The Vampyre: A Tale: Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection

By John William Polidori and 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser
• Release date: Oct 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781619400016

John William Polidori

John William Polidori (1795-1821) was an English writer and physician, known for his involvement in the Romantic movement. After Polidori received his doctorate in medicine, he was employed by Lord Byron, acting as his personal physician who traveled through Europe with him. Paid to journal the experience, Polidori began his writing career at this time as well. He wrote plays, poems, novellas, and non-fiction, but is best known for innovating the vampire genre in fantasy fiction with his famous novel The Vampyre.

Book preview

EXTRACT OF A LETTER

FROM GENEVA.

"I breathe freely in the neighbourhood of this lake; the ground upon which I tread has been subdued from the earliest ages; the principal objects which immediately strike my eye, bring to my recollection scenes, in which man acted the hero and was the chief object of interest. Not to look back to earlier times of battles and sieges, here is the bust of Rousseau—here is a house with an inscription denoting that the Genevan philosopher first drew breath under its roof. A little out of the town is Ferney, the residence of Voltaire; where that wonderful, though certainly in many respects contemptible, character, received, like the hermits of old, the visits of pilgrims, not only from his own nation, but from the farthest boundaries of Europe. Here too is Bonnet's abode, and, a few steps beyond, the house of that astonishing woman Madame de Stael: perhaps the first of her sex, who has really proved its often claimed equality with, the nobler man. We have before had women who have written interesting-novels and poems, in which their tact at observing drawing-room characters has availed them; but never since the days of Heloise have those faculties which arc peculiar to man, been developed as the possible inheritance of woman. Though even here, as in the case of Heloise, our sex have not been backward in alledging the existence of an Abeilard in the person of M. Schlegel as the inspirer of her works. But to proceed: upon the same side of the lake, Gibbon, Bonnivard, Bradshaw, and others mark, as it were, the stages for our progress; whilst upon the other side there is one house, built by Diodati, the friend of Milton, which has contained within its walls, for several months, that poet whom we have so often read together, and who—if human passions remain the same, and human feelings, like chords, on being swept by nature's impulses shall vibrate as before—will be placed by posterity in the first rank of our English Poets. You must have heard, or the Third Canto of Childe Harold will have informed you, that Lord Byron resided many months in this neighbourhood. I went with some friends a few days ago, after having seen Ferney, to view this mansion. I trod the floors with the same feelings of awe and respect as we did, together, those of Shakespeare's dwelling at Stratford. I sat down in a chair of the saloon, and satisfied myself that I was resting on what he had made his constant scat. I found a servant there who had lived with him; she, however, gave me but little information. She pointed out his bed-chamber upon the same level as the saloon and dining-room, and informed me that he retired to rest at three, got up at two, and employed himself a long time over his toilette; that he never went to sleep without a pair of pistols and a dagger by his side, and that he never eat animal food. He apparently spent some part of every day upon the lake in an English boat. There is a balcony from the saloon which looks upon the lake and the mountain Jura; and I imagine, that it must have been hence, he contemplated the storm so magnificently described in the Third Canto; for you have from here a most extensive view of all the points he has therein depicted. I can fancy him like the scathed pine, whilst all around was sunk to repose, still waking to observe, what gave but a weak image of the storms which had desolated his own breast.

The sky is changed!—and such a change; Oh, night!

And storm and darkness, ye are wond'rous strong,

Yet lovely in your strength, as is the light

Of a dark eye in woman! Far along

From peak to peak, the rattling crags among,

Leaps the lire thunder! Not from one lone cloud,

But every

Reviews for The Vampyre

[jarandel · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Lawful Stupid protagonist (let's keep a 'deathbed promise' to a fiend even when he turns out not to have died at all) and later plot shaping up to "woman at risk of becoming damaged goods (nevermind dying, that's apparently not so important even to her purported loved ones)" that had me hit the delete button in a convulsive twitch.

