The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre

by Robert Morrison (Editor), Chris Baldick (Editor), John William Polidori (Contributor)

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 influence of The Vampyre and its central themes and techniques, while the Appendices contain material closely associated with its composition and publication, including Lord Byron's prose fragment Augustus Darvell.

JOHN POLIDORI - The Vampyre
HORACE SMITH - Sir Guy Eveling's Dream
WILLIAM CARLETON - Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman
EDWARD BULWER - Monos and Daimonos
ALLAN CUNNINGHAM - The Master of Logan
ANONYMOUS - The Victim
JAMES HOGG - Some Terrible Letters from Scotland
ANONYMOUS - The Curse
ANONYMOUS - Life in Death
N. P. WILLIS - My Hobby,--Rather
CATHERINE GORE - The Red Man
CHARLES LEVER - Post-Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer
LETITIA E. LANDON - The Bride of Lindorf
JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU - Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Contess

Genres: Classics, Gothic, Horror, Vampires, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Robert J.H. Morrison is a Canadian author, editor, academic, and professor of English at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Lethbridge in 1983, a Master of Philosophy at the University of Oxford in 1987 and his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 1991.
He specializes in late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature.

Reviews

[Sean Barrs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a celebration, a celebration of all things gothic, dark and morbid. The stories in here are gruesome, grotesque and utterly excellent. This is a remarkable selection of writing, one that is rich in everything I love about the genre of horror. As with all short story selections, there are a few weak entries, but the rest make up for it.

I’ve reviewed each one on an individual basis (spoilers included) so you’ll see what I mean:

The Vampyre- 3/5
-by John Polidori

This wasn’t the best one in here despite it having the title named after it. The tale begins with a vampire arriving in London; he catches the eyes of the citizens with his uniqueness. They are drawn to him like a moth to a flame; they are enamoured by his sharp, striking, eyes. Everyone wants to be with him, and they’re not fully sure why; it’s like a spell has been cast over all of them, one they cannot resist.

Aubery is shocked to discover that such a creature desires his company. He is honoured and simply amazed. (Is this a suggestion of Polidori himself and Lord Byron?) Initially, he enjoys the friendship, but the true nature of the creature begins to reveal itself. The vampire is cruel and greedy behind his seductive mask. Aubery begins to detest the creature, though he is still held in thrall by his domineering personality; he cannot escape and slowly goes insane. The vampire eventually sets his eyes on Aubery’s sister, and he is powerless to help her.

“Lord Ruthven had disappeared, and Aubrey’s sister has glutted the thirst of a Vampyre!”



So the plot was rather good, but it’s such a shame that Polidori wasn’t a better writer. The prose was awkward and clunky in places; it doesn’t have the beautiful flow of some of his peers e.g. Mary Shelly. The wonder of this work is in the fact that it inspired the entire vampire sub-genre of fiction. Would Stoker have written Dracula if Polidori hadn’t written this, I think not. And that would have been a real shame.

The Dream- 4.5/5
-by Mary Shelley

I love characters that reference Shakespeare; it’s like a quite nod to the bard that I really appreciate. Constance thinks of herself as Olivia from Twelfth Night. So she is longing so desperately for love. She finds it too, though by the time it comes a long she is just ready to give up on life; she is about to become a nun. She has come to consider love an ungodly crime. This plays on her mind; thus, she has a dream that decides her fate. In this dark fairy-tale like story, not even the voice of a king is as powerful as the dreams of one’s heart. This had a very beautiful ending, almost poetic like the prose itself.

"She stretched herself on the narrow couch that scarce afforded room for repose, and whence, if she moved in her sleep, she must be precipitated into the cold waters below.”



Leixlip Castle- 3/5
-by Charles Maturin

Unfortunately, this felt rather generic. All the action takes place at midnight on the 31st October in a dark castle. A young girl goes missing from the grounds, and a hag witch has been brought along to help. It has the gothic atmosphere but to the point of being standard and predictable. It kept me reading, but it didn’t stand out amongst the more original pieces.

The Tapestried Chamber- 3/5
-by Walter Scott

This had so much potential! Walter Scott had everything he needed to make this great; he had the atmosphere, a dark chamber and a devilish spectre; however, he just didn’t give this story the ending it so desperately deserved. This needed blood and terror. Not an apology from the owner of the house! It kept me in suspense thought he ending didn’t deliver what the writing promised.

The Lady with the Velvet Collar 5/5
-by Washington Irving

This is quite literally one of the best horror stories I’ve ever read. I was speechless at the end, utterly speechless. I was so enamoured by the love story (I’m a romantic at heart) that in just a few pages I actually believed in it. I felt it. I saw it. It was there; it was real. But delusion paved the way for Irvine’s brutal reality. The student was so desperate for love that he found it in the most unusual of places. This story was terrifying, shocking and absolutely brilliant. This won’t be the last of Irvine’s works I read.

“She was seated on one of the lower steps of the scaffold, leaning forward, her face hid in her lap; and her long dishevelled tresses hanging to the ground”

The Red Man- 4/5
-by Catherine Gore ( an appropriate name?)

Now this was dark. When an author spends a couple of pages taking the slow deliberate time to describe the mechanisms of an old torture device, you just know you’re going to see the thing in action. How very exciting. And was it terrifying and brutal when put into play? Yes, yes it was. The Red Man was a nasty villain, so he’s just the sort of guy you want to see in a collection such as this. The tale was twisted, evil and rather entertaining. (evil laugh)



The Cremona Violin 4/5
-by E.T.A Hoffman

This was most unusual. Most of these stories focus on evil hidden behind good, though this depicted good behind supposed evilness. It certainly kept me reading. The Councillor appeared almost absurd in his characterisation; he came across as wacky, insane. But, that’s the wonder of this story; there’s a reason for every instance of weirdness. It was all about the music, and its power on individuals.

