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Vampires at Midnight
Containing: Dr Porthos; Postscript; When It Was Moonlight; Over The River; The Believer; The Vampire of Croglin Grange; The Vampyre; The Storm Visitor; Three Young Ladies; An Episode of Cathedral History; And No Bird Sings; The Living Dead.
255 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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About the author
Peter Haining
331 books99 followersPeter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
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November 9, 2025Placeholder Review - I am reading a bunch of Manly Wade Wellman and so pulled this off the shelf for a pre-read of "When It Was Moonlight." and now adding "Bat's Belfry" as I read 1926 stories. And now 1931 stories.
August Derleth gives us a work from early in his career - "Bat's Belfry" - in which a British Gentleman buys an ancient home on the lonely moors, one with a bad reputation, and after finding some books in the basement (Dracula, The Inferno by August Strindberg, The Secret Doctrine by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Eureka: A Prose Poem by Edgar Allan Poe & The atmosphere: that which gives life to the earth and by which everything has its being : an ethereal sea that covers the whole world by Camille Flammarion, as well as assorted texts by Mathieu Orfila, Emanuel Swedenborg, Cagliostro & Albert De Rochas) becomes convinced that the former inhabitant practiced occult magic and is now a vampire. Juvenilia, really, poorly constructed (the main character is dead by the halfway point, which then leads into one of those "panic epistolary" endings where he somehow writes down the fact that he is being physically threatened...
Edgar Allan Poe, in the midst of his career and looking for inspiration as he composes "The Premature Burial," does some primary research when he hears that a local woman in Philadelphia was recently rescued from the grave by her husband. Finding no one at home, he goes to beg some money from a friend (and gets only a meager meal for his trouble) but then, on passing the place that night, is called in by the strange woman, who proceeds to reveal a horror in the basement... This is actually pretty neat and well-done. Wellman has done enough research that Poe is neither overly heroic nor presented as a debauched lout - captured at a moment in his life where he had sworn off drinking, his wife was dying, and poverty/starvation stalked at the door - and does a good job integrating the author's bent for the macabre without it seeming forced (more a predilection than an indulgence, in other words). The vampiric aspect of the tale is also nicely singular - the vampire becomes inactive/paralyzed in complete darkness, which leads to a rather well-conceived finale that brings in a classic Poe concept. Enjoyable.
Meanwhile, in the short "The Believer" by Sydney Horler a priest tells of why he believes in vampires, relating a tale of a strangely vibrant man who moved to a small town and found himself ostracized despite his friendliness, as everyone felt there was something odd about him. And then a murder occurred. Too brief (and told on the surface) to really qualify as a "story" (and with a passive ending that involves none of the major characters directly), it's still kind of fun as an oddity.
August Derleth gives us a work from early in his career - "Bat's Belfry" - in which a British Gentleman buys an ancient home on the lonely moors, one with a bad reputation, and after finding some books in the basement (Dracula, The Inferno by August Strindberg, The Secret Doctrine by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Eureka: A Prose Poem by Edgar Allan Poe & The atmosphere: that which gives life to the earth and by which everything has its being : an ethereal sea that covers the whole world by Camille Flammarion, as well as assorted texts by Mathieu Orfila, Emanuel Swedenborg, Cagliostro & Albert De Rochas) becomes convinced that the former inhabitant practiced occult magic and is now a vampire. Juvenilia, really, poorly constructed (the main character is dead by the halfway point, which then leads into one of those "panic epistolary" endings where he somehow writes down the fact that he is being physically threatened...
