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The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre
John Polidori's classic tale "The Vampyre"(1819), was a product of the same ghost-story competition that produced Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The present volume selects thirteen other tales of mystery and the macabre, including the works of James Hogg, J.S. LeFanu, Letitia Landon, Edward Bulwer, and William Carelton. The introduction surveys the genesis and infl...more
Paperback, 278 pages
Published
September 11th 2008
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published 1819)
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This is a companion volume to the earlier "Tales from Blackwood's Magazine" containing early 19th century tales of grisly happenings and extreme psychological states culled from British magazines other than Blackwoods. The most influential piece here, of course, is "The Vampyre," oriignally thought to be written by Byron but written by Byron's personal physician and cast-off middle-class toady Dr. John Polidori, a tale that turned the vampire into a 19th craze by re-cr...more
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If you ever want to know where Bram Stoker got his inspiration, read The Vampyre by Polidori. Vampire tales existed before it was written, but they were monsters akin to zombies or werewolves. The aristocratic bloodsucker was Polidori's creation, and Stoker ran with it. Imagine how different the world of literature, theater and film would be if not for that. Good thing Polidori was getting tired of his patron Byron's manipulative and controlling behavior, I say!
The other stories in t...more
The other stories in t...more
I initially picked up this book for Polidori's "Vampyre", which I honestly was not very impressed with. I feel bad giving this collection of stories a rating of 3 overall, because there are some works in this book that deserve a higher rating... some of the other stories I was not as impressed with. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who likes old-fashioned horror stories and classic gothic novels.
read:
"The Vampyre"
"Augustus Darvell"
"The Vampyre"
"Augustus Darvell"
Really liked it, but reading old english was a total challenge.. especially late at night. Reading this on the kindle with it's instant dictionary would have been more helpful. Stories were good none the less.
A fascinating look into the earliest of the vampire tales as brought to Victorian England! Oh the phrases!
Eh. That about sums it up. 13 or so short stories that were written in the 19th century about fiends/ghosts/ghouls etcetera that were moderately entertaining. By the end I was just reading to get done with the book, not reading because I enjoyed it.
Jennie
marked it as to-read
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John William Polidori 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 the oldest son of Gaetano Polidori, an Italian political émigré scholar, and Anna Maria Pierce, a governess. He had three brothers and four sisters.
He was one of the ...more
More about John William Polidori...
Polidori was the oldest son of Gaetano Polidori, an Italian political émigré scholar, and Anna Maria Pierce, a governess. He had three brothers and four sisters.
He was one of the ...more
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