The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
"The Vampire Tapestry" is a novel that intricately weaves together five interconnected narratives centered around Dr. Edward Weyland, a vampire who poses as an anthropologist. The story begins with Weyland exploiting his position at a sleep research center, where he preys on experimental subjects, particularly capturing the attention of Katje de Groot, a widow who ultimately exposes him as a vampire. The narrative evolves as Weyland becomes a victim himself, captured by criminals who exploit his nature for entertainment, forcing him to feed publicly.
As he seeks to reclaim his academic identity, Weyland undergoes psychoanalysis with Floria Landauer, which opens his eyes to human empathy—a stark contrast to his previous predatory view of humans. This exploration continues as he navigates his desires during a performance of Puccini's "Tosca," where he grapples with his instincts and begins to kill indiscriminately. The story reaches its climax when Dorothea, an artist, sees through his disguise, leading Weyland to confront his past, ultimately deciding to abandon his facade. The novel presents a complex portrayal of a vampire's journey through identity, humanity, and the struggle between predation and empathy.
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The Vampire Tapestry
First published: 1980 (part 1, “The Ancient Mind at Work,” Omni, February, 1979)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—feminist
Time of work: The 1970’s
Locale: New York City and Santa Fe, New Mexico
The Plot
The Vampire Tapestry is a sequential grouping of five periods, related in linked stories, in the life of Dr. Edward Weyland, a vampire masquerading as an anthropologist and academician. Part 1, “The Ancient Mind at Work,” depicts Weyland as a sexually attractive vampire and wealthy academician involved with a sleep research center at Cayslin College, where he preys on his experimental subjects. Katje de Groot, an expatriate South African Boer and widow of a Cayslin professor, discovers that Weyland is a vampire. Mrs. de Groot ignores race and gender politics until a series of rapes take place on campus. She identifies Weyland as the rapist but understands him, saying “But I am myself a hunter!” She shoots him. Weyland is a vampire of a different sort: He can be injured by a bullet. He is a natural rather than a supernatural being.
In part 2, “The Land of Lost Content,” Weyland falls into the hands of petty criminals Roger and Mark, who work with a satanist, Reese. The vampire is a victim, placed on display. Reese examines Weyland’s mouth and determines that there are no fangs but a stinger on the underside of the tongue that “probably erects itself at the prospect of dinner, makes the puncture through which he sucks blood, then folds back out of sight again.” Powerless, Weyland is forced to feed in public for the voyeuristic delight of Reese’s followers. Finally, Mark allows Weyland to feed on him, saving Weyland from Reese’s exploitation and freeing the vampire.
In part 3, “The Unicorn Tapestry,” Weyland attempts to restore his academic position by agreeing to psychoanalysis by Floria Landauer in an attempt to cure the “delusion” that he is a vampire. Through his analyst, Weyland comes to discover empathy for humans, whom he previously had regarded merely as a source of sustenance. Weyland’s encounters with Landauer are the contemporary equivalent of meeting “screaming peasants with torches.” Although the peasants of the past would have destroyed him physically, the analyst instead breaks down the distance between the vampire and his prey, destroying his identity and subjectivity. Although Landauer is aware that Weyland is a vampire, he does not kill her but moves on with newfound empathy.
In part 4, “A Musical Interlude,” Weyland moves to a New Mexico university. At a performance of the Puccini opera, Tosca, Weyland becomes intertwined with another Floria, a character in the opera. He identifies himself with the character Scarpia. The music arouses the vampire’s blood lust. He resents the opera’s ability to touch him, to make him one of its “prey.” Weyland begins to kill needlessly and indiscriminately.
Finally, in part 5, “The Last of Dr. Weyland,” the vampire is discovered by Dorothea, an artist who recognizes the insubstantiality of his disguise. Weyland has a final encounter with Reese, whom he kills. Threatened with exposure, he decides to end his masquerade as Weyland. The vampire drifts off to sleep, not destroyed but rendered harmless.