Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Destruction of innocence
"The Vampyre" has a pretty impressive pedigree -- it was first dreamed up on the same legendary night as Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and the title character is based on Lord Byron (who actually got credited for the story). In fact, the history of Dr. John Polidori's short story is more fascinating than the story itself, a brief purple-prosed tale of innocence destroyed and a sinister aristocratic vampire.

A very naive, romantic young man named Aubrey becomes acquainted with a mysterious aristocrat named Lord Ruthven, and decides to go on a tour of Europe with him. But he soon discovers that Ruthven isn't the idealized romantic figure he thought -- he's cruel, depraved and has a corrupting influence on everyone he gets involved with.

Aubrey soon abandons Ruthven and flees to Greece, where he falls in love with a beautiful peasant girl -- only to have her die from a vampiric attack, followed by Ruthven being killed by bandits. Even more shocking, Ruthven reappears in London -- alive and well -- when Aubrey returns, and he has some spectacularly sinister plans in mind for Aubrey's sister.

The main character may be a vampire, but Polidori's story is less of a horror story and more of a study of innocence's destruction. Not only does Ruthven apparently wreck the morals of everyone he becomes close to (although we're never told how), but even the pure-hearted Aubrey turns into a glassy-eyed crazy wreck because of Ruthven.

Writingwise, I hope Polidori was a better doctor than he was a writer. His writing isn't BAD, but he tends to ramble in a purple, prim, distant style -- it feels like the entire story is a summary of someone else's novel, and he skims over the most interesting stuff like Ruthven's actual cruelty or his wooing of Aubrey's sister. But he does give the story an atmosphere of taut suspense especially when Aubrey is trying to escape Ruthven.

Ruthven (based on Byron) is a fairly fascinating character since he was the first aristocratic, elegant, attractive vampire that anybody knows of -- he's not just a monster, but a smart one who manipulates others to get the prize. We don't know whether he corrupts and murders because he's a vampire or whether he's just an evil manipulator, but strangely it makes him all the more fascinating.

"The Vampyre" has the distinction of being the first story involving an aristocratic, attractive vampire, and Lord Ruthven is a fascinating villain despite Polidori's clunky writing. Worth a read, if nothing else for the insights. ... Read more

Product Description
John William Polidori (1795-1821) was an Italian English physician and writer, known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction. Polidori was one of the earliest pupils at recently established Ampleforth College from 1804, and in 1810 went up to the University of Edinburgh, where he wrote a thesis on sleepwalking and received his degree as a doctor of medicine in 1815 at the age of 19. In 1816 Dr. Polidori entered Lord Byron's service as his personal physician, and accompanied Byron on a trip through Europe. Polidori used a fragment of a story written and quickly abandoned by Byron as the basis for his own tale, The Vampyre, the first vampire story published in English. It was published in 1819 issue of New Monthly Magazine without his permission. Much to both his and Byron's chagrin, The Vampyre was released as a new work by Byron. Byron even released his own Fragment of a Novel in an attempt to clear up the mess, but, for better or worse, The Vampyre continued to be attributed to him. His long, Byron-influenced theological poem The Fall of the Angels, was published anonymously in 1821. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Of historical interest perhaps...
This is a very old book, and the language is appropriate to the late 1800's. For devotees of vampire literature, maybe this would make the book even more interesting. But for me, a casual reader of vampire tales, it made reading it an ordeal and, honestly, not worth the effort. If you go into this book knowing that, then you will perhaps be rewarded.

According to Top Ten reviewer, E.A. Solinas, whose opinion I completely respect, this is the first known story of a vampire who was elegant and attractive. So, again for the historical perspective, this book should possibly be on the list of all readers who savor the genre. For me, the language was stilted and off-putting, and the story itself could be described by the B word (i.e., boooooooring...)

Enter at your own risk...

Destruction of innocence
"The Vampyre" has a pretty impressive pedigree -- it was first dreamed up on the same legendary night as Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and the title character is based on Lord Byron (who actually got credited for the story). In fact, the history of Dr. John Polidori's short story is more fascinating than the story itself, a brief purple-prosed tale of innocence destroyed and a sinister aristocratic vampire.

