Classic Literature: The Vampire of the Val-De-Grace

A friend bought me, a couple of years ago, Le Vampire Du Val-De-Grace as that print of the novel by Leon Gozlan was listed, on Amazon, as being in English. It wasn’t… So I was most excited when the wonderful Blackcoat Press announced an English translation by Brian Stableford.

I think it is worth taking time to reproduce the blurb, though there are some dating issues within:

“I wasn’t able to steal her away while alive: “I’ll come and steal her away when I’m dead!”

In 1849, the mysterious Doctor Salomon Kanali and his family arrive in a Paris ravaged by a cholera epidemic. But is this Kanali the same embalmer who claimed to have the power to resurrect the dead? And why does his wife fear that her daughter Marthe is being wooed by the same vampire who once destroyed her mother.

The Vampire of Val-de-Grace (1862*) is a horror story, a love story, a mystery, a comedy and, marginally, a scientific romance; unique in its excess and its bizarre absurdity, it has a certain precious verve and a capacity to make the jaw drop. It belongs to the cynical and tongue-in-cheek tradition of Ponson du Terrail’s The Vampire and the Devil’s Son (1853*) and Paul Féval’s Knightshade (1860), which teasingly refuse explicitly to confirm or deny the existence of vampires, but play extravagantly with the idea, while merrily exploiting its sinister fascination.

Concerning dates, I have marked two in the blurb. With regards the date of this novel, whilst the blurb suggests 1862, Stableford’s introduction states the first appearance in book form was 1861. Stableford puts forward the idea that it was originally printed piecemeal within a periodical but, if it was, the evidence of that is now vanished. I also marked the date of Terrail’s novel as the volume I have suggests a date of 1852, though that volume says it was when it was ‘written’ and it could have been published a year later.

The blurb plays with us somewhat, whilst Kanali (the son-in-law of the famous man mentioned) has inherited some advanced embalming techniques he is known as a doctor and his father-in-law searched for a method to resurrect the dead but did not find it.

The story follows the family as Marthe is romantically pursued (with her own encouragement) by César Caseneuve, a young doctor whom the mother and father disapprove of for different reasons. For the father it is the fact that he sees him as a man without courage (though truthfully it is because his nervousness had wrecked an experiment by the good doctor). The mother thinks him a vampire.

Interestingly, whilst the blurb mentions the vampire who pursued her mother, she too believes she was pursued by the same vampire and that this is the third generation of women he has fixated upon. The form, it seems, changes, but there is a tell-tale sign of his vampiric nature and – in this case – it is because he shares a mark (like a spot of blood at the corner of the mouth) that another vampiric suitor also sported.

We hear of the first vampire, the Graf von Markfeld, whom the first generation of haunted women was to marry – though she would be his third wife. The first two had died, two years into their marriages, of languor. The Graf seemed no older than he did when he first married, carried the red mark (mentioned above) in the corner of his mouth and never offered anyone his right hand. Just as they were to be married she grasped his right hand and found it to be as called as ice as a warning shout rang out ”Beware, mademoiselle; you are about to marry a brucolaque, you are about to marry a dead man; you are about to marry the vampire Ben Strombold.” The wedding ceremony ended and the church had to be purified for 40 days as it had hosted a vampire.

The brucolaque would appear to be a variant of the Brucolaco, which according to Bane’s Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology is “Strictly from the lore of the Epirus and Thessaly regions of Greece, this vampire would seem to answer the age- old question of “Can a werewolf be a vampire?”” It is a variant of the vorvolaka which is central to the film Isle of the Dead.

Whilst it would seem that Gozlan simply used the name brucolaque, rather than ascribing any distinctive lore to it, he does also make a distinction when mentioning Hungary as the fatherland of ”redivivi, brucolaque and vampires.”. Redivivi is the plural of redivivo and is Italian for 'restored to life' and is used to describe someone who is the living image of a dead person.

As for Strombold he was killed in a duel but they failed to stake him through the stomach. He came back and preyed on several families. The woman married Salomon Kanali and had a daughter (Marthe’s mother) before she died. This daughter (who later married Marthe’s father, who in turn took his wife’s surname) fell in love with a Hermann von Rosanthal who died during a hunt.

She went into a decline, described as a “rapid consumption” (as we know consumption, or TB, was often blamed on vampirism and, past the date of this novel, suspected vampires were still unearthed and 'dealt with' to try and save the consumption victim. The practice was not restricted to Europe and occurred in the USA. Whether she had the disease is not mentioned.). She described to her father Hermann coming to her in her dreams, his cold lips kissing her and the sound of her blood leaving her (note that no mention was made of teeth and this would almost be an osmotic version of suckosity).

Her father was persuaded to try and resurrect the corpse and went to the crypt during the night, the corpse was gone. Thinking her father was making an excuse not to experiment on the corpse she went during the day and found the corpse intact and present. Both father and daughter then returned at night and, of course, the corpse was gone again. They relocated to Italy but somehow the woman decided to associate Hermann with Ben Strombold and decided they were one and the same.