“The faithful instrument could only live with her and in her; it lies besider her coffin, it has been buried with her.”



Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess- 2/5
-by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

I’ve been meaning to read something by Le Fanu for a while, and this was a terrible place to start. This story didn’t work for me; it took far too long to get to the point, and when it got there I’d truly had enough. This story lacked passion; it was a little dry. I will be trying this author again at some point before I give up on him completely.

Ligia – 5/5
-by Edgar Allan Poe

YES! I needed no excuse to read my favourite Poe short story once again. I’ve written a separate review for this already, so rather than repeat myself I thought I’d simplify things and copy some of it here:

If a mind has found the most true and profound bliss what happens when it’s taken away?

Well, the simple answer is it doesn’t work anymore, at least not very well. The narrator of this marvellous short story experiences a whole host of emotions and mental states after his loss. Firstly, he is hit with the expected wave of melancholy fuelled by his understandable grief; secondly, he feels the slow calm breeze of acceptance; thirdly, and finally, he is savaged by an unrealised state of delusion and fantasy. In this, Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates his true mastery of writing a character in different states of mental stability. Needless to say, he’s a remarkable writer.

In beauty of face no maiden ever equaled her. It was the radiance of an opium-dream - and airy and spirit-lifting vision more wildly divine than the phantasies which hovered about the slumbering souls of the daughters of Delos. Yet her features were not of that regular mould which we have been falsely taught to worship in the classical labors of the heathen.”

The narrator cannot be blamed for his fragility. He has lost his world: he has lost his beloved Ligeia. She was everything to him, and they both knew it. Nothing could lessen the blow of her death; nothing could take the pain away of her upcoming demise: nothing could save his mind in a world without her. They were living in harmony; their souls had achieved happiness and love; they were two lesser beings of one greater soul: they were at peace in their own transcendental plane, until she died. So, the narrator’s sense of self awareness and actuality has been destroyed. He is left with the tatters of a wonderful experience, and his own delusion.

This short story is a marvel. It appears confusing and contradictory, but if you stop and consider who is actually speaking then its true nature is revealed. Admittedly, on my first read I was a little lost, though after a second read I began to see it for what it was. This is not as approachable as some of Poe’s other works, and it really isn’t an advisable starting point for the author. But, the short story is wonderful, truly wonderful. It highlights the working of the mind in a state of sheer depravity; it is disturbing and brilliant.

Monos and Daimonos 2/5
-by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Sadly, this one was rather poor. It follows the life of a sulky loner who is completely uninteresting in his stoic decision to go and explore the world. I just didn’t like it. On a character level he is rather strange. He is a man who is so annoyed that he receives no love, yet he seems to delight in making people uncomfortable in social situations. He stares them down with his intense gaze and wonders at the result. So, like I said, not a great character. I really didn’t care to hear about his life.


Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment- 4.5/5
-by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Is wisdom gained with age? Dr. Heidegger’s has certainly gained it, but his friends haven’t. They hate being old, and who can blame them? The doctor concocts an elixir that restores youth. They all drink it, without hesitation, and become young again. They begin to mock the age they have lost, only to return to it all too quickly. Hawthorne’s message is clear: wisdom gained over the years far outweighs being young and foolish. This was a great story, verging on becoming science fiction, which was funny, gripping and unpredictable. After the darkness of some of the other stories, I thought the doctor was going to murder all his friends!

The Bride of Lindorf – 4/5
-by Letitia E. Landon

The writing was superb. Like Mary Shelley’s story, it was poetic and atmospheric. It also touches on a romance theme, but this one is much more sordid. If you find someone locked up in the dungeons in the bowls of a dark castle, there’s normally a reason for them being there. But, Ernest is naïve and easily swayed by a beautiful face. However, despite this this was the truest romance in here even if it was born upon the plains of madness, obscurity and terror.



Overall- This was a really good collection. I enjoyed reading it immensely. I’ve decided that I need to read more gothic horror works in the future. All the images I used in the review are from the beautiful folio society edition. I just love showing them off! Can you blame me?

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a companion volume to Tales from Blackwood's Magazine, containing early 19th century stories of grisly happenings and extreme psychological states culled from British magazines other than Blackwood's. The most influential piece here, of course, is "The Vampyre," originally thought to be Byron's but actually 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 transforming the rather shabby peasant Eastern European folkloric figure into the libertine image of Lord B. himself. It was Polidori who added sex, class and elegance to the vampire, forever putting his mark upon the legend. (The anthology also includes Henry Colborn's original introduction from the "New Monthly Magazine," the anonymous letter accompanying the manuscript on its first publication, a note by Polidori on authorship, and Byron's original fragmentary tale).

Most of the other stories are worth at least one reading and will give you a very good idea of the dark sensational fiction characteristic of the Regency. Edward Bulwer's "Monos and Daimonos" (1830) is distinguished by a narrative voice that inevitably reminds one of Poe and surely must have influenced him. "The Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman" is an horrific account of Irish terrorism, Charlotte Gore's "The Red Man" features a good story and an even more interesting frame, and Le Fanu's "A Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess" is an interesting first draft of his "Uncle Silas" published twenty-six years before the celebrated novel. Even Letitia Landon's "The Bride of Lindorf" (1836), a poorly-written piece stuffed with adjectives and sentimental commonplaces, is instructive in demonstrating how the cliches of the degenerate gothic would soon fill the most sensational productions of Victorian woman's fiction.

[Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé · Rating 3 out of 5]

"He could not believe it possible--the dead rise again!--He thought his imagination had conjured up the image his mind was resting upon. It was impossible that it could be real." This story was conceived during the same Swiss writing retreat that Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein" and I just think that this is my sign to go off into the Swiss alps with a group of friends and write something legendary.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first encounter with Vampire stories was Bram Stroker's Dracula and then a year later Joseph Sheridan Is Fanu's Carmilla, and this year John Polidori's The Vampyre. I enjoyed all three but my favorite is Polidori's short story. There is a sadness to all but to me, The Vampyre is the most devastating of the three. This short story was one of many written in the famous ghost story competition at Villa Diodati, the famous Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was included. Polidori was Lord Byron's personal physician and had Byron in mind for his main character. Byron wrote Augustus Darvell but it was not completed, it was thought that The Vampyre was Bryon's but that was proved to be Polidori's story. In this collection the unfinished Augustus Darnell is included which has many similarities which is eery. If you are looking for gothic, vampire, horrifying and grave robbing stories then the stories listed her will fit the bill. There are three anonymous stories which all are wonderfully written. (The Victim, The Curse and Life in Death)
The other stories-
*Sir Guy Eveling's Dream by Horace Smith - a ghost like story
*Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman by William Carleton - a very, very dark version that has an Ox Bow incident feeling.
*Monos and Daimonos by Edward Bulwer -ghost like story
*The Master of Logan by Allan Cunningham - like Sir Guy's story but different spin.
*Some Terrible Letters From Scotland by James Hogg- cholera victims and burying the living thought dead.
*N. P. Willis My Hobby -Rather - strange story regarding a corpse.
*The Red Man by Catherine Gore (more of a review under that title)
*Post- Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer -another burying a live man
* The Bride of Lindorf by Letitia E. Landon- (more review under that title)
*Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - (more review under that title)

Footnotes and explanatory notes included and helpful.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the exception of The Vampyre and Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman, which were both incredibly gripping and sinister, these stories unfortunately just weren’t all that memorable. J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess would’ve doubtless proved another such exception, but as I’ve already read his Uncle Silas, which was basically the full-length novel version of said story, it didn’t do as much for me as it might’ve done if I wasn’t already so familiar with it. But, while I didn’t find the plots of most of these stories terribly interesting, nearly all of them did have great atmospheres going for them (you know, that awesome old school, dark and mysterious, languidly creepy Gothic-type shit), so overall the reading experience was definitely an enjoyable one.

List of stories:

JOHN POLIDORI: The Vampyre*

HORACE SMITH: Sir Guy Eveling's Dream

WILLIAM CARLETON: Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman*

EDWARD BULWER: Monos and Daimonos

ALLAN CUNNINGHAM: The Master of Logan

ANONYMOUS: The Victim

JAMES HOGG: Some Terrible Letters from Scotland

ANONYMOUS: The Curse

ANONYMOUS: Life in Death

N.P. WILLIS: My Hobby, —Rather

CATHERINE GORE: The Red Man

CHARLES LEVER: Post-Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer

LETITIA E. LANDON: The Bride of Lindorf

JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU: Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess

* = personal favorite

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

This is a partial review. I read The Vampyre out of this collection, but I will read the other stories when I have the opportunity.

Review of The Vampyre by John Polidori
Read: 6/13/12
Rating: Three Stars

The history of this short story might be even more intriguing than the actual writing itself. Mr. Polidori was the personal physician of the infamous Lord Byron, and this work of fiction was conceived on that famous holiday event in which Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and Mary Godwin (who would later become Mary Shelley) issued a challenge to each other to write Gothic stories. This was Mr. Polidori's result.

My thoughts:

I have little doubt that Lord Ruthven was inspired by Lord Byron. Polidori's feelings towards his debauched past employer are quite clear. In this case, Lord Ruthven has a supernatural ability to ruin, damage, and destroy anything he lays his hands on, and enjoys doing so in the process. This does not speak well of Lord Byron, and based of what I have read of him, I can see some echoes of him in this character. Lord Caroline Lamb, the incredibly outrageous for her times, cast-off mistress of Byron is immortalized in a character who appears briefly in the beginning of the story, at least in my opinion.

As far as the writing, I didn't feel that it was particularly inspired or brilliant. This short story is all telling and little showing. This created a distance between the characters in this story and myself. It was hard to feel much sympathy for Aubrey, his sister Miss Aubrey, Ianthe, or anyone else because the narrative was too much like a bland newspaper article, with little connection to the intense emotions of the persons involved. I had a distant feeling of dislike and disgust for Lord Ruthven, which with more active, vivid writing could have been outright disgust. That is a sadly wasted opportunity for a writer, in my opinion.

It's hard to say much overall about this story. It wasn't bad. I can't say I was disappointed, because I didn't have high expectations. Regardless of the issues as far as the writing, Mr. Polidori has earned his place in the vampire fiction canon. Sadly, he lived a short, disappointing (to himself) life. Although he could not be aware of the famous status of this story, it is some comfort to me that he has created something that endured two hundred years later. For that I will respect and appreciate The Vampyre. And also for its commentary of Lord Byron, a man whose antics pretty much created its own character archetype in literature, the Byronic hero. Admittedly in this case, there is nothing at all to recommend Lord Ruthven. Lord Byron himself, I cannot say yay or nay to that question.

End verdict: Any vampire fiction aficionado should take the opportunity to read this story at least for its historical value.

[Genevieve Guimond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a fly rubbing it’s freaky little hands together

[Catherine Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being so real I only read Vampyre but 10/10 we all surely fancy Ruthven just a TINY BIT?

[Pamela Svatos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun as a time capsule but not a page-turner.

