Volume I

Chapter One: Midnight - The hail-storm - The dreadful visitor - The vampyre
The novel opens at Bannerworth Hall. Outside, a storm rages. Inside, Flora Bannerworth lies asleep. On the wall hangs a curious portrait of a young man with ‘a strange expression about the eyes, which no one cared to look on twice’. A flash of lightning reveals a mysterious figure outside the bedroom window. The intruder breaks the window and enters. He is pale, with horribly sharp teeth, and eyes like ‘polished tin’. Flora is too frightened to scream, hypnotised by the intruder’s eyes. She tries to flee but can hardly move. Suddenly the creature howls, seizes Flora by her hair, and drags her back onto the bed. Finally she is able to scream for help. The vampyre bites her and sucks her blood. She faints.

Chapter Two: The alarm - The pistol shot - The pursuit and its consequences
Flora’s screams have raised the alarm. Her brothers, Henry and George Bannerworth, are woken, as are their mother and Marchdale, Mrs Bannerworth’s former suitor (now live-in friend of the family). Flora’s shrieks cause Mrs Bannerworth to faint.

The family realise that the cries are coming from Flora’s room. Henry Bannerworth brings pistols from his bedroom, leads the family to Flora’s door. The door is locked, and from inside the brothers can hear a sound which ‘resembles some animal eating, or sucking some liquid.’ Marchdale breaks down the door using a crowbar. They disturb the vampire in his attack. He makes his escape, knocking down Henry. They see that the figure has ‘lips dabbled in blood’. Marchdale fires after the fleeing vampire. He declares that he has hit him, and pursues him he continues to flee. The Bannerworth brothers follow. Outside, the men see the vampire struggling to clear the garden wall. As he reaches the top of the wall at last, he is shot again, this time by Henry Bannerworth, and falls.

Chapter Three: The disappearance of the body – Flora’s recovery and madness – The offer of assistance from Sir Francis Varney
 The men believe Henry has killed Flora’s attacker. But on the other side of the wall they find no sign of a body. They return to the Hall to discover whether or not Flora has been killed. Henry begins grieving for his sister, but George reminds him that she may yet be alive. Marchdale remarks that it was unwise for all of them to have run after the attacker at once. (It was in fact his idea.)

They have some difficulty getting back in, as Martha, one of the Bannerworths' servants, is shaking so much that she struggles to open the door. She tells the men that Flora is alive.

Flora is pale, unconscious, and wounded at the neck. When awoken from her faint, she shrieks, unaware that she is now safe. She says that she feels ‘almost bled to death’, though her wounds are too small for such blood-loss. Marchdale groans, and recommends that Flora sleep. Henry promises to watch over her.

Marchdale remarks that the portrait in Flora’s room is very like the attacker they have just seen. Henry tells him that it is of Sir Runnagate Bannerworth, a dissolute ancestor of his – the first to begin the decline of the family fortunes. The men agree to make further discussion in private, Henry remains with Flora as she sleeps.

Chapter Four – The morning – The Consultation – The Fearful Suggestion
There is no more disturbance that night. Henry Bannerworth decides to remove the portrait, but it is painted onto a wooden panel, so will have to be removed by a workman.

Flora wakes up, still very distressed. Mrs Bannerworth comes in to comfort her. Henry goes to consult with Marchdale, who suggests the possibility of a vampire. George comes in, and suggests the same thing. The men resolve not to tell Flora. Marchdale and Henry resolve to watch over Flora the next night – George is too sickly to stay up.

Henry goes to fetch a doctor for Flora. On the way, a gentleman on horseback mentions the Bannerworths’ vampire problem, revealing that the Bannerworth servants have been gossiping.

Mr Chillingworth, the doctor, denies the possibility of vampires but agrees to visit Flora. Back at the Hall, Flora is convinced that she was attacked by a vampire. She has read about them in ‘the book of travels in Norway’, lent by Marchdale.

Chillingworth visits, insists to Flora that she’s had a nightmare, and that the wound on her neck is an insect bite. Privately, to Henry, he admits he’s perplexed, but will call again. Henry consults Travels in Norway, which says that vampires like to feed on the night before a full moon, and can revive from death in moonlight.

Chapter Five - The Night Watch - The Proposal - The Moonlight - The Fearful Adventure
Henry and George Bannerworth receive a letter from Sir Francis Varney, who has just purchased Ratford Abbey. Varney offers help, but Henry is determined to refuse, because the Bannerworth family are impoverished.

George asks to share Henry’s watch at Flora’s bedside, but Henry says that George’s health isn’t good enough. George insists, however. Marchdale also sits up to watch.

Marchdale shows the others a piece of lace and two buttons, torn from the vampire’s coat. The men notice its age and ‘unearthly smell’. The coat also resembles that of the portrait in Flora’s former room. They go to the room to compare the fabrics, and find a match.

They hear footsteps outside, and discover Mr Chillingworth has been watching for the vampire.

Exploring the park, the men (minus George, who remains with Flora) see the vampire lying on the ground. He was hit by one of the bullets fired at him the previous night, but now revives in the moonlight. Marchdale fires and hits him, and the vampire revives again. It flees into the woods. The men notice that it is wearing ancient clothes.

They return home, Henry Bannerworth suffering a state of ‘mental protestration’. In spite of what they have seen, Mr Chillingworth refuses to believe in vampires.

Marchdale suggests visiting the tomb of Runnagate Bannerworth, whom the vampire resembles, to see if he is a vampire. He is buried at the old village church, in the Bannerworth family vault.