Some favourite vampire stories from various media:
Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
One of the most important antecedents to Dracula, Carmilla features a female vampire preying on a girl. The lesbian overtones are strong to start with and most film versions play them up even more. Filmed a few times with varying degrees of success and fidelity. Great, well-written story of its time and definitely an influence on ...
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Yep, the 500 pound undead gorilla of vampire stories. Also, possibly my favourite novel of all time (if I was asked to pick just one). Told in epistolary style, the novel tells the tale of a group of young English folk who come under threat from a mysterious, powerful nobleman from Transylvania. Aided by the wise Dutch doctor Van Helsing, however, they eventually prevail.
Nosferatu (1922) - F. W. Murnau
The first film version of Dracula was almost lost to history. Florence Stoker, Bram's widow, was still alive and sued since the adaptation was unauthorized. The result was that most prints were destroyed as part of the judgement in the suit. But enough survived that it is now readily available on streaming today. It is a dark, moody silent film that packs more atmosphere and dread in some scenes than you get in some whole movies with other Dracula adaptations. Moves the action to Bremen, Germany and renames most of the characters, too. It has been remade twice (1980 by Werner Herzog and 2024 by Robert Eggers) and those are both worthwhile watches, too. All versions play up Dracula (called Orlock in the 1922 and 2024 versions) as a monstrous beast rather than the sexier portrayals often found in other adaptations.
Salem's Lot - Stephen King
Great modern take on the vampire coming to haunt a small town. Riffs on Dracula in some ways but also a quintessential Stephen King story. Almost apocalyptic in scope and featuring some really creepy scenes. Filmed twice.
Necroscope series (first five books) - Brian Lumley
A very different take on vampirism. Very dark and even gory in places, but also quite action-packed at times. The vampires are alien parasites hosted in human bodies rather than traditional undead. Psychic "Necroscope" (meaning he can communicate with the dead vs. Necromancers who basically torture them) Harry Keogh gets mixed up with spies, vampires, and extradimensional travel before perishing in the final book. Except, because flogging dead horses was Lumley's specialty, there's another 8 or 10 books after the end of the first series.
Forever Knight TV Series - three seasons
The original film Nick Knight that spawned this starred Rick Springfield. However, when they went to actually make a series, it was a budget job made in Toronto so Canadian stage and screen actor Geraint Wyn Davies took over the role. Nicholas Knight is a 700 year-old knight turned into a vampire who has come to repent of his bloodthirsty ways by becoming a homicide detective in the late twentieth century. Most episodes parallel him and his partner investigating a crime with shenanigans among Toronto's vampire society. Supporting characters included a couple other vampires, Nick's partner, and a forensic doctor in the coroner's office who is the only mortal aware of Nick's true nature. Would probably be much better written and produced if made today but was quite good for its time, mostly due to the work of the excellent actor Davies who has also appeared at the two biggest Canadian drama festivals, the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and the Stratford Shakespearean Festival in Stratford, Ontario (he did Prospero in The Tempest at Stratford this year).
