Name: The Vampyre; A Tale
Rating: 3.083333333333333 (18 reviews)
ISBN: 9781846372827

John William Polidori

This classic large print title is printed in 16 point Tiresias font as recommended by the Royal National Institute for the Blind

The Vampyre; A Tale

Varla Ventura, fan favorite on Huffington Post's Weird News, frequent guest on Coast to Coast and bestselling author of The Book of the Bizarre and Beyond Bizarre, introduces a new Weiser Books Collection of forgotten crypto-classics. Magical Creatures is a hair-raising herd of affordable digital editions, curated with Varla's affectionate and unerring eye for the fantastic. The story of the conception of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is a tale well known to horror devotees. Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft (Shelley) were reading ghost stories aloud to one another one stormy night at Byron's lake house in Geneva, Switzerland. Byron prompted his party-goers to write a ghostly tale of their own. Out of this came the beginnings of one of the most famous horror novels of all time, Frankenstein, a modern "Prometheus." As it happened, John William Polidori was also there that fated night. Personal physician to Lord Byron and a writer as a past time, Polidori crafted The Vampyre, A Tale from a sketch of a story that Byron composed that same evening. Often wrongly advertised as a story by Byron himself, The Vampyre has remained a relatively obscure tale of terror. The first vampire story published in English, Polidori's work predates the seminal Bram Stoker's Dracula by more than 70 years.

The Vampyre; a Tale

This short story falls into gothic genre. Slow, creepy, characters motivated by upholding societal morals at the time. Often set in Europe and the writers have an affinity for antiquity.<br /><br />The guy keeps having close encounters with a vampire and can’t escape. He retreats into himself and lives in fear. He doesn’t make any character development. It’s a short story about a creepy chase. Not ground breaking. But it’s hard to read gothic and feel fully impressed since our perception of the genre has shifted. I only read this since it was included at the end of M Shelly’s Frankenstein.

Before Dracula, before Lestat, there was Lord Ruthven: the true original of the modern vampire.

Aubrey, a young, naive English gentleman, befriends the enigmatic and compelling Lord Ruthven: a man of icy charm, piercing eyes, and a devastating reputation. Drawn by Ruthven's magnetic allure, Aubrey accompanies him on a tour through the decadent capitals and shadowed landscapes of Europe.

But as they travel, Aubrey begins to witness a terrifying pattern: beautiful women ruined and discarded, and all who get too close to Ruthven meeting a sudden, violent end. Aubrey soon realises that his traveling companion is not merely a libertine but something far more sinister: an ancient evil that survives by draining the life from the innocent.

Bound by a horrifying oath sworn over a dying corpse and tormented by his knowledge of the truth, Aubrey returns to England. Now, he must watch in impotent horror as Lord Ruthven--the monster he swore to silence--targets Aubrey's own innocent sister for his next victim.

Written by Lord Byron's personal physician, John William Polidori, and inspired by the legendary "ghost story contest" of 1816, The Vampyre established the vampire as a sophisticated, aristocratic, and seductive figure. This novella is a foundational classic of both Gothic literature and horror that continues to influence the genre today.

The Vampyre: A Tale

the story itself is intriguing, but the way it is told is so, so boring. 

Aida Mateescu

Sarah Sammis

Another book I read and know I liked but now can't remember. :/

Charlie Winchester 

juno

You can tell it was written by a physician. I read a summary of it in which the first sentence was better written than the entire novel. Not the worst thing I have ever read, but its down there. Even though it only took an hour or less to read it still felt like a massive waste of time.

Giulia Palla

Molly M

Vanda

🪻

audrey

maider

Varla Ventura

Varla Ventura, fan favorite on Huffington Post’s Weird News, frequent guest on Coast to Coast, and bestselling author of The Book of the Bizarre and Beyond Bizarre, introduces a new Weiser Books Collection of forgotten crypto-classics. Magical Creatures is a hair-raising herd of affordable digital editions, curated with Varla’s affectionate and unerring eye for the fantastic. The story of the conception of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is a tale well known to horror devotees. Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Wollstonecraft (Shelley) were reading ghost stories aloud to one another one stormy night at Byron's lake house in Geneva, Switzerland. Byron prompted his partygoers to write a ghostly tale of their own. Out of this came the beginnings of one of the most famous horror novels of all time, Frankenstein, a Modern Prometheus. As it happened, John William Polidori was also there that fated night. Personal physician to Lord Byron and a writer as a past time, Polidori crafted The Vampyre, A Tale from a sketch of a story that Byron composed that same evening. Often wrongly advertised as a story by Byron himself, The Vampyre has remained a relatively obscure tale of terror. The first vampire story published in English, Polidori's work predates the seminal Bram Stoker's Dracula by more than seventy years.

Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection

Aleena Korell

Julia A.

Stephanie Midolo

Abigail Mills

Lisa van Paassen

"The Vampyre" is a short work of prose fiction written in 1816 by John William Polidori as part of a contest between Polidori, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. The same contest produced the novel Frankenstein. The Vampyre is often viewed as the progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction.

The Vampyre; A Tale

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