A very naive, romantic young man named Aubrey becomes acquainted with a mysterious aristocrat named Lord Ruthven, and decides to go on a tour of Europe with him. But he soon discovers that Ruthven isn't the idealized romantic figure he thought -- he's cruel, depraved and has a corrupting influence on everyone he gets involved with.

Aubrey soon abandons Ruthven and flees to Greece, where he falls in love with a beautiful peasant girl -- only to have her die from a vampiric attack, followed by Ruthven being killed by bandits. Even more shocking, Ruthven reappears in London -- alive and well -- when Aubrey returns, and he has some spectacularly sinister plans in mind for Aubrey's sister.

The main character may be a vampire, but Polidori's story is less of a horror story and more of a study of innocence's destruction. Not only does Ruthven apparently wreck the morals of everyone he becomes close to (although we're never told how), but even the pure-hearted Aubrey turns into a glassy-eyed crazy wreck because of Ruthven.

Writingwise, I hope Polidori was a better doctor than he was a writer. His writing isn't BAD, but he tends to ramble in a purple, prim, distant style -- it feels like the entire story is a summary of someone else's novel, and he skims over the most interesting stuff like Ruthven's actual cruelty or his wooing of Aubrey's sister. But he does give the story an atmosphere of taut suspense especially when Aubrey is trying to escape Ruthven.

Ruthven (based on Byron) is a fairly fascinating character since he was the first aristocratic, elegant, attractive vampire that anybody knows of -- he's not just a monster, but a smart one who manipulates others to get the prize. We don't know whether he corrupts and murders because he's a vampire or whether he's just an evil manipulator, but strangely it makes him all the more fascinating.

"The Vampyre" has the distinction of being the first story involving an aristocratic, attractive vampire, and Lord Ruthven is a fascinating villain despite Polidori's clunky writing. Worth a read, if nothing else for the insights.

From a great mind not truly appreciated
Probably more legend surrounds the writing of this novella than the actual story itself.Polidori never received more than a few pounds, but the Vampire was translated into over seven languages and adapted for a play on the continent. Goethe cheekily says that it was the best thing Byron ever wrote!

However much this might be based on Byron's fragment, Polidori wrote it at the behest of a patroness after leaving Byron's service. Polidori had been teased and ostracised by Byron and the Shelleys. He himself was volatile and had probably had enough of being called Pollydolly.

The Vampire was published without poor Polly's permission, and under Byron's name. It sold like hotcakes. The mixture of melodrama and intrigue delighted the public and began our modern obsession with vampires which just won't die. Yes, there's the cliche of the innocent woman, Ianthe, getting seduced by the mysterious stranger, and her relation's slow unravelling of the danger. But it was Polidori's modelling of the Vampire on his ex-employer that has given this book longevity and made it a genre setter.

The Vampire is written quite well - the prose may be over-flowery but Mary Shelley's Frankenstein suffers from the same. The unravelling of the story as Lord Ruthven (pronounced Riven) takes the protganists further into his confidences, and the amusing ending, make it worth a read.

Spine Chilling Read!
I was very fortunate to stumble upon this book due to Amazon's recommendations. Although, a short read, the novel does not leave you without an anticipatory hunger for what is to happen next.
The foundation runs along the same lines as Dracula, with the lurid and ominously surreptitious vampire, whom reveals his true self to only one person; which in turn drives this person into madness.
The conclusion left me with the chills. I enjoyed it very much!

A Horror Classic Reworked for a Younger Audience
Many years ago a group of friends got together and tried to scare each other with scary stories.Among the group were Lord Byron, The poet Shelly and his wife Mary, and Byron's physician John Polidori.Mary Shelly's tale, Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus, has lived on as has The Vampyre by John Polidori.The Vampyre was the first major English vampire story.Fleshcreepers attempts to bring this classic tale to a younger audience.