[baswood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

That infamous night, sometime in 1816 at Byron's Villa Diodati, when the assembled guests were challenged to tell a ghost story resulted in Mary Shelley's [Frankenstein] It also led to the publication of The Vampyre , the first vampire tale to feature an aristocrat as a blood sucking fiend. The story's inception and it later publication history is probably more intriguing than the short story itself. John Polidori was a working guest at the villa; apparently Byron's physician and it is probably Byron's story that ended up being published by Polidori although it did originally appear under Byron's name. Byron later claimed not to have written it. A clever deception then by Polidori is enhanced by an extract from a so-called anonymous letter, that appears before the introduction to the book. The letter tells a little about that night at the villa Diodati and then intriguingly paints a portrait of Lord Byron himself: I have gathered fromtheir accounts some excellent traits of his lordship's character,which I will relate to you at some future opportunity. I must,however, free him from one imputation attached to him--of having inhis house two sisters as the partakers of his revels. This is, likemany other charges which have been brought against his lordship,entirely destitute of truth. His only companion was the physician Ihave already mentioned...... I found a servant there who had lived with him;she, however, gave me but little information. She pointed out hisbed-chamber upon the same level as the saloon and dining-room, andinformed me that he retired to rest at three, got up at two, andemployed himself a long time over his toilette; that he never went tosleep without a pair of pistols and a dagger by his side, and that henever eat animal food. The above makes Byron sound like a candidate for being a vampire and Polidori followed this up with a quote from Byron's poem [Giaour]:But first on earth, as Vampyre sent, Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent; Then ghastly haunt the native place, And suck the blood of all thy race; There from thy daughter, sister, wife, At midnight drain the stream of life; Yet loathe the banquet which perforce Must feed thy livid living corse, Thy victims, ere they yet expire, Shall know the demon for their sire;............The anonymous letter is steeped in irony and adds greatly to the mystery of the tale. If Polidori thought he could shift copies of his little book by continual references to Byron then he was not wrong. The Vampyre sold well and the central character Lord Ruthven was a dead ringer for Lord Byron. An aristocrat who feeds off the charms of young virginal women and who succeeds in tormenting the young Aubrey into despair and madness; when he kills Aubrey's innocent Greek girlfriend and then schemes to marry his innocent sister. The story has some of the elements that you would expect in a vampire tale and it is well told, it is mysterious and dark and inexorably moves to its conclusion. It is worth reading and I would rate it at 3.5 stars mainly because of the mystery in which it is surrounded.

[jrissman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Vampyre (1819) by John Polidori is a short, tightly-written short story about Lord Ruthven, a charming vampyre, and the wealthy but young and inexperienced aristocrat Aubrey. Aubrey meets Ruthven in England and is struck by the older man's unusual style and magnetism. Aubrey resolves to travel the continent of Europe with Lord Ruthven, aware of neither the dark powers nor darker intentions of his companion."The Vampyre" reminded me of Frankenstein, in that both stories feature a villain whose greatest capability is not supernatural strength, magic, or the like, but the ability to cause psychological distress and the determination to ruin the lives of others. Lord Ruthven doesn't have the same depth of character as Frankenstein's monster, but he does have a certain diabolical charm that comes through, despite the sparse dialogue. Polidori's plot is predictable but sufficiently engaging nonetheless. I wonder if Polidori's story might be the first literary example of the handsome, charming, seductive vampire that has been popularized in recent works like "Twilight." At least, it surely is an early example.I think Polidori's story would be improved by a little more length and specific detail about the means and methods used by Lord Ruthven. The reader is made aware of the vampyre's apparent objectives and the ultimate results of his handiwork, but (apart from one confused and interrupted scene), we never see him take action. While it's easy to imagine that Ruthven might bite and drink the blood of some victims, it's unclear how he manages to effect some of his other atrocities, such as bringing families to financial ruin.The version of the story I read (an eBook from Project Gutenberg) included substantial material before and after the story describing the author's (real or fictional) travel in Europe, seeking out the former abodes and artifacts owned by famous writers and poets, especially Lord Byron. This detracted from the work, so if these sections are included in your copy, I'd suggest skipping them and spending your time on the actual story, "The Vampyre."