Edgar Allan Poe, in the midst of his career and looking for inspiration as he composes "The Premature Burial," does some primary research when he hears that a local woman in Philadelphia was recently rescued from the grave by her husband. Finding no one at home, he goes to beg some money from a friend (and gets only a meager meal for his trouble) but then, on passing the place that night, is called in by the strange woman, who proceeds to reveal a horror in the basement... This is actually pretty neat and well-done. Wellman has done enough research that Poe is neither overly heroic nor presented as a debauched lout - captured at a moment in his life where he had sworn off drinking, his wife was dying, and poverty/starvation stalked at the door - and does a good job integrating the author's bent for the macabre without it seeming forced (more a predilection than an indulgence, in other words). The vampiric aspect of the tale is also nicely singular - the vampire becomes inactive/paralyzed in complete darkness, which leads to a rather well-conceived finale that brings in a classic Poe concept. Enjoyable.
Meanwhile, in the short "The Believer" by Sydney Horler a priest tells of why he believes in vampires, relating a tale of a strangely vibrant man who moved to a small town and found himself ostracized despite his friendliness, as everyone felt there was something odd about him. And then a murder occurred. Too brief (and told on the surface) to really qualify as a "story" (and with a passive ending that involves none of the major characters directly), it's still kind of fun as an oddity.
September 12, 2024
Vampire tales, most of them gothic. Just my cup of bloody tea! From beginning to end, the stories, with two supposedly non-fiction vampire headliners as aperitif, were as satisfying as I anticipated them to be. And arranged chronologically too, just how I like my stories laid out. What's more, with each story, Peter Haining provides a brief backgrounder on the writer and his works. My picks from the litter, in no particular order of preference:
1) The Vampyre by John Polidori - Mr Polidori was Lord Byron's secretary, and get this: The Vampyre was "conceived at that amazing literary gathering in 1819 of Lord Byron" The very same gathering attended by the Percy Bysshe Shelleys, where Mary Godwin Shelley "produced the immortal horror classic Frankenstein." Haining also names The Vampyre as "the story which introduced the Vampire into modern literature, and thereby became the model for all the myriad stories to follow." Other books I've read claim this honor belongs to Sheridan Le Fanu, for Carmilla. Which was written in 1872. Viscerally obliged to you, Mr Polidori!
2) An Episode of Cathedral History by M.R. James - M.R. James's short stories are the gold standard of gothic stories--big on historical, period accoutrements, mood, and atmosphere. Topped off with a personable storyteller, usually some respectable elderly gentleman reeking of gravitas and a yarn for the supernatural.
3) Bat's Belfry by August Derleth - Another dependable gothic writer I can count on. I like how Bat's Belfry is told in letter form, a storytelling format I'm partial to, no matter how ridiculous the end may sound--yes, death throes go in the letter.
4) 'And No Bird Sings' by E.F. Benson - Yet another go-to gothic writer, putting a different spin on the vampire story. It reminds me of a story I read in another vampire anthology, about a man who sucked up whatever positive energy happened to be in his surroundings, very similar, though the story predated it, to the dementors in the Harry Potter books.
5) The Believer by Sydney Horler - A classic vampire short story featuring a classic vampire character, and narrated in the classic, gothic manner.
6) Drink My Blood by Richard Matheson - Matheson of I Am Legend fame, brings us the first modern vampire tale here.
7) The Living Dead by Robert Bloch - The same Bloch who wrote Psycho, delivers the only comedic story here, and worthy of a Mel Brooks movie.
8) The Girl with the Hungry Eyes by Fritz Leiber - Thought-provoking. Yes, there's a message in this for us somewhere...
* My copy has no dust jacket, and no foreword by Christopher Lee, which is unfortunate (I have an anthology of horror stories with a foreword by him, and it contains a hilarious anecdote).
1) The Vampyre by John Polidori - Mr Polidori was Lord Byron's secretary, and get this: The Vampyre was "conceived at that amazing literary gathering in 1819 of Lord Byron" The very same gathering attended by the Percy Bysshe Shelleys, where Mary Godwin Shelley "produced the immortal horror classic Frankenstein." Haining also names The Vampyre as "the story which introduced the Vampire into modern literature, and thereby became the model for all the myriad stories to follow." Other books I've read claim this honor belongs to Sheridan Le Fanu, for Carmilla. Which was written in 1872. Viscerally obliged to you, Mr Polidori!
