Tristan Robert Lange

Varney the Vampire; or the First Watch

A Devilishly Dreadful Watch Night Special

O, my sweet dear, how I have longed for you.

How long has it been since I held you tight?

I can remember your tender kisses,

How you would hug me when I held you tight.

I would call out to you, my precious love,

LIke I did at night when I held you tight.

But that would wake you—startle you with fright—

Then I would loose my chance to hold you tight.

I wish it didn’t work out this way, love,

Wish I didn’t stray from holding you tight.

But I can’t change that now—can’t make it right—

I cannot go back to holding you tight.

O, dear Lord, I know what I did was wrong!

My dear love, let me hold onto you tight.

She was the queen and I a stupid fool,

It felt so good holding her, not you, tight.

But she, the king’s love—not mine to have—

I should have never stopped holding you tight.

Caught—I was ashamed—I tried suicide,

Thinking I’d never again hold you tight.

But the king, upon learning, spit a curse.

Undead! Not living as I hold you tight.

Shhh, dear, please don’t fight me here on this night,

I can’t help it—can’t stop holding you tight.

I am forced to feed—drain you of your life—

When all I want to do is hold you tight.

Hush now, my love, it will be over soon—

You are growing cold as I hold you tight.

I’m so sorry, my dear, they are not fine!

Swear I came this watch night to hold you tight.

I drank the children’s, hot, red precious blood.

I held them, just as I now do you—tight.

They’re no more, and now so are you,

Cold—limp—as I lay here holding you tight.

Poet’s Note:

This poem is a work of Gothic horror fiction and a prequel to Vesuvian Vampire, written in the ghazal form. It engages Varney the Vampire as an inherited Gothic figure rather than a fixed canon character, drawing from the penny-dreadful tradition in which Varney’s origins remain fragmented, contradictory, and unresolved. Elements such as shame, suicide, curse, and recurrence are synthesized here into a coherent imagined origin shaped by desire, guilt, and damnation. Watch Night functions as a liminal setting for that reckoning—a vigil transformed into visitation. This piece is part of the ongoing Devilishly Dreadful series.

First published on tristanrobertlange.com, December 31, 2025.

Tittu