Anyone here actually read VARNEY THE VAMPYRE?

[FriarTed]

I’ve been into classic horror since I was a kid. In 5th grade, I read DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN, Ruthven’s THE VAMPYRE, some Lovecraft, lotsa Poe, took a stab at CARMILLA (finished that later), and when Dover put out a quality PB of the 1820’s classic “penny dreadful” VARNEY, I had my parents get it for me for either C’mas or my B’day.

I was 10 at the time, I am now 44, the 2 vol set is on my bookshelf across from me. I haven’t been able to get past Chapter 1.

Has anyone managed it? Is it worth it?

[asterion]

“I bite you, you bite me, we’re an undead family…”

Anyway, I’ve got nothing else really to contribute. Vampires aren’t really my thing. Though here’s the text from Gutenberg. I have to say, reading the first few pages, I’m about ready head north and to start worrying about a Grue.

[Little_Nemo]

I can’t really say I’ve read all of it. It’s poorly written and pretty repetitous and I skimmed over a lot of pages.

Consider the following random excerpt:

The mob reached the ruins of Bannerworth Hall, and crowded round it on all sides, with the view of ascertaining if a human creature, dead or alive, were there; various surmises were afloat, and some were for considering that everybody but themselves, or their friends, must be nothing less than vampyres. Indeed, a strange man, suddenly appearing among them, would have caused a sensation, and a ring would no doubt have been formed round him, and then a hasty council held, or, what was more probable, some shout, or word uttered by some one behind, who could not understand what was going on in front, would have determined them to commit some desperate outrage, and the sacrifice of life would have been the inevitable result of such an unfortunate concurrence of circumstances.

There was a pause before anyone ventured among the ruins; the walls were carefully looked to, and in more than one instance, but they were found dangerous, what were remaining; some parts had been so completely destroyed, that there were nothing but heaps of rubbish.

However, curiosity was exerted to such an extraordinary pitch that it overcame the fear of danger, in search of the horrible; for they believed that if there were any one in the ruins he must be a vampyre, of course, and they were somewhat cautious in going near such a creature, lest in so doing they should meet with some accident, and become vampyres too.

This was a dreadful reflection, and one that every now and then impressed itself upon the individuals composing the mob; but at the same time any new impulse, or a shout, and they immediately became insensible to all fear; the mere impulse is the dominant one, and then all is forgotten.

The scene was an impressive one; the beautiful house and grounds looked desolate and drear; many of the trees were stripped and broken down, and many scorched and burned, while the gardens and flower beds, the delight of the Bannerworth family, were rudely trodden under foot by the rabble, and all those little beauties so much admired and tended by the inhabitants, were now utterly destroyed, and in such a state that their site could not even be detected by the former owners.

It was a sad sight to see such a sacrilege committed,–such violence done to private feelings, as to have all these places thrown open to the scrutiny of the brutal and vulgar, who are incapable of appreciating or understanding the pleasures of a refined taste.

The ruins presented a remarkable contrast to what the place had been but a very short time before; and now the scene of desolation was complete, there was no one spot in which the most wretched could find shelter.

To be sure, under the lee of some broken and crumbling wall, that tottered, rather than stood, a huddled wretch might have found shelter from the wind, but it would have been at the risk of his life, and not there complete.

The mob became quiet for some moments, but was not so long; indeed, a mob of people,–which is, in fact, always composed of the most disorderly characters to be found in a place, is not exactly the assembly that is most calculated for quietness; somebody gave a shout, and then somebody else shouted, and the one wide throat of the whole concourse was opened, and sent forth a mighty yell.

After this exhibition of power, they began to run about like mad,–traverse the grounds from one end to the other, and then the ruins were in progress of being explored.

This was a tender affair, and had to be done with some care and caution by those who were so engaged; and they walked over crumbling and decayed masses.

In one or two places, they saw what appeared to be large holes, into which the building materials had been sunk, by their own weight, through the flooring, that seemed as roofs to some cellars or dungeons.

Seeing this, they knew not how soon some other part might sink in, and carry their precious bodies down with the mass of rubbish; this gave an interest to the scene,–a little danger is a sort of salt to an adventure, and enables those who have taken part in it to talk of their exploits, and of their dangers, which is pleasant to do, and to hear in the ale-house, and by the inglenook in the winter.

However, when a few had gone some distance, others followed, when they saw them enter the place in safety: and at length the whole ruins were covered with living men, and not a few women, who seemed necessary to make up the elements of mischief in this case.

There were some shouting and hallooing from one to the other as they hurried about the ruins.

At length they had explored the ruins nearly all over, when one man, who had stood a few minutes upon a spot, gazing intently upon something, suddenly exclaimed,–“Hilloa! hurrah! here we are, altogether,–come on,–I’ve found him,–I’ve found–recollect it’s me, and nobody else has found,–hurrah!”

Then, with a wild kind of frenzy, he threw his hat up into the air, as if to attract attention, and call others round him, to see what it was he had found.

“What’s the matter, Bill?” exclaimed one who came up to him, and who had been close at hand.

“The matter? why, I’ve found him; that’s the matter, old man,” replied the first.

Or to give the Reader’s Digest condensed version of this passage:

A mob searched the old house and Bill found the vampire.

[Walloon]

You can find probably several people who have read Varney the Vampyre at the Classic Horror Film Board; you might want to ask at the General Horror and Sci-Fi section.

[John_DiFool]

How come the title “Ernest goes to Transylvania” popped into my head when I saw this thread?

[GargoyleWB]

I have it and have read it. It isn’t particularly good, random and meandering, but interesting from a historical vampire fiction perspective.

[CalMeacham]

I have it. I haven’t read past the first couple of chapters, and skimmed some of the rest. It’s [retty clear to me that mosy people who mention it in articles on vampires haven’t actually read it, either. They invariably pull the pictures and quotes from the first chapter or so.

There are some very good bits in it. The quality varies as you go through it. I don’t think most people realize why this is.
Varney the Vampire was a monthly magazine. Each issue stood sort of on its own, and they tried to keep the story going for a long time. Don’t think of it as a novel, or like that "Green Mile’ thing that Stephen King did a couple of years back. It’s more like a comic book, with different things happening each month to the main characters. The plot meanders and over time you get gross inconsistencies. You should no more expect t get a tight, coherent plot from Varney than you should from the first 200 issues of Superman.

[Eve]

I think I read it years ago . . . I highly recommend The Quaker City or the Monks of Monk Hall: A Romance of Philadelphia Life, Mystery, and Crime, a hair-raising, corking good horror story from the 1840s that reads like a Dickens novel written by Poe.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

@CalMeacham

I have it. I haven’t read past the first couple of chapters, and skimmed some of the rest. It’s [retty clear to me that mosy people who mention it in articles on vampires haven’t actually read it, either. They invariably pull the pictures and quotes from the first chapter or so.

There are some very good bits in it. The quality varies as you go through it. I don’t think most people realize why this is.
Varney the Vampire was a monthly magazine. Each issue stood sort of on its own, and they tried to keep the story going for a long time. Don’t think of it as a novel, or like that "Green Mile’ thing that Stephen King did a couple of years back. It’s more like a comic book, with different things happening each month to the main characters. The plot meanders and over time you get gross inconsistencies. You should no more expect t get a tight, coherent plot from Varney than you should from the first 200 issues of Superman.

And possibly, rather like Superman, each “issue” was written by a different fellow, but under a “House” pseudonym.

[FriarTed]

btw, I can’t believe my OP listed “Ruthven’s THE VAMPYRE”-

POLIDORI’S, POLIDORI’S, POLIDORI’S!!!
No wonder the poor bastard killed himself.