Legacy
Varney was a major influence on later vampire fiction, most notably the renowned novel Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker. Many of today's standard vampire tropes originated in Varney: Varney has fangs, leaves two puncture wounds on the necks of his victims, has hypnotic powers, and has superhuman strength. Unlike later fictional vampires, he is able to go about in daylight and has no particular fear of either crosses or garlic. He can eat and drink in human fashion as a form of disguise, but he points out that human food and drink do not agree with him. His vampirism seems to be a fit that comes on him when his vital energy begins to run low; he is a regular, normally functioning person between feedings.
This is also the first example of the "sympathetic vampire," a vampire who despises his condition but is nonetheless a slave to it. This archetype has been widely exemplified, notably by such characters as Countess Zaleska in the 1936 film Dracula's Daughter, Barnabas Collins in the TV soap opera Dark Shadows, Mick St.John in the TV show Moonlight, Louis de Pointe du Lac in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, Kain in the Legacy Of Kain video games, Marvel Comics character Morbius, the Living Vampire, Nick Knight in the TV series Forever Knight, Angel from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, and Bill Compton in Charlaine Harris' The Southern Vampire Mysteries.
The makers of Marvel Comics were also influenced by this story. In the Marvel Universe, "Varnae" is the name of the first vampire, created by the people of Atlantis before it sank.
A standard joking phrase, common today in Northern England, is possibly first recorded in Varney, where a comical character twice describes himself as having "never been backward in coming forward."
The sole member of the German darkwave band Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows, Anna-Varney Cantodea, adopted her name from Varney the vampire.
The Shadow magazine story "The Vampire Murders" published in 1942 features "Varney Haldrew" who lives in Haldrew Hall. Varney is named after the original Varney The Vampire and spends his nights sleeping in a coffin.
Only live action appearance of Varney has been in Dracula the series in the episode Bad Blood. Varney played by Sam Malkin treats Dracula after he had been poisoned by a rare blood type.
Read more about this topic: Varney The Vampire
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“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)