Greetings to All Horror Fans on Halloween 2023!
Vampires are everything. No Halloween is complete without a vampire story. Many of us have read Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula with characters Jonathan Harker and Lucy who are embedded as our literature favorites forever. Our vampire literary canon continues with Salem’s Lot, The Vampire Diaries, Interview With a Vampire, and too many more to list.
I ask you today, do you know the first vampire story ever published in our literary history?
In 1748, Der Vampir by Heinrich August Ossenfelder.
The Vampire by Heinrich August Ossenfelder
My dear young maiden clingeth
Unbending fast and firm
To all the long-held teaching
Of a mother ever true;
As in vampires unmortal
Folk on the Theyse’s portal
Heyduck-like do believe.
But my Christine thou dost dally,
And wilt my loving parry
Till I myself avenging
To a vampire’s health a-drinking
Him toast in pale tockay.
And as softly thou art sleeping
To thee shall I come creeping
And thy life’s blood drain away.
And so shalt thou be trembling
For thus shall I be kissing
And death’s threshold thou’ it be crossing
With fear, in my cold arms.
And last shall I thee question
Compared to such instruction
What are a mother’s charms?
How is that for a scorned lover’s seduction?
We also have Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla and Polidori’s The Vampyre (both stories you can read free here on Reading Fiction Blog).
The Bride of Corinth by Johann Wolfgang Goethe appeared in 1797. Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1800 and The Vampyre, poem by John Stagg in 1812.
I have one more vampire treat for you. The silent film “Nosferatu,” 1922 (restored version). This unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula was made in 1922 by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok (the unauthorized Count Dracula). No ads or popups. One hour and a half hours, and what a vintage beauty!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Once a month, I feature a free short story (and audio too) by a famous contemporary or classic author. Browse the Index of Authors’ Tales above to find over 300 free short stories by over 150 famous authors. Also, don’t miss Author of the Week on Mondays once a month. Follow my blog via email.
And on my Amazon Author Page
Thank you for supporting Reading Fiction Blog
© 2012 Paula Cappa, Reading Fiction Blog
Comments are welcome!
Feel free to click “LIKE.”
Other Reading Web Sites to Visit
Kirkus Mystery & Thrillers Reviews
Books & Such Bibliophilica NewYorkerFictionOnline
For Authors/Writers: The Writer Unboxed
Discover Author of the Week posted on Mondays.
Paula Cappa