attributes that parallel Count Dracula (Azzo von Klatka), Jonathan Harker (Franz), Dr. Van Helsing (Woislaw), Lucy Westenra (Bertha) and Mina Murray (Franziska).
In addition to the short essays appearing before each story, Sims wrote an extensive introduction examining the reason there were so many vampire stories that crawled to the surface of various Victorian publications. Granted, some of these stories, which were surprisingly graphic for the times, were enjoyed by a select audience. But there is no denying that the themes bled into the general culture thanks to the medical advancements and experiments of the time.
Sims especially touches on the cultural differences between the West (read Christian) and pagan East European — thus the multiple images of the vampires fleeing from or burning from exposure to the crucifix, eucharistic wafer or holy water.
The final story in this anthology is Stoker's "Dracula's Guest." For years after an announcement from the writer's widow, the story was believed to be an exorcised segment of the original "Dracula." But it is obvious the story was to be either a sequel or prequel to the definitive vampire tale.
This book is a far cry from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, but it may do her fans some good to read it.
Beware, while some of these stories in this compilation lean toward the melodramatic and even come off as hokey, there are some disturbing and violent passages that may be too intense for younger children.
e-mail: scott@desnews.com