The Blood of the Vampire

A nineteenth-century novel about a bisexual, biracial vampire, written by a forgotten legend of Victorian horror

A Penguin Classic

Published the same year as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Florence Marryat’s The Blood of the Vampire introduced readers to one of the most revolutionary protagonists of her time: the biracial, bisexual, feminist psychic vampire Harriet Brandt. Feeding off life force rather than blood, Harriet is a charming, caring young woman in search of love who is accused of killing those who get too close. Harriet’s ostracization mirrors that of the author, Florence Marryat, whose thrilling plots about women eschewing the norms of Victorian womanhood were widely read during her time but reviled by critics and overlooked for more than a century. Recontextualizing Marryat’s place at the vanguard of Victorian horror, The Blood of the Vampire is a timeless critique of gender norms, racism, and medical discrimination—a fresh, century-old spin on the expanding canon of vampire fiction.

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