These pieces were wildly original in their day, and you can feel them seeding the Gothic and horror genres—that’s where the real pleasure is. Most read thin and a little creaky by today’s standards, so treat it like a museum visit: soak up the atmosphere, then trace the line forward to Carmilla, Dracula, and beyond. I might still buy a copy for the shelf; it’s a historical artifact that helped shape the stories we love now.

[Troy Tradup · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review covers only the title story of this collection, which grew out of the same “ghost story” contest that produced Frankenstein. Polidori is certainly the least known of that infamous gathering (the others being Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron), and quite probably the least talented, but hey, he still produced a tale that’s read and discussed more than two hundred years later, right?

Many consider this the first significant vampiric tale in the western canon, although it’s not all that vampiric in the modern sense. Or maybe it’s particularly vampiric in the modern sense because the title character is a bit of a soul- and energy-sucker, at least in his relationship with Aubrey, the ostensible hero of the piece. The relationship between Aubrey and Lord Ruthven may or may not reflect Polidori’s own feelings toward Byron, but it certainly makes the story more fun if you read it as if it does.

Ruthven’s actions are definitely more along the lines of a traditional vampire (tearing open throats, that sort of thing) when it comes to the bland and poorly drawn women of the story. But Polidori’s florid style often conveys more a sense of the syphilitic than the supernatural.

The story is fine, if a bit bloodless (ha, see what I did there?), and it’s certainly foundational. There’s even one passage that provides an almost direct line to Dracula some eighty years later:

“When they heard the name of the place, they all at once begged of him not to return at night, as he must necessarily pass through a wood, where no Greek would ever remain after the day had closed, upon any consideration.”

And Polidori even wades into Jane Austen territory for a moment:

“He was handsome, frank, and rich: for these reasons ... many mothers surrounded him, striving which should describe with least truth their languishing or romping favorites: the daughters at the same time ... soon led him into false notions of his talents and his merit.”

And one other line stands out, downright Dickensian a number of years before Dickens:

“He had, hence, that romantic feeling of honour and candour, which daily ruins so many milliners’ apprentices.”

[BlueRoses · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this is a good book! The main reason why I liked it is because instead of getting beat over the head with the usual same-old, same-old, frequently anthologized horror stories ("Dracula's Guest", "The Jolly Corner", "Good Lady Ducayne" and so on), this book brings out some rarities that definitely deserve more attention.

Admittedly, a couple of the stories are rather boring - N.P. Willis' "My Hobby - Rather" (what the hell does that mean?!?) and Lever's "Post-Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer". However, it is a small price to pay for how many good stories are in this book.

Catherine Gore's "The Red Man" is terrifying and heartbreaking. "Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess" is probably one of the best stories Le Fanu ever wrote. I also like that the appendices of this book include Byron's original cut of "The Vampyre", as well as the verses from his "Giaour" that involve vampirism:

Thy corse (corpse) shall from its tomb be rent;
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;

Above all, I feel the real prize of this book is Letitia E. Landon's "The Bride of Lindorf". Yes, it is obvious this tale is from the age of sentimentality. But the prose is stunning, the imagery is gorgeous, and it makes for a nice romantic escape. Hey, Elizabeth Barrett Browning worshiped the ground Letitia E. Landon (L.E.L) walked - even though no one knows about her now - so I'd say there must have been something there!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.68⭐

Introduction (The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre) • (1997) • essay by Chris Baldick and Robert Morrison 4⭐
The Vampyre • [Lord Ruthven] • (1819) by Dr. John William Polidori 5⭐
Sir Guy Eveling's Dream • (1823) by Horace Smith 3⭐
Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman (1830) by William Carleton (variant of Wildgoose Lodge) 3⭐
Monos and Daimonos by Edward Bulwer-Lytton 5⭐
The Master of Logan • (1831) by Allan Cunningham 3.25⭐
The Victim • (1831) by Anonymous 3.5⭐
Some Terrible Letters from Scotland • (1832) by James Hogg 4⭐
The Curse • (1832) by Anonymous 5⭐
Life in Death • (1833) by Anonymous 2.5⭐
My Hobby,—Rather • (1834) by N. P. Willis 3⭐
The Red Man • (1835) by Catherine Gore 2.5⭐
Post-Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer • (1836) by Charles Lever 4⭐
The Bride of Lindorf • (1836) by Letitia Elizabeth Landon 4⭐
Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess • (1838) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 4.25⭐
Appendix A: Preliminaries for The Vampyre • (1819) • essay by Henry Colburn and Alaric Alexander Watts 3⭐
Appendix B: Note on The Vampyre • (1819) • essay by Dr. John William Polidori ✔
Appendix C: Augustus Darvell • (1819) • essay by Lord George Gordon Byron 3.5⭐

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was only planning to read Polidori's "The Vampyre" and save the rest for some other time, but after I read it I decided to also read the Introduction, which intrigued me about all the details around the short story's publication and controversy around authorship. That led me to reading the appendices with comments on the controversy from Polidori and Byron and even the publisher.

And the publisher's comments - along with the Intro - got me really interested in the whole industry of horror short stories in early Nineteenth Century British magazines and newspapers. There was little to no regulation and stories include true - or supposedly true - accounts of horrible acts of terrorism and near-death experiences. I read the whole thing.

It's all fascinating and great storytelling, but after "The Vampyre" itself, my other favorite is Sheridan Le Fanu taking an early run at his Uncle Silas plot in "A Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess." Letitia E Landon's "The Bride of Lindorf" is also very gothic. And "The Master of Logan" by Allan Cunningham is an excellent (possibly? no spoilers) ghost story.

