The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) was a Roman Polanski comedy about vampire hunters in the Hammer tradition. The idea of a brave group of men (usually men) bound to the task of destroying Dracula and his kin comes from Bram Stoker’s novel. Harker, Dr. Seward, Van Helsing and Quincy Morris gang-up on Drac and end him in the final paragraph of the book. Comrades of this sort can be seen in later novels like Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (freshly re-filmed this year). The idea hovers between serious takes to the silly with Buffy the Vampire Slayer sitting around the middle.
None of this would be possible without Dr. Abraham van Helsing, the German scientist who leads the vampire killers. His knowledge of the Occult, and vamps in particular, saves the brave souls facing off against ancient terror. Van Helsing is one of the original occult detectives, but there were many who followed in his footsteps. Some of those appeared in the Pulp magazines between 1923 and 1954. Here are some of the Pulp vampire chasers that I found interesting. I should mention I have only included vampires of the Dracula type. Weird Tales offered several invisible squidgy vamps like Robert Bloch’s “The Shambler From the Stars” (Weird Tales, September 1935) but these aren’t really what we are after here. Also this not every vampire story in Weird Tales. (That will be a later post.)
Mark Shadow vs. Lilli Stern
“The Vampire of Oakdale Ridge” (Ghost Stories, December 1926) by Robert W. Sneddon has the occult detective looking into the weakening health of Jill Stern. The culprit is the first wife, Lilli (or is that Lilith?). No stakes for Shadow. He has the vampiress sealed in her coffin and burned. The Shadow stories appeared in Weird Tales’s competitor, Ghost Stories, with their odd photo illustrations. For more, go here.
Jules de Grandin vs. Baron Lajos Czuczron
“The Man Who Cast No Shadow” (Weird Tales, February 1927) by Seabury Quinn is a lengthy tale of a vampire and its creations haunting Harrisonville, NJ. Seabury Quinn was always looking for ways to innovate old story ideas. He doesn’t dig up a vampire but gets a really long stake and drives it into her coffin through the ground. Why do all that extra work? For more, go here.
Jules de Grandin was the Pulps most successful occult detective with ninety-three episodes. Of course, he ran into more vampires. “The White Lady of the Orphanage” (Weird Tales, September 1927), “Restless Souls” (Weird Tales, October 1928) and “The Silver Countess” (Weird Tales, October 1929) are other vampire cases for the little Frenchman and his Watson, Dr. Trowbridge, though the first is the best of the bunch. “The Man Who Cast No Shadow” owes its background to the vampire classic, “A Tomb For Sarah’ by F. G. Loring.
Paul Munn vs. Rojer Threng
“The Brotherhood of Blood” (Weird Tales, May 1932) by Hugh B. Cave tells the story from the vampire’s POV. This idea was originally done with werewolves by H. Warner Munn. (That’s where that last name came from!) Paul may be a vampire but he is still the hero and has to save his girl. This was sixty-seven years before Joss Whedon’s Angel. For more, go here.
Paul Hill vs. The Vampires of the Grey Toad Inn
“Murgunstrumm” (Strange Tales, January 1933) by Hugh B. Cave is a very long novella with Paul Hill being locked up in an asylum because he tells people about the vampires at the Grey Toad Inn. These creatures are served by the dwarfish Murgunstrumm of the title. The cover shows Paul and friend making crosses to drive back the vamps. You thought Hollywood came up with that one! There is also bullets with crosses cut into them. For more, go here.
Dr. John Dale vs. Gerritt Geisert, the Vampire Master
“The Vampire Master” (Weird Tales, October November December 1933 January 1934) by Hugh Davidson (Edmond Hamilton) is a short novel originally published in four parts under Hamilton’s pseudonym. Dale goes to Maysville, near the Catskills Mountains to face off against an evil that haunts the local area. The detective finally traps Geisert in a room with crosses and garlic while the sun comes up. Shades of Hammer’s Christopher Lee! For More, go here.
Sir James Fenwick
“Terror’s Dark Tower” (Detective Tales, October 1935) by John Dickson Carr is a locked-room Mystery story also known as “Vampire Tower”. As such it is a false vampire tale but a good one. Anyone who goes into the tower ends up dead. Is it a vampire killing people? Obviously not. Warning: Spoilers! For more, go here.
Etheridge & Peters vs. Count Woerz
“The Loot of the Vampire” (Weird Tales, June July 1936) by Thorp McClusky was a two-parter with another detective, an actual policeman and his junior, facing off after the Count comes to the area. He uses his supernatural mind-control to make the beautiful Katherine Grant his slave. McClusky was obsessed with mind-control and used it in different forms in the five stories discussed. For more, go here.
Edgar Allan Poe vs. Elva Gauber
“When It Was Moonlight” (Unknown, February 1940) by Manly Wade Wellman features a famous detective, Edgar Allan Poe. The Man from Baltimore finds a victim trapped in the basement as food for the vampire. Trading places, he ends the monster and discovers an idea for a famous story. Wellman made a career with occult detectives, creating Judge Pursuivant, Sgt. Jaeger, John Thunstone, Silver John and Lee Corbett. For more, go here.
John Thunstone
“The Last Grave of Lill Warran” (Weird Tales, May 1951) by Manly Wade Wellman may be the second last occult detective story in Weird Tales (I haven’t looked.) It was certainly the last John Thunstone’s. (Jules de Grandin appeared in “The Ring of Bastet” in September 1951. August Derleth’s “The Black Island” appeared in January 1952.) Thunstone would go on to a few more elsewhere including two novels. That this is a werewolf story too makes it that much better. Manly loved werewolves. He also knew the lore that a dead werewolf would arise as a vampire. When John hears that Lill Warran was a werewolf in life, he hurries to her lover, Pos Parrell’s place. He knows she will rise from the grave. For more, go here.
Conclusion
The vampire killers move to the silver screen, TV and comics after 1955. Hammer Films had Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in a number of productions. Marvel Comics gave us Tomb of Dracula and the half-vamp killer, Blade. Kolchak the Night Stalker (1972) had newspaperman Carl Kolchak encounter Skorzeny in this classic pilot. Later Buffy would fail on the big screen then be reborn on the small one. We got to see hundreds of vamps turned to dust with wooden stakes on that show. Angel would leave to have his own show two years later. Blade would return as Wesley Snipes for a successful film trilogy. And we can’t forget one of my favorite bit since then…Eat It, Twilight!
Will we see more Fearless Vampire Killers in the future? Without doubt. The thrills and chills of intrepid men and women taking on the undead is irresistible. The Salem’s Lot re-make might speak more to the unending popularity of Stephen King’s work but I see it as more Fearless Vampire Killers. Bring them on!
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