The literary evolution of the female vampire begins with the legendary LILITH…but is she a cursed monster, or a symbol of the rebellious, independent woman? While the male vampire has gone from monster to anti-hero to dream boyfriend, the path of his sister in blood has been more complex and mysterious. James Grant Goldin presents a curated anthology of the original texts, some freshly translated, that trace the evolution of the vampire lady through the end of the 19th century. In this anthology, there are, to be sure, monsters–VESPERTILIA of ‘A Mystery of the Campagna, ‘ ONEIZA of ‘Thalaba the Destroyer’ and BRUNHILDE of ‘Wake Not The Dead’–but there are also vampire women in love, like CLARIMONDE, the airborne ALICE of Turgenev’s ‘Phantoms, ‘ or the lesbian CARMILLA. There are vampires seeking justice or vengeance, like THE LADY BRIGHT. And there are characters like CLARA CROFTON or ALINSKA, who are both predators and victims. VAMPIRES: FIRST BLOOD VOLUME II – THE VAMPIRE LADIES collects the original adventures of the daughters of darkness who returned from the dead to pit their supernatural powers against the entrenched forces of patriarchy. This anthology comes complete with introductory notes and detailed glossaries to make these surprisingly contemporary stories come alive for a new generation
Lilith, from ‘The Alphabet of Ben Sira’
The Bride of Corinth, by Goethe
Oneiza, from Southey’s ‘Thalaba the Destroyer’
Brunhilda, from Raupach’s ‘Wake Not the Dead’
Alinska, from Lamothe-Langon’s ‘The Vampire, or the Virgin of Hungary’
The Vampire Bride, by Liddell
Clarimonde, from Gautier’s ‘The Dead in Love’
The Lady Bright, from Maxwell’s ‘The Vampire’
Clara Crofton, from Rymer’s ‘Varney the Vampyre’
Alice, from Turgenev’s ‘Phantoms’
Vespertilia, from Crawford’s ‘A Mystery of the Campagna’ and Watson’s ‘Vespertilia’
The Woman Who Did Not Care, from Kipling’s ‘A Fool There Was’
Countess Dolingen, from Stoker’s ‘Dracula’s Guest’
Table of Content
INTRODUCTION: DEADLIER THAN THE MALE
LILITH (Excerpt from The Alphabet of Ben Sira, author and date unknown)
THE BRIDE OF CORINTH (The Bride of Corinth, Goethe)
ONEIZA (Excerpt from Thalaba the Destroyer, Southey)
BRUNHILDA (Wake Not the Dead, Raupach)
ALINSKA (Excerpt from The Vampire, or the Virgin of Hungary,
Lamothe-Langon)
THE VAMPIRE BRIDE (Excerpt from The Vampire Bride, Liddell)
CLARIMONDE (The Dead in Love, Gautier)
THE LADY BRIGHT (The Vampire, Maxwell )
CLARA CROFTON (Excerpts from Varney the Vampyre, Rymer, 1847)
ALICE (Phantoms, Turgenev, 1863)
CARMILLA (Carmilla, Le Fanu, 1872)
VESPERTILIA (A Mystery of the Campagna, Crawford, 1887, and
Vespertilia, Watson, 1895)
THE WOMAN WHO DID NOT CARE (The Vampire, Kipling, 1897)
COUNTESS DOLINGEN (Dracula’s Guest, Stoker, 1897)
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