[Jessie Pietens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, I really loved the title story 'The Vampyre' and would probably give that one 4 stars. It was really beautifully written, gripping and page-turning. didn't know what the story would really be about and it surprised me in a very positive way. I also enjoyed the introduction to the story - and that is something which the Oxford editions always do really well. Unfortunately, the title story was about 30 pages long and the other stories couldn't really grab my interest. I am starting to feel that this is more due to a problem I have with short story anthologies. There are just always more stories that I dislike than like in an anthology and that makes it hard to be positive about the whole thing.

[Aya (Taylor’s version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25⭐️
I did not expect to actually like this book. But I did! Some times were confusing and the phrasing is very metaphorical most of the time, but I enjoyed it a lot. The ending was very dramatic and unexpected which really put emphasis on my rating. Moreover, this book is perfect to read in October since the Halloween vibes are very much present in the book. It’s also my first vampire book (if you don’t count OUABH) and it really convinced me to read more books similar to that. Overall, I do recommend this book since it’s short and eventful.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic, Romantic tales of horror, this is a fine combination of Nineteenth Century short stories, headlined by Polidori's 'The Vampyre'.

Considerately edited and with some interesting contextual footnotes, this edition would be useful for scholarly work.

[Martin Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good stories here. But overall I found it a real grind. The language in particular was difficult.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

a delicious compilation of classic gothic stories. Some were okay, and some were great. Some were so beautiful I wanted to cry.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Struan Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Vampyre by John Polidori ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

“There was no colour upon her cheek, not even upon her lip…. - upon her neck and breast was blood, and upon her throat were the marks of the teeth having opened the vein:- to this the men pointed, crying, simultaneously struck with horror, ‘A Vampye, A Vampyre!’”

A really thickly gothic and lusciously written vampyre tale. Short and snappy. Yes the writing is excessively flowery, and the plot could have been shifted about to make it flow more evenly, but it’s a solid short story. Although, seeing as this was written on the same night as Frankenstein, it’s hard to not compare the two, and it is the lesser of them both. It’s more rudimentary and less rich than Frankenstein. Definitely one for the vampiric story fans but not an essential gothic text.

Sir Guy Eveling’s Dream by Horace Smith ⭐️.5

“Whom when she saw approaching as if to untie the ruff, a sudden great terror and change of countenance fell upon her, so that she clasped both her hands round her throat as if to hold it fast, and, uttering a piteous soul-piercing shriek, the spectre or apparition, for such in good sooth might it seem, straight away vanished!”

In the style of an old fashioned document, utterly littered with complex and frankly unbeknownst language to me, it leans heavily into the archaic language of old England. So thus makes it a more of a difficult read, based purely on comprehension alone. It’s probably to its benefit that it is mere 8 pages long. It’s an interesting read that forces concentration. Thank god for the explanatory notes at the back. It felt almost raucous in places with its descriptions, strict moral compasses mustn’t have fully developed as of yet. Probably looses half a star, just for my own thickness and not fully grasping the storyline and intricacies fully. It’s not the books fault that I’m not clever enough, but I can’t say that it’s worked in its favour.

Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman by William Carleton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I felt a sense of approaching evil hang heavily upon me; the beats of my pulse were languid, and an undefinable feeling of anxiety pervaded my whole spirit; even my face was pale, and my eye so heavy, that my father and brothers concluded me to be ill; an opinion which I thought at the time to be correct; for I felt exactly that kind of depression which precedes a severe fever”

“We are bound upon a project of vengeance, and if you do not join us, remember that we can revenge”

Probably my favourite of the collection so far. The macabre and the horror here comes not from monsters or supernatural, but by the hand of man. This is really quite nasty. Evokes the typical gothic settings and certainly by the end gets quite really quite nasty. It’s actually quite chilling to read about knowing that it is based on truth. I’m so very interested to read more William Carlton now. Suitably dark for this month.

Monos and Daimonos by Edward Bulwer ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

“And then the sense of loneliness, the vague, vast, comfortless, objectless sense of desolation passed into me”

This grew on me with each page, finally ending on the cacophony of repercussions. I ended up really enjoying this. I wasn’t sure when I first started it but as I progressed and it’s morphed and molded into what it was to become I really enjoyed it. An unsettling dichotomy of whether something is real or fabricated; ending in pure psychological warfare. Really solid little short.

The Master of Logan by Allan Cunningham ⭐️⭐️.5

“The clouds lowered, the thunder plump fell, and the fire flew, and heaven and earth seemed ready to come together. It’s no’ for nought that Nature express her wrath - the very gaping ground shouldered as if unwilling to take such sinful dust into its bosom”

Hmmm…. I’m torn. The set up here is far too long and laboured, it could really be shortened. Yes there was gothic atmosphere which was good but it felt like the true horror came far too late. There were whispers of ghostly spectres and all of that, but something only really happened at the end. Don’t get me wrong, the ending was great and the pay off was good but the first 2/3rd just felt like a slog to get through. The ending saved this for me.

The Victim by Anonymous ⭐️⭐️

“I watched his countenance till it became so pale, there was only a shade of difference between the two”

I’m a bit disappointed by this. This story is based on (or perhaps inspired by) the Burke and Hare murders. So please tell me why that there was barely a whiff of either of them, just vague allusion. It could have settled into it far more, but alas it shan’t be. It’s a shame because I was looking forward to this one. Not enough of a delve into the gothic for my tastes. Get creepier and nastier. I know it can be done. Just look at others in this collection.

Some Terrible Letters from Scotland by James Hogg ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

“I thought I sometimes felt a saur as if the air had thickened around my face. It is all over with me now, thought I, for I have breathed the Cholera!”