Which takes us to the book’s present day and Madame Karnali’s decision that César Caseneuve is Strombold, making an attempt on the third generation of women. There are other bits of lore mentioned, whilst a stake through the stomach has already been mentioned, a stake through the heart is suggested as a means of destroying a vampire, as is cremation. The, at the time (Edit - see comments), semi-mythical tome Magia Posthuma is cited, as is the song Le Morte Vivant by Béranger.

I rather enjoyed this volume. I agree it was probably first published piecemeal, the structure and some inconsistencies lend it that appearance, but more importantly it is another pre-Stoker source that shows how vivid and varied the vampire genre was in nineteenth century France.

The Book’s page at Blackcoat Press is here

isle of the dead - review

Director – Mark Robson

Release date: 1945

Contains spoilers

“Isle of the Dead”, I have to admit, is one of my favourite movies. I remember seeing it as a kid, although for years I couldn’t remember the name of it, and being moved by it even then. Years on I rediscovered the movie and was just as impressed as I was as a child.

The movie is a vampire movie that does not contain a vampire; instead it concentrates on the peasant level superstition that blames the supernatural – in this case the vorvolaka – on natural disasters such as plague.

The movie begins in the tent of General Pherides (Boris Karloff), known to his troops as the Watchdog. He is having a tardy officer stripped of his rank. He passes the officer a gun and waits as the officer leaves and a shot is fired. All this is witnessed by Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer), an American journalist. Pherides’ wife is buried on an island near-by and the General and Oliver cross through the battlefield to travel to her crypt. Davis wonders why the General has his exhausted men still working, so soon after the battle, and the General informs him that the dead must be buried. This is confirmed by Doctor Drossos (Ernst Deutsch) who tells Oliver that they have had cases of septicemic plague.

At the island, guarded by a statue of Cerberus, the General discovers that all the coffins in the crypt have been opened. They are going to leave when they hear singing. Following the singing they find the house of Albrecht (Jason Robards Sr) a Swiss archaeologist. He has several guests, sheltering on the island to avoid the fighting. There is Madam Kyra (Helen Thimig), the housekeeper. St Aubyn (Alan Napier) a British consul and his wife Mary (Katherine Emery). Mary’s maid Thea (Ellen Drew) and travelling salesman Robbins (Skelton Knaggs). The General is known by Thea and there is some tension there, but Oliver and the General eventually stay the night. Robbins seems drunk and staggers as he retires to bed, falling at Thea’s feet. Meanwhile the general is informed that the crypts were grave robbed for antiquities some 15 years earlier, but then Kyra says that the bodies had to be destroyed as one amongst them was evil.

In the morning Robbins is dead. The General sends for Drossos who confirms that it is the plague. The General quarantines the island and they will all have to stay there until the wind changes. Essentially the plague is carried by fleas and the warm sirocco winds will kill the flea population off in around 24 hours. Kyra has a different explanation, she believes that the plague is being caused by a vorvolaka and even knows who it is – Thea. Thea is young and healthy, whilst her mistress (who suffers from a debilitating illness) is pale and wan.

The vorvolaka is the vampire of the tale, though it is kind of a hybrid of the vampire and werewolf myths. It is the spirit of a wolf which inhabits a human host and, often astrally, drains the vitality of its victims. There is also some indication that it might feed on blood. Sometimes known as a vrykolakas there is a fantastic discourse on the creature here (EDIT 23/10/12, link removed as site gone).

As more and more victims succumb to the plague, rationality begins to be lost on the General. We discover that Mary suffers from catalepsy and she makes Drossos promise that he will not bury her until he is absolutely sure she is not in a trance. Unfortunately he is a victim of the plague and so when Mary falls into a trance she is buried alive. The wind changes but by then the General has contracted the plague and, in his delirium, he is told by Kyra that Mary will rise from her grave, the victim of a vorvolaka will become a vorvolaka. Of course, as she has been interned alive she does rise, but the time in her coffin has broken her mind.

The stand out scene, to me, is when Thea has locked herself in Mary’s room, after Mary has fallen into catalepsy. Unsure of what to do she stands vigil whilst Kyra taunts her through the door, accusing her of being the vorvolaka. The scene is heavy with atmosphere.

All the cast are excellent and the direction is top notch.

Incidentally one of the inspirations for the film was the picture “Isle of the Dead” by Böcklin (pictured). The painting is the background to the opening credits and the island in the film is designed to look much like that in the painting.

This film is one of the prime examples of how a film can be a vampire genre movie, without actually having a vampire in it. It is also one of the few (if any) movies that features the particular breed of vampire, the vorvolaka. It is also interesting that, as well as the characters relying on superstition as science seems to fail them (or at least not provide them with an immediate solution) they also turn to the old pagan Gods. Beyond anything else it is a great piece of cinema and I give it 10 out of 10 and recommend you try and watch it if you have never seen it.

The imdb page is here.