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Vampyre by John William Polidori is a 2017 Open Road Media publication. (Originally published in 1819)I’ve been meaning to read this short story for years. Every fall when I find myself in the mood for a good scary story, I pause to consider this book, then I see the ratings and reviews, and give it a pass. This year, I decided that, because it was written even before Bram Stroker’s vampire masterpiece, I really should check it out. It is such a short story that it would take no time to read it, and then I could decide for myself if the ratings were justified or not. Honestly, I don’t see why people have judged this book so harshly. It’s subtle, for sure, and it doesn’t have much going on, as far as bloody graphics go. Still, when one thinks back to the time period the book was written in, and the many rumors that circulated about the ‘undead’, I think the atmosphere was probably unsettling to readers of that time, and it effectively captured a sinister sense of foreboding in an extremely sparse amount of time and space. I think some modern readers are so jaded and desensitized they have trouble sensing atmospheric nuance. Personally, I thought the book, short as it was, had a few chilling moments- they just weren't dripping in blood and gore...I'll skip the lecture on how an atmosphere is harder to create because I'm sure it would just fall on deaf ears. Nevertheless-The story is too brief to cover more than just the basics of vampire lore- but it does set the stage for many more classic horrifying tales of the undead, that certainly 'borrowed' from this tale- and as such, it deserves its place in history. Not only that, but the story is also part of the writing challenge between Bryon, Shelley and Polidori- a challenge that produced Shelley’s Frankenstein- so there is that. The story is fairly simple, not groundbreaking like Shelley's work, by any means, but certainly not as bad as everyone made it sound.

[la2bkk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having read Brom Stoker’s Dracula, I came to this earlier work as I was interested in learning more about the first English novel based upon a vampire. This Gothic short story is interesting both for its history, and as a source of comparison between the original version of a vampire and the more commonly known Dracula. As can be expected, the verbiage is a bit dated yet the story itself flows well enough and comes to a quite interesting conclusion.Well worth a read.

[h_d_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dark, creepy, over the top and a rather fun read. I wasn't really expecting this to be any good, but it turned out be very enjoyable. Even if the last paragraph was so hilariously over the top that it made the tension that came before deflate like a badly made flan :D

[lgandt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good Vampire tale. Love the setting.I can see clearly again how and where Stoker got most of his ideas. More backstory would have been nice, but just for a short read this is a great way to spend some time.

[pretear_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It always feels wrong to rate and review classics, especially classics, such as this short story, that are said to be transformative or revolutionary in their genre. With that said, I just didn't enjoy this. It's not scary. The story and the characters seem muddled. It just wasn't what I was expecting. I'm glad I read it for the experience of reading it, but that's the only positive thing I can say about it.

[arkrayder · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Vampyre surprised me. It started off a little dull and I believed it was a typical classic story, stuck in its era and not really able to communicate to modern day readers. I was wrong. This short story had more depth to it than say, the Twilight series or most modern vampire tales. This little story doesn't dwell on the protagonist, he is left in the shadows, left for the readers imagination to conjure up a suitably hideous inhuman creature. Instead the victim is focused on. His befriending of a person he doesn't really know or understand and his slow descent into madness is carefully described and the reader gets to witness the affect on the victims themselves. A great story and an appropriate genesis for the vampire genre.

[cynical_ames · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Written before Bram Stoker's Dracula, this is a short story centred on one of the first vampires in literature.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The writing of this story came about with the meeting at Lake Geneva of five people who decided to each write a Ghost Story. These were Mary Shelley who wrote her masterpiece,'Frankenstein',Percy Shelley and a Claire Clairmont,neither as far as I can find out,wrote anything on this occasion,Lord Byron wrote a fragment of a novel before getting bored with the task. (as he tells in his "Letters & Journals) Polidori was the fifth person and he produced "The Vampyre.Ok.it is short and rather slight,but for all that it has a certain importance in vampire fiction,not least because of the story behind the conception of it.It has been said that the idea was in fact Byron's and that there was something of Byron in the character Lord Ruthven.If you are at all interested in Vampire or indeed Supernatural Fiction of any kind,then you really ought to read it.