“At the still hour of midnight, as Mary and her mother were sitting reading a chapter of the New Testament, my beloved all at once uttered a piercing shriek - her mother had fallen down motionless, and apparently lifeless. That heart-rendering shriek awakened me from the sleep of death! - I sat up in the coffin, and the lid rattled on the floor.”

This was a bit of tasty literature. Comprised of three letters from three different people all explaining their experiences with Cholera. Super interesting, whilst also being naturally gothic, also serves as a slice of history of probably not so fictionalised account of the cholera epidemic.

The Curse by Anonymous ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I am again free-free, save from the torture of my own thoughts, which, like the furies of old, are ever present to lash me.”

This has some really exquisite writing. Utterly beautiful and terror soaked images this author has conjured up. It feels a bit typical as a story in today’s society whereas I bet when this was first released this was astounding and super exciting, the ending being really unique. This is a good choice if you want super atmospheric and luscious writing.

Life in Death by Anonymous ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this short take. Has echos of a Frankenstein style but with its own unique take. Really awesome story progression, and with a horror tinged ending. Really great, defo for fans of Frankenstein.

My Hobby, - Rather by N. P. Willis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“There was no atmosphere - nothing between the eye and the pearly moon,- and she rode through the heavens without a veil, like a queen as she is, giving a glimpse of her nearer beauty for a festal favour to the worshiping stars.”

An incredibly short story, reaching the lofty heights of 3 pages, has more punch and enjoyment that some of the longer stories in this collection. The luscious writing really enhances the extremely simple story, and it creates something interesting and enjoyable. Lovely little surprise here.

The Red Man by Catherine Gore ⭐️

I have no quotes and I couldn’t even finish this. It was just dull and pages and pages and pages and pages of just dialogue but it was dull uninteresting dialogue at all. Really didn’t enjoy this one at all.

Post Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer by Charles Lever ⭐️⭐️.5

“I watched him closely, and saw that his countenance changed as he looked on me; I felt his hand tremble slightly as he placed it on my wrist, and heard him mutter to himself , in a low tone, My God! how altered!”

Nothing horrendously bad with this one but also nothing blow my mind fantastic. A semi interesting premise that has just enough substance to keep it running for the duration. I like the idea but it could have been so much more and could have been so much gnarlier.

The Bride of Lindorf by Letitia E. Landon ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“But she-she loved him with all that poetry which is only to be found in a woman’s first affection; it is the early colour that the rose-bud opens to the south wind,-the warmth that morning breathes upon a cloud whose blush reddens, but returns not. Pure, shy, sensitive, tender and unreal, it’s the most ethereal, yet most lasting feeling a life can know.”

Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess by Sheridan le Fanu ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“It was not sleep, it was torpor, lethargy, death. I knelt down and prayed with an agony of earnestness; and then seating myself upon the bed, I awaited my fate with a kind of terrible tranquility.”

[Eddie Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the 200th anniversary of John Polidori’s The Vampyre this year (2019). This short story kicked off the vampire craze in 19th-century literature. Apparently vampires were known before but Polidori’s crucial innovation was to take them upmarket, add brains, cunning and wit, and set them loose on aristocratic drawing rooms for their prey. Top hatted & cloaked vampires have been thrilling readers ever since.

It helped Polidori’s story immensely that the original publisher (a magazine) mistakenly published the story as by Lord Byron, then at the absolute zenith of his bad-boy enfant terrible chic. And that the vampire in the story shared an alias with a previous fictional portrayal of Byron by Byron’s ex, Lady Caroline Lamb. In short, the Vampyre was Byron.

Sadly, all this context is far more exciting than the story itself. Polidori’s followers have long since surpassed his efforts. However, it’s probably true to say that most if not all subsequent vampires share some Byronic personality traits.

OUP have padded out this edition with some more early tales of the macabre, all originally published in magazines around 1820-1840. It’s interesting to see what excited readers then. There are stories of the Irish troubles, Cholera epidemics, grave robbers, etc. The outstanding story is the last by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: in fact a dress rehearsal for his later novel ‘Uncle Silas’, which after this is going on my TBR. Interesting works also by writers I haven’t heard of before but who seem to have enjoyed successful literary careers in the early-19th century: Letitia E Landon and Catherine Gore. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a Victorian best selling author and statesman, contributes a short but eerily evocative tale. Le Fanu is regarded highly in the annals of horror fiction these days, & it appears Bulwer-Lytton is the focus of some interest by virtue of his perceived occultic practices (he was claimed by a contemporary Illuminati group but strenuously denied membership. But we all know what that means.)

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bodysnatchers, cholera, curses and ghosts...

This is a collection of fourteen stories that were first published in magazines between 1819 and 1838. The majority are from London’s New Monthly but there are a few from other London and Dublin magazines. This was a time when magazines were flourishing, providing information and sensation to a readership hungry for entertainment. The foreword tells me that this book deliberately omits the famous Edinburgh-based Blackwood magazine, because Oxford World’s Classics had already published a separate collection of them. The title story, The Vampyre by John Polidori, arose out of the same evening of ghost story-telling that inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and was the first literary portrayal of what would become the modern vampire, hence its star billing.

I found this an intriguing collection, different in tone to the usual horror anthology. Although some of the stories have a ghostly or otherwise supernatural element, many of them are strictly about human horrors and they’re often related in some way to events of the time. For example, James Hogg’s contribution, Some Terrible Letters from Scotland, arises from the cholera epidemic which killed thousands of Scots in 1831-2, while William Carleton’s Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman is based on a real-life lynching – the Ribbonmen were a secret organisation of Irish nationalists. More than one of the stories has been influenced by the true-life story of Burke and Hare, who robbed graves and murdered people to supply bodies for anatomy students. And there’s a good sprinkling of Scottish and Irish stories, which pleased my Celtic heart.

