Here i present a few classics and well known vampyre stories

Published in 1819, The Vampyre by John William Piridori is the first vampyre story in English. The story is from the same contest which produced the well known gothic fiction; Frankenstein.

A young English gentleman of means, Aubrey is immediately intrigued by Lord Ruthven, the mysterious newcomer among society’s elite. His unknown origin and curious behavior tantalizes Aubrey’s imagination. But the young man soon discovers a sinister character hidden behind his new friend’s glamorous facade.

When the two are set upon by bandits while traveling together in Europe, Ruthven is fatally injured. Before drawing his last breath, he makes the odd request that Aubrey keep his death and crimes secret for a year and a day. But when Ruthven resurfaces in London—making overtures toward Aubrey’s sister—Aubrey realizes this immortal fiend is a vampyre.

John William Polidori’s The Vampyre is both a classic tale of gothic horror and the progenitor of the modern romantic vampire myth that has been fodder for artists ranging from Anne Rice to Alan Ball to Francis Ford Coppola. Originally published in 1819, many decades before Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and misattributed to Polidori’s friend Lord Byron, The Vampyre has kept readers up at night for nearly two hundred years  

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Stories of vampyres have been covered in variety of movies, novels, shows, poems, and other medias. Among them arguably Dracula by Bram Stoker is the most important work in vampyre fiction. The book, published in 1897 is narrated through letters, diary entries and newspaper articles. 

'When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.'

Through out the years multiples Dracula inspired or reimagined movies, shows, books, and so on have been published. Here is a few of them:

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Published in 1972, Carmilla is one of the oldest known vampyre fiction. Carmilla predates Dracula by more than two decades. Written by Sheridan Le Fanu it was first serialized in the literary magazine The Dark Blue in late 1871 and early 1872. It was then reprinted in 1872 among a short story collection, In A Glass Darkly

Carmilla is the original inspiration for various queer female vampyre characters. Le Fanu's work has been noted to inspire Stoker's Dracula. Here are a few works that was Carmilla inspired/adapted:

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I Am Legend is a post apocalyptic horror novel by Richard Matheson. Unlike many other works which usually presents a few antagonized or protagonized vampyre character(s), this book centers around the story of the last human to exist in a world full of vampyres.

Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.

By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilisation. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.

How long can one man survive like this? 

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Salem's lot was written by Stephen King and published in 1975. It is the author's second book. The no vel was adapted as a radio drama by BBC radio 4 in 1994. 

Thousands of miles away from the small township of 'Salem's Lot, two terrified people, a man and a boy, still share the secrets of those clapboard houses and tree-lined streets. They must return to 'Salem's Lot for a final confrontation with the unspeakable evil that lives on in the town. 

Salem's lot was adapted into a movie in 2024.

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If we dive into the world of vampyre works in fiction, it would take me an absurdly long time to mention all of them here. But I would like to mention a few other works that i haven't mentioned above. And if you crave for more vampyre stories- you can always surf the web or just go to your local library. 

As promised here are a few more works from Vampyre media:

Interview with the vampire - Anne Rice

Fevre Dream - George Martin

The Hunger - Whitley Strieber

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

The Vampire Countess - Paul Féval père 

A long time dead - Samara Breger

Humanist Vampire seeking consenting suicidal person (2023)

Hellsing Ultimate (2006)

Castlevania (2017)

Van Helsing (2004)

Vampire Hunter D

Vampyros Lesbos (1971)

The vampire diaries (2009)

and so on...

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