The story opens as a young man of means encounters a dead woman one night.The scene haunts him as he seems to get drawn into other dark scenes.He becomes fascinated by a the Lord Ruthven, an aristocrat of mysterious nature.He even goes so far as to go on a tour of Europe with him.But soon the young man begins to suspect that not is all as it seems with the Lord.His suspicions and their resolution make up the rest of the story.

This is an entertaining tale, and while intended for younger readers, is far from genteel.The adaptation does a good job of building the terror and horror and inevitable conclusion.A pretty spooky little book.
... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Publisher: London, MathewsPublication date: 1911Subjects: Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1792-1822Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
In the early 1800s, young British aristocrat Aubrey travels through Italy and Greece in the company of the mercurial and fantastic Lord Ruthven. Later, he believes his friend to have been mysteriously slain. But when Ruthven returns from the dead to prey on his sister, he realizes that the enigmatic stranger is none other than a vampire! ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Destruction of innocence
"The Vampyre" has a pretty impressive pedigree -- it was first dreamed up on the same legendary night as Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and the title character is based on Lord Byron (who actually got credited for the story). In fact, the history of Dr. John Polidori's short story is more fascinating than the story itself, a brief purple-prosed tale of innocence destroyed and a sinister aristocratic vampire.

A very naive, romantic young man named Aubrey becomes acquainted with a mysterious aristocrat named Lord Ruthven, and decides to go on a tour of Europe with him. But he soon discovers that Ruthven isn't the idealized romantic figure he thought -- he's cruel, depraved and has a corrupting influence on everyone he gets involved with.

Aubrey soon abandons Ruthven and flees to Greece, where he falls in love with a beautiful peasant girl -- only to have her die from a vampiric attack, followed by Ruthven being killed by bandits. Even more shocking, Ruthven reappears in London -- alive and well -- when Aubrey returns, and he has some spectacularly sinister plans in mind for Aubrey's sister.

The main character may be a vampire, but Polidori's story is less of a horror story and more of a study of innocence's destruction. Not only does Ruthven apparently wreck the morals of everyone he becomes close to (although we're never told how), but even the pure-hearted Aubrey turns into a glassy-eyed crazy wreck because of Ruthven.

Writingwise, I hope Polidori was a better doctor than he was a writer. His writing isn't BAD, but he tends to ramble in a purple, prim, distant style -- it feels like the entire story is a summary of someone else's novel, and he skims over the most interesting stuff like Ruthven's actual cruelty or his wooing of Aubrey's sister. But he does give the story an atmosphere of taut suspense especially when Aubrey is trying to escape Ruthven.

Ruthven (based on Byron) is a fairly fascinating character since he was the first aristocratic, elegant, attractive vampire that anybody knows of -- he's not just a monster, but a smart one who manipulates others to get the prize. We don't know whether he corrupts and murders because he's a vampire or whether he's just an evil manipulator, but strangely it makes him all the more fascinating.

"The Vampyre" has the distinction of being the first story involving an aristocratic, attractive vampire, and Lord Ruthven is a fascinating villain despite Polidori's clunky writing. Worth a read, if nothing else for the insights. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: London E. MathewsPublication date: 1911Subjects: Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1792-1822Europe -- Description and travelNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
The Vampyre; a Tale. please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

Product Description
The charismatic and sophisticated vampire of modern fiction was born in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori. The story was highly successful and arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century and it is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction so popular today. ... Read more

Product Description
Aubrey, a young Englishman, meets Lord Ruthven, a man of mysterious origins who has entered London society. Aubrey accompanies Ruthven to Rome, but leaves him after Ruthven seduces the daughter of a mutual acquaintance. Aubrey travels to Greece where he becomes attracted to Ianthe, an innkeeper's daughter. Ianthe tells Aubrey about the legends of the vampire. Ruthven arrives at the scene and shortly thereafter Ianthe is killed by a vampire. Aubrey does not connect Ruthven with the murder and rejoins him in his travels. The pair are attacked by bandits and Ruthven is mortally wounded. Before he dies, Ruthven makes Aubrey swear an oath that he will not mention his death or anything else he knows about Ruthven for a year and a day. Looking back, Aubrey realizes that everyone who Ruthven met ended up suffering.