Macabre is undoubtedly the right word for the collection – some of the stories are fairly gruesome, with a proliferation of corpses and anatomists popping up more than once, and the ones based on real events have an added grimness for knowing that. Madness, when it appears, is not always of the Poe-esque high Gothic variety, but more of the realistic murderer type, and is therefore more chilling than scary, perhaps. A couple of them were too macabre for my squeamish taste, but they were more than compensated for by touches of humour or genuine spookiness in other stories. Here are a few of the ones I enjoyed most:-

Monos and Daimonos by Edward Bulwer – a story of a man’s desperate search for solitude and what happens when he can’t find it. Very well written and enjoyable, especially for the more misanthropic among us!

Sir Guy Eveling’s Dream by Horace Smith – this is written in the form of an old historical document, so the author has a lot of fun with old-fashioned language. Basically a warning to wastrels everywhere, this tells of a man who spends his life drinking and womanising, till one day he comes across a beautiful but mysterious lady, who is not quite what she appears. Quite naughty, this one, I thought, in a mild way – Victorian morality must not have kicked in yet. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be funny, but it did make me laugh!

Some Terrible Letters from Scotland by James Hogg – this is presented as three letters supposedly written by people caught up, as I mentioned above, in the cholera epidemic. The first tells of a man who is pronounced dead and prepared for burial, but his mind is still conscious. Apparently this was a real fear during the epidemic, at a time when medicine was still a pretty primitive profession. The next letter gives a picture of how easily the disease could be spread, and how that led to fear of strangers. The last one takes us more into supernatural territory as a woman insists on nursing the sick over the protests of her fearful children. Together, they’re a great mix of history and horror with touches of black humour.

The Curse by Anonymous – a man is returning from India, having made his fortune there, to claim the hand of the girl he loves. But on the way home, he meets an old man who tells him that God has placed a curse on his family in revenge for murders committed by an ancestor. Needless to say, when he gets home, the curse is waiting for him! This is a more traditional story which touches on that never-ending Scottish obsession with sectarianism and hellfire religion, and it’s very well told.

Life in Death by Anonymous – a man invents an elixir which, when rubbed on a newly deceased body, will bring the dead back to life. But it all goes horribly wrong! Some deliciously shivery moments of pure horror in this one – sometimes death isn’t the worst thing that can happen...

There’s an interesting introduction by Robert Morrison, Professor of English Literature at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, and Chris Baldick, professor of English at Goldsmith’s College, University of London, in which they tell the story behind The Vampyre and discuss the history of the magazines and the part they played in the literature of the day. The notes are great, with each story put into its historical context. Needless to say, most of the information I’ve included above has been taken from the introduction or notes.

In total I gave nine of the tales either four or five stars individually, so despite there being a few I wasn’t so keen on, overall I enjoyed the collection very much, and recommend it as a good mix of stories that are a little different from the norm. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Oxford World’s Classics.

www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com

[vanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

no but polidori slayed with his byron fanfic

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

**CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS!!**

I have always enjoyed tales of the macabre, ghost stories and frightening tales and so I just had to read this book when it had a collection of varied stories that are more original than what we see today, all written at some time in the C19th:

1. The Vampyre / John Polidori (1819) ☆☆☆☆
'The Vampyre' predates Le Fanu's novella Carmilla and Stoker's novel Dracula, both of which are excellent tales of the vampire myth. The Vampyre focuses on Aubrey and his association with a Lord Ruthven whom he discovers to be a 'vampyre', a creature responsible for the ruin of many that have enjoyed his company. The tale develops into Aubrey's descent to madness at being unable to reveal Lord Ruthven's evil secret nor prevent him from pursuing the heart (and blood!) of his beloved sister. Overall, a worthy tale that deserves at least 4 stars out of 5.

2. Sir Guy Eveling's Dream / Horace Smith (1823) ☆☆☆☆
As soon as I began to read it I realised that I had actually read something like it before. This story bears great resemblance to Irving Washington's The Adventure of the German Student which was published in 1824 in Tales of a Traveller, by Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
Sir Guy Eveling is man who enjoys the likes of socialising and gambling, with no plans on settling down and securing a bride until he finds a woman that takes his breath away. One night he dreams of the most beautiful woman but, sure it is not such a dream, he sets out to find her and find her he does – with most unexpected results! As much as I love Horace Smith's version, I prefer Irving Washington's and that is why I offer it only 4 stars!

3. Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman / William Carleton (1830) ☆☆☆
This tale is based on the Wildgoose Lodge Murders that occurred on the night of 29–30 October 1816 in which eight people were murdered by burning to death, one only a five-month old infant. The Wildgoose Lodge was a farm building in the parish of Tallanstown-Reaghstown in Co. Louth, Ireland.
I found this one a little hard to get into, mostly because it takes some time to get to the crux of the story. It focuses mostly on the events leading up to and after the murder of a Protestant family by a Catholic Nationalist secret society of the 19th Century in Ireland, where members were known as the Ribbonmen. Also there is the the guilt of the narrator for his passive participation.

4. Monos and Daimonos / Edward Bulwer(1830) ☆☆☆
This was another of the tales that I didn't quite take to. It focuses on a young man who, having grown up away from society until his father's death when he was aged eighteen, returns to the city and finds life there to be quite unsatisfactory and so indulges in himself to travel.
The story then incorporates a shipwreck and a murder, both of which causes the author to feel a sense of haunted guilt over what he has done and how it won't be forgotten as he is tormented by the relentless spirit.

