Book Review:

Review of The Female Vampire in Hispanic Literature: A Critical Anthology of Turn of the 20th Century Gothic-Inspired Tales, edited and translated by Megan DeVirgilis, University of Wales Press, 2024. 168 pp.  Hardcover (ISBN:978-1837721689). Kindle (ASIN: B0CYWBV4PK). 

The study of Gothic literature has traditionally been centered on Anglo-European narratives, where the genre is viewed as a reaction to the Protestant Enlightenment, a counterpoint to rationality, and an exploration of bourgeois anxieties. However, Meagan DeVirgilis, the author, editor, and translator of The Female Vampire in Hispanic Literature, challenges this Eurocentric framework by examining a long-overlooked literary phenomenon—the emergence of the sympathetic female vampire in Spanish and Latin American short narratives at the turn of the 20th century. This critical anthology provides a much-needed intervention into the fields of Gothic studies, feminist literary criticism, and Latin American and Spanish literary traditions by illustrating how these vampire figures engage with and depart from Anglo-European conventions.

One of the book’s most compelling arguments is that the female vampire trope in Hispanic literature is not simply an imitation of its European and American counterparts but rather a unique manifestation shaped by regional ideological, political, and economic concerns (xxiii). The sympathetic female vampire emerges as a response to shifting gender roles, rising feminist movements, and anxieties about female autonomy. The text situates these narratives within a broader historical and theoretical framework, engaging with Marxist critiques of social capital, Foucauldian concepts of power and surveillance, feminist theories of the ‘monstrous feminine’ (xiii), and Hegel’s theory of the Master-Slave Dialectic.

DeVirgilis compiles five Gothic-inspired tales written by Spanish and Latin American authors between 1910 and 1922, offering an in-depth literary analysis of each. These tales, which feature female vampires who are either misunderstood or victims of patriarchal repression, disrupt traditional gender binaries and expose the moral hypocrisies of the societies that produced them. The anthology demonstrates how these narratives challenge conventional associations between the vampire and deviant female sexuality, instead positioning the vampire as a site of resistance against oppressive social norms.

A major strength of this study lies in its theoretical grounding. The author engages with Barbara Creed’s theory of the Monstrous-Feminine (xiii), emphasizing that all human societies have developed some form of horror foisted on female bodies. The text draws connections between the female vampire and long-established fears about female sexuality, reproductive power, and agency. The anthology also places these narratives within the larger framework of critical theory, such as Antonio Gramsci’s concepts of hegemony and Louis Althusser’s ideological state apparatuses and repressive state apparatuses, demonstrating how patriarchal control over women’s bodies parallels colonial control over land and growing disquiet shared by the patriarch and the colonist when murmurs of freedom echo transcontinentally.

Additionally, DeVirgilis examines the historical marginalization of Gothic literature in Spanish and Latin American literary traditions, arguing that the Gothic has been largely dismissed in these regions due to its association with lowbrow, sensationalist literature and its perceived incompatibility with Catholic cultural paradigms. This marginalization has led to the substitution of alternative literary labels, such as ‘literature of the unusual’ in Spain and ‘magical realism’ in Latin America (xiv). The book successfully dismantles these categorizations, advocating for a more inclusive approach to Gothic scholarship that acknowledges its global reach. Each of the five tales analyzed in this volume contributes to the overarching argument that the sympathetic female vampire is a transgressive figure who exposes patriarchal contradictions.

Leopoldo Lugones’ “The Female Vampire” (1899) presents a vampiric femme fatale whose consumption of men’s vitality is not an act of villainy but rather a survival mechanism within a patriarchal economic system. DeVirgilis’ analysis positions the story within the decadent literary movement, linking its themes to anxieties about gender and social class (xvii), while Clemente Palma’s “The White Farmhouse” (1904) subverts the traditional Gothic motif of the haunted house by transforming it into a space of female agency and resistance. The protagonist, initially portrayed as a dangerous seductress, ultimately emerges as a victim of societal expectations and male violence.

Antonio de Hoyos’ “Mr. Cadaver and Miss Vampire” (1910) explores the tensions between eroticism and monstrosity, using the female vampire as a means of critiquing bourgeois hypocrisy. The narrator’s unreliable perspective calls into question whether the female vampire is truly a predator or simply a woman punished for transgressing gender norms. Similarly, Carmen de Burgos’ “The Cold Woman” (1922) stands out as the only tale written by a woman. It offers a rare female-authored perspective on the vampire myth, dismantling the virgin-whore dichotomy and granting its protagonist a degree of sexual autonomy rarely seen in earlier Gothic fiction. Through these analyses, the anthology illustrates how Spanish and Latin American authors were not merely adopting Gothic conventions but actively reshaping them to suit local cultural and political contexts (xiii).

One of the book’s most thought-provoking contributions is its examination of why the Gothic genre has been under-theorized in Spain and Latin America. DeVirgilis argues that Gothic literature has been systematically excluded from academic discourse in these regions due to both ideological and structural factors. In Spain, the slow transition to a capitalist economy and the enduring influence of Catholicism meant that Gothic tropes—rooted in critiques of aristocratic excess and Protestant anxieties—were seen as foreign or irrelevant. Meanwhile, in Latin America, the absence of feudal structures and the dominance of magical realism as a preferred literary mode further sidelined Gothic narratives.

DeVirgilis’ anthology is a crucial resource for scholars and educators in Gothic studies, Latin American and Spanish literature, feminist theory, Marxist theory, border studies and cultural studies. For undergraduate students, it provides an accessible entry point into non-Anglophone Gothic traditions, challenging them to reconsider the Eurocentric bias in literary classification and the Eurocentric gaze. For graduate students and researchers, it opens new avenues for exploring the intersections between gender, colonialism, and genre theory. DeVirgilis deftly challenges these assumptions by revealing a rich but overlooked tradition of Hispanic Gothic literature that has been either mislabeled or ignored. The anthology convincingly argues that the Gothic’s presence in these regions is not incidental but rather a reflection of deep-seated societal fears—particularly regarding gender, power, and modernity.

The anthology’s impact extends beyond literary scholarship. By exposing the reasons behind the exclusion of Spanish and Latin American Gothic works from mainstream discourse, it raises larger questions about canon formation, cultural hegemony, archival gatekeeping, and the global circulation of literary genres. It forces us to ask: why has the Gothic been an area of sustained academic interest in the U.S. and Europe, but not in Spain or Latin America? And what does this omission reveal about the structures of literary criticism and publishing? By recovering these overlooked narratives and positioning them within a broader Gothic framework, The Female Vampire in Hispanic Literature: A Critical Anthology of Turn of the 20th Century Gothic-Inspired Tales is a groundbreaking contribution to the field—one that will undoubtedly shape future discussions on global Gothic traditions.

-8 Mar. 2025