Aubrey returns to London and is amazed when Ruthven appears shortly thereafter, alive and well. Ruthven reminds Aubrey of his oath to keep his death a secret. Ruthven then begins to seduce Aubrey's sister while Aubrey, helpless to protect his sister, has a nervous breakdown. Ruthven and Aubrey's sister are engaged to marry on the day the oath ends. Just before he dies, Aubrey writes a letter to his sister revealing Ruthven's history, but it does not arrive in time. Ruthven marries Aubrey's sister, kills her on their wedding night, and escapes.

... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and BrownPublication date: 1819Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
Los dieciseis mejores relatos jamas escritos sobre vampiros. En este volumen estan representados diversos tipos de vampiros; masculinos y femeninos, succionadores de sangre y succionadores de almas, e incluso algun vampiro antropofago y alguna vampira burguesa, como la señora Amworth. Al leerlo, conocera al elegante y pervertido lord Ruthwen, el primer vampiro literario con todas las caracteristicas, gestos, seduccion y aspecto exterior con que hoy lo conocemos, creado por John William Polidori; a Clarimondi, la vampira enamorada de su victima: a los vourdalaks, vampiros de costumbres familiares; al Horla vampiro psiquico e invisible que llego a Europa, procedente de Brasil, en un buque blanco . . . ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Benjamin Disraeli, Anne of Great Britain, Augustine of Canterbury, John William Polidori, Christopher Lee, Arthur Sullivan, Isaac D'israeli, Peter Bonetti, Billy Bragg, Rafael Sabatini, Rachel Weisz, Peter Ii, Count of Savoy, Muzio Clementi, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Barbirolli, Adrian Paul, Boniface of Savoy, Gerald Finzi, Louis Theroux, Peter Ustinov, Christina Rossetti, John Profumo, Ronnie O'sullivan, Anselm of Canterbury, Giovanni Di Stefano, Peter Falconio, Tony Iommi, Paul Di'anno, Richard Caring, Maria Cosway, Lawrence Dallaglio, Vincent Simone, Daniel Nardiello, Stephen Storace, John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, Anthony Minghella, Maurizio Giuliano, Emilia Lanier, Marco Pierre White, Anita Roddick, Chris Rea, Danny Cadamarteri, John Marco Allegro, Louisa Lytton, Lita Ford, Frankie Dettori, Brian Johnson, Alfred Molina, Karren Brady, Danny Cipriani, Moses Montefiore, Marco Gabbiadini, Richard Barbieri, Hugh Cortazzi, Danny Dichio, Dario Gradi, Joe Pasquale, Anthony Ludovici, Sacha Gervasi, Pete Price, Cherie Lunghi, Lisa Maffia, Jim Capaldi, Mantovani, John Florio, Roy Salvadori, Riccardo Scimeca, Dawn Primarolo, Luisa Casati, Joe Swash, Percy de Paravicini, Bonaventura Bottone, Mark Strong, Max Minghella, Anthony Panizzi, Tony Cascarino, Charlie Cairoli, Dominic Matteo, Joseph Grimaldi, Mike Di Scala, Dave Bacuzzi, Lil Fuccillo, William Michael Rossetti, Olivia Rossetti Agresti, Harold Acton, Joseph Whitaker, Joe Bacuzzi, Greta Scacchi, Jon R. Cavaiani, Flavia Cacace, Angela Hartnett, Adriano Rigoglioso, Claire Forlani, Angelo Colarossi, Francis Rossi, Tamzin Outhwaite, Marco Pirroni, Tony Dorigo, Giuliano Maiorana, Mark Pettini, Giuliano Grazioli, Dario Cioni, Marina Warner, Mark Sertori, Robert Rosario, Gennaro Contaldo, James Palumbo, Giovanni Battista Cipriani, Antonio Murray, Andrew Ridgeley, Carlo Pellegrini, Louis Charles Casartelli, Terence Cuneo, Ryan Baldacchino, Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=45280 ... Read more