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Rating: 
Summary: a must-have
Review: All true vampire fans should definitely check this one out. It's way long and totally 19th century (obviously, that's when it was written), but it's still great, even for those who prefer Anne Rice.
Rating:
Summary: a must-have
Review: All true vampire fans should definitely check this one out. It's way long and totally 19th century (obviously, that's when it was written), but it's still great, even for those who prefer Anne Rice.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting from a historical perspective, but'
Review: This book was always considered as the work of Thomas Prest. A reprint was issued some years ago with a well-argued essay contending it was the work of Jame Malcolm Rymer. The essay never took into account that "Varney the Vampyre, or the Feast of Blood" was published complete in both their lifetimes under Prest's name, and Rymer never contested it -- as he surely would, considering the money it made.It is the first vampire novel ever written. It is also poorly written, poorly typeset, illustrated with a hodgepodge of woodcuts from many sources, and about hundreds of pages too long. The author was writing many other "penny dreadfuls" at the time, and there are a few instances in Varney where he simply forgot which one he was writing. Incidents occur with characters that don't belong in the story -- and they are either hastily written out by the following installment, or they simply vanish. The writer also quite obviously fleshed-out copy simply to fill space. Varney himself is not your typical vampire. He walks about in the day, exhibits few vampire-like characteristics (except when he's feeding), and may just as well be an elegantly-dressed Ed Gein. As the book progresses, he appears less and less. Elaborate plots are concocted involving new characters, Varney steps in to create a little havoc, then gets quickly chased off. New characters, a little Varney, Varney runs away, repeat. This goes on for about a thousand pages (this current edition is not complete; I am writing my review from the out-of-print Dover edition). In sum, read this if you are really interested in historical vampire literature. You can at least tell your friends you got through it. As books go, it's not good. And the experience of reading it today is made worse by the fact that it's dull.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the originals
Review: Vampire lovers every where have to read this book, just because it was one of the first vampire books that is still recognized. It is true that Rymer isn't the world's geatest writter, and I think I kind of understand why they were called penny dreadfuls, but still read this book. It's good, considering, and it's an excellent book to refer to. Bram Stoker is thought to be influnced by Varney. Fang fanatics, expecially ones of the classic nature, should read this book.
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