New York City's Rich History of Vampire Parties

Recently a friend asked me if I knew much about vampire history in New York. I didn’t. Mostly because there isn’t much from a historic perspective, the closest is the New England Vampire Panic. The Panic that hit the United States in the 1730s was largely a response to tuberculosis and normal human decay. But neither of those topics were broadly, or scientifically understood enough at the time. The fun fact is that Bram Stoker took more from the New England Vampire Panic and the sad case of Mercy Brown as inspiration for Dracula than he took from Transylvanian folklore. Beyond this, I wasn’t sure how the history of vampires and the history of New York might intersect. A quick Google search unearthed a goldmine. 

An article from the New York Historical Society introduced me to the idea of Vampire Parties. Stoker’s novel was released in 1897, but these Death Watch parties dated back to as early as October 2nd 1892. The invitation reads: 

“Second Death Watch and Feast of The Ghouls. Given by the “Vampires” at Mazzetti’s, N.Y. Sunday Evening, Oct 2 1892. In Honor of Prof. Christopher Columbus, who discovered us : and as a remoter expression of gratitude toward the Anonymous Gentleman who discovered the world. This should have been done by the Anthropological society years ago. Enjoy life while you have the chance, So here’s to Music, Wine and Dance - When once you’re dead, there’s no encore To bring you back and try life o’er. The mourners will fall in line and the burial service will be read, at nine o’clock Blunt.” 

The menu included “Vampire blood on the side, on probation from Woodlawn Cemetery.” 

Though this party predated Dracula, it didn’t predate all Vampire literature. In 1819 two Vampire themed works were published. One was a short story called The Black Vampyre written by Uriah Derick D’Arcy. The other was The Vampyre by John Williams Polidori, which came out of the same contest run by Lord Byron that produced Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. And in 1872 Carmilla was released. Carmilla is a novella about a female vampire who preys on the story’s protagonist. It’s a revolutionary gothic lesbian vampire story. With these narratives in the zeitgeist and local lore from the New England and European Vampire Panic’s, people living in New York City at the end of the 19th century would have been well versed in Vampires, even before Dracula was released. These parties seemed to lack any real motive, they are simply advertised as fun, albeit macabre theme parties. 

Jumping ahead a century, New York City boasted what can only be described as a thriving vampire party scene in the 1990s. And this scene is echoed in mid-90s films that were released in very quick succession. Habit (1995), directed by Larry Fessenden, perfectly illustrates this moment in time. Habit tells the story of Sam, an artistic lost soul living in New York who meets Anna at a Halloween party. Anna reignites his passions, he comes alive. But the high is short lived, Sam soon becomes ill and starts to believe Anna to be a vampire. Another example is Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction (1995). In this film, the protagonist is bitten by a woman and struggles with her new found need to consume human blood. And finally, Nadja (1994) predates the other two movies by mere months. Nadja features Peter Fonda in a supporting role and brings viewers into a purely arthouse retelling of Dracula. All three movies are set in New York City. 

But even beyond the indie horror scene, Vampire movies were abundant in the 1990s. Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula premiered in ‘92, as did the Buffy movie (which predated the show.) Film versions of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles started to roll out in the 90s, Wes Craven’s Vampire in Brooklyn, From Dusk Till Dawn and Blade were also released, just to name a few.

Vampires were in the air. The infamous table top role playing game Vampire: The Masquerade was released in 1991. Some folks in Kentucky took the game so seriously it ended in real life murders. Others dressed up as vampires, complete with contacts and fangs to go out and party. 

The scene in New York in the 90s is exactly the gritty, leather clad rave you’re picturing. Vampire theme nights would pop-up at various clubs across the city. Coffins and other props would be brought in, punk bands would play, and folks would dress the part.

Anne Rice’s 13 novel series The Vampire Chronicles helped to keep vampires, especially sexy ones, in the forefront of culture. The series started with Interview with the Vampire, released in 1976 and concluded with Blood Communion which was published in 2018 (three years before Rice’s death). And by 2018 Vampires were in full swing. From True Blood to What We Do In the Shadows and Twilight, vampires are just as relevant as ever.

But what about “vampires” feels like an escape? Whether enthusiasts were partying dressed up as vampires in the 1890s or the 1990s, there seems to be a prominent subculture here. And while I won’t pretend to be qualified to totally dissect that, I do think it’s similar to the reasons vampires star in so many movies and books. They are sexy, eternal, and dangerous. They are typically impossibly strong and youthful. They’ve made the deal with the devil, so to speak (sometimes against their own pure will) to trade their soul for these attributes. Even though they suck human blood we seem to forgive them for that, because dang, they’re hot and tortured and all of the things our parents tell us are red flags in prospective partners. And what’s hotter than that? 

Just like any fantasy fandom, vampires offer distance from the real world for a bit. Similar to what party goers who pop in fangs and take chemical drugs are doing. There is something inherently human about playing pretend and disappearing from ourselves (and the burning world around us) for a bit. Some of us choose to watch indie movies, read novels or play RPGs, and others play the part more literally. 

There are those who “ethically” practice vampirism in New York City (and around the globe) today. This isn’t playing pretend. There are largely two camps, those who literally drink blood and those who claim to be psychic vampires. Psychic vampires refers to people who believe that they need to absorb the essence of a person to feed their being. Psychic vampirism was popularized by Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan in the 1960s. Though the term, as he used it, referred to spiritually weak people who drained the energy from others. Michelle Belanger, a self proclaimed psychic vampire, wrote a book in 2004 on the subject titled The Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work. 

The others in the subculture, those who actually drink blood, stemmed from goth subculture in some ways. People participate in this group in many different ways. Sanguinarians or hematophages are those who consume human blood, donors are those who provide it. And others participate as role players without taking part in consumption. While humans can ingest blood, it’s not an incredibly safe practice. 

So, to answer my friend’s initial question, this is a brief and high level look at the intersection of vampires and New York. It’s fascinating to track folklore and mythology historically, and realize that vampires are quite a modern sensation. Of course there are ancient gods and monsters that have similar traits, but different backstories. New York City seems to have been a playground for vampires of all types. A ripe setting for a subculture, a party scene and gritty indie horror films. I wonder what version of vampire parties the 2090s will see?