36: Blood, Death, and Varney the Vampire

There is no pop culture monster more written about, more critiqued and analysed, more portrayed and adapted and reimagined, than the vampire.  So this episode is not about most vampires. There are no discussions of Dracula or Nosferatu, no True Blood or Twilight or Buffy, no Anne Rice or Stephen King, no Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee.   Instead, there is a single vampire, one you may well never have heard of. A vampire that, in Victorian times, was far more popular than even Charles Dickens at the height of his fame. A vampire that established many of the tropes of later vampire mythology and fiction. His name is Sir Francis Varney. Varney the Vampire. Find out how you can support the show and get bonus episodes at patreon.com/wtte For full show notes head to wttepodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices