 Title page of The Blood of the Vampire's first edition | |
| Author | Florence Marryat |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Gothic and vampire fiction |
| Publisher | Hutchinson & Co. |
Publication date | 1897 |
| Publication place | England |
The Blood of the Vampire is a Gothic novel by Florence Marryat, published in 1897. The protagonist, Harriet Brandt, is a mixed-race psychic vampire who kills unintentionally. The novel follows Harriet after she leaves a Jamaican convent for Europe, and her ill-fated attempts to integrate with Victorian society.
One contemporary reviewer scathed the novel, comparing it unfavourably to Marryat's previous works and another vampire text published in the same year—Bram Stoker's Dracula. Although The Blood of the Vampire is still relatively unknown, it has received increased critical coverage since the end of the twentieth century. Academics highlight the novel's treatment of race, eugenics, and social class. Marryat's conception of vampires as medical rather than supernatural has also elicited interest, and critics frequently compare it both to Dracula and Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla (1872).