5. The Master of Logan / Alan Cunningham (1831)☆☆☆☆
An enjoyable Scottish story of temptation opposed by a preacher. There are elements of a cautionary folk-tale about it which makes it a very interesting read. A young man who shows some disrespect to old bones is told the tale of The Master of Logan, in which a young nobleman by the name of Logan is bears little heed to the warnings not to disrespect the spirits for they will punish him. Logan does not heed this advice at first but begins to feel uneasy soon and decides to send for the preacher to repent, only to be visited by a beautiful noblewoman who is not quite what she seems.

6. The Victim / Anonymous(1831)☆☆☆☆
Mentions of Burke reveals rather unsurprisingly that this is a tale of the body-snatchers, and a very good one at that! A young surgeon, preparing to pass examinations, pays for a body to be delivered so he and his good friend, St. Clare, can practice beforehand. However, things take a rather dark and unexpected turn when St.Clare's when his intended goes missing and a beautiful young female is delivered for the to-be surgeon's to practice their skills...

7. Some Terrible Letters from Scotland / James Hogg (1832)☆☆☆
Not much to really say about this one other than it does what it says it does. It contains three fictional letters relating to a genuine cholera epidemic in Scotland which killed almost 10,000 people from 1831-2. The final letter has more of a ghostly tale that is quite enjoyable to read.

8. The Curse / Anonymous (1832)☆☆☆☆
This story wasn't so bad actually! The narrator retells his story with a combination of sorrow and repentance for a horrible act he committed in his youth. Returning home from abroad he dreams of nothing more than to be wed to the beautiful Helen but fears she could have been struck ill or dead so he visits the cemetery first. An old man begins to tell him the tale of two lovers that died many years before and how a curse had been placed on three generations of the family that murdered the husband. Realising that he is part of said family, the third generation, he quickly goes off to find his family where he makes a fatal mistake in a fit of madness which costs him everything.

9. Life in Death / Anonymous (1833)☆☆☆
This one was rather disappointing. Life in Death focused on a dying man who gave a phial of liquid to his son in that belief that it would grant him new life and youth. The son gives a drop to his father three days after death and he begins to re-animate to a degree before the son puts a stop to it.
Years later, when he has had his own family and raised them in a strictly religious household, he asks his own son to do the same as his father asked him. He attributes the liquid to be of God's work and that his son should not fear it. When he dies the son uses the liquid and his father reanimates, causing his face to grow youthful and beautiful again. Alas, the rest of the tale is not a happy one as it does not go to plan! Doesn't quite have the same effect as Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

10. My Hobby, - Rather / N. P. Willis (1834)☆☆☆
Very short but rather effective! I can't say much about this tale without giving it away!

11. The Red Man / Catherine Gore (1835)☆☆☆
I didn't like this one as much as I thought I would. I found it confusing in a way, though maybe I just wasn't following it so well. I didn't quite understand how the title did fit in with the tale until I then realised the 'red' symbolised the rust of the iron. The main theme is that of crime and punishment of that time and pre-revolution (as the story itself was set in Paris).
The narrator meets an old scrap iron merchant by the name of Balthazar and is told a horrible tale of how the bones of a woman's hand came to be encased in an iron manacle. Balthazar's story is filled with adultery, lies, pain and murder all of which leads to a shocking end for the poor woman that it is about.

12. Post-mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer / Charles Lever (1836)☆☆☆
In essence, this is a very detailed and gripping account of being near death due to an illness which is based on a severe real life illness that Lever had suffered from. The fictional element incorporated into this tale is the threat that the narrator felt of being buried alive and being unable to show himself to be awake.

13. The Bride of Lindorf / Letitia E. Landon (1836)☆☆☆☆☆
I absolutely loved this one! With themes of insanity, incest and unrequited love, it made for quite an interesting read. Although his mother is making plans for him to marry his cousin Pauline, Ernest, an eccentric young nobleman, discovers a secret staircase to a beautiful woman, Minna. Minna claims she is being kept from her birthright by her uncle, the Baron. As Ernest falls for her he soon finds that all is not what it seems. There then follows a tragic end for one of the characters.

14. Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess / Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1838)☆☆☆☆☆
This tale, doubled with The Bride of Lindorf, are my favourite two in this entire book. The female narrator, Margaret, the heiress to her father's fortune, finds herself in the guardianship of her Uncle - an uncle who is being investigated for murder. Believing him to be innocent, she lives quite comfortably until she begins to realise that he has a darker side. Furthermore she is uncomfortable by the attentions of his son, Edward, and soon finds there is a plot against her for her money when she refuses Edward's hand. The story has a most unhappy ending for Margaret's young cousin Emily, her beloved friend.

Overall The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre is worth a read with some gems of stories in there!

[zahra]

Marked as no rating as I haven’t read all the short stories but this is the edition I have. Read ‘The Vampyre’ for class, 4/5 stars. Very enjoyable read, clear and well-written. You can clearly see the influence of the Gothic’s predecessors and the contextual factors surrounding the author. Only wish we had less of an abrupt ending. Would’ve been nice to see more information based upon Ruthven’s calculated choices and how he manipulated his victims etc.

[Fran2255 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection had some duds but most of the stories were great. My favourites were Monos and Daimonos by Edward Bulwer, Some Terrible Letters from Scotland by James Hogg, The Red Man by Catherine Gore, and Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

[RJ]

obviously some of the stories were better than other but i only truly disliked a few of them. my favorites were the title story, Monos and Daimonos, The Victim, and Life in Death.

[Marlene Seljeskog Østebø · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bachelor <333

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

thank you polidori without this contribution to society we would not have twilight or simon lewis