Elizabeth Caroline Grey

Elizabeth Caroline Grey (1798–1869), aka Mrs. Colonel Grey or Mrs. Grey, was a prolific English author of over 30 romance novels, silver fork novels, Gothic novels, sensation fiction and Penny Dreadfuls, active between the 1820s and 1867. There is some controversy about the details of her life story, and if she actually authored any penny dreadfuls. That reputation has not lasted; her life and body of work today are fairly obscure outside of a few specialised fields of study such as Victorian literature and vampire literature. Grey is probably most often remembered today as being the first woman to write and publish a vampire story; one of her earliest stories, The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress, it was first published in 1828 in a weekly paper called The Casket.

Elizabeth's maiden name was Duncan and she was the niece of "Miss Duncan", a famous actress of the late 18th century. Elizabeth Grey worked at a London school for girls. In her spare time wrote silver fork novels, Indeed, Spedding says the traditional life story of Grey, which can be ultimately sourced back to Andrew De Ternant's version, and later replicated in respectable encyclopaedias such as John Sutherland's Companion to Victorian Fiction, is a total fabrication.

The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress

The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress (1828) is a penny dreadful allegedly written by Grey (see above concerning dispute of penny dreadful authorships). In 1995, anthologist Peter Haining claimed it was the first vampire story written and published by a woman.

Works Works by Elizabeth Caroline Grey. The Skeleton Count, or The Vampire Mistress, in 1828's The Casket. (penny dreadful). De Lisle: or, The Distrustful Man. London: Bull, 1828. The Trials of Life. London: E. Bull, 1829 Alice Seymour: A Tale. London: J. Hatchard and Son. 1831 The Duke. London: Bentley, 1839. The Young Prima Donna. London: Bentley, 1840. The Little Wife, and The Baronet's Daughters. London: Saunders and Otley, 1841. The Belle of the Family: or, The Jointure: A Novel. London: Newby, 1843. The Old Dower House: A Tale of Bygone Days. London: Newby, 1844. The Bosom Friend: A Novel. London: Newby, 1845. The Gambler's Wife. London: Newby, 1845. Hyacinthe; or, The Contrast. London: Newby, 1845. Sybil Lennard. London: Newby, 1846. The Ordeal by Touch. 1846. (penny dreadful) The Little Beauty: A Novel. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1860. Murder Will Out. 1860. (penny dreadful) One of the Family. 1861. The Autobiography of Frank, the Happiest Dog that Ever Lived. London, 1861. Passages in the Life of a Fast Young Lady. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1862. Good Society: or, Contrasts of Character. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1863. Love's Sacrifice. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1867.