2) An Episode of Cathedral History by M.R. James - M.R. James's short stories are the gold standard of gothic stories--big on historical, period accoutrements, mood, and atmosphere. Topped off with a personable storyteller, usually some respectable elderly gentleman reeking of gravitas and a yarn for the supernatural.
3) Bat's Belfry by August Derleth - Another dependable gothic writer I can count on. I like how Bat's Belfry is told in letter form, a storytelling format I'm partial to, no matter how ridiculous the end may sound--yes, death throes go in the letter.
4) 'And No Bird Sings' by E.F. Benson - Yet another go-to gothic writer, putting a different spin on the vampire story. It reminds me of a story I read in another vampire anthology, about a man who sucked up whatever positive energy happened to be in his surroundings, very similar, though the story predated it, to the dementors in the Harry Potter books.
5) The Believer by Sydney Horler - A classic vampire short story featuring a classic vampire character, and narrated in the classic, gothic manner.
6) Drink My Blood by Richard Matheson - Matheson of I Am Legend fame, brings us the first modern vampire tale here.
7) The Living Dead by Robert Bloch - The same Bloch who wrote Psycho, delivers the only comedic story here, and worthy of a Mel Brooks movie.
8) The Girl with the Hungry Eyes by Fritz Leiber - Thought-provoking. Yes, there's a message in this for us somewhere...
* My copy has no dust jacket, and no foreword by Christopher Lee, which is unfortunate (I have an anthology of horror stories with a foreword by him, and it contains a hilarious anecdote).
October 14, 2023
I've had a hankering for horror recently so nabbed this off the shelf at a local LFL spotting that it was a book of ghoulish tales. However, I hadn't realised though they were all about vampires & I'm not a fan of those! How I missed the fact when the cover is pretty blatant about it I have no idea… anyway I thought I'd still give it a go. As there's 17 stories in total I won't review each one individually. Some of the authors I've read before, some I'd heard of & some were unknown to me so it made for a good mix.
"The Hanover Vampire" & "The Vampire of Croglin Grange" were the first two tales & from the foreword I learnt they were "authenticated stories of real Vampires". I enjoyed these two & they whetted my appetite for more. However, the next "The Vampyre" I really struggled with. I didn't like the prose, found it very wordy & while I got the gist of things I think much of it went over my head, to the extent that at more than one point I was going to give up on the book completely. However, the stories are short so I decided to plough on & I'm glad I did as I enjoyed the rest albeit to varying degrees.
"And No Bird Sings" was a good one & a different take featuring, as it did, vampire vegetation – while it might sound silly it's certainly not a jokey tale & was in fact quite creepy & atmospheric. "Over the River" I found quite sad. Indeed, in the intro (there's one heading each story, giving a bit of background & I'd say don't skip them, they're worth reading) the editor states " I challenge anyone to remain unmoved by this brilliant tale".
One other which stood out was "Pillar of Fire" a previously unpublished short by Ray Bradbury. And finally "The Living Dead" had a twist, that while not unexpected, made me smile.
Overall a good read about the sort of vampires that lurk in the shadows - if you want the sexy True Blood-type vampire these aren't going to be to your taste but for me they justbit hit the spot.
"The Hanover Vampire" & "The Vampire of Croglin Grange" were the first two tales & from the foreword I learnt they were "authenticated stories of real Vampires". I enjoyed these two & they whetted my appetite for more. However, the next "The Vampyre" I really struggled with. I didn't like the prose, found it very wordy & while I got the gist of things I think much of it went over my head, to the extent that at more than one point I was going to give up on the book completely. However, the stories are short so I decided to plough on & I'm glad I did as I enjoyed the rest albeit to varying degrees.
"And No Bird Sings" was a good one & a different take featuring, as it did, vampire vegetation – while it might sound silly it's certainly not a jokey tale & was in fact quite creepy & atmospheric. "Over the River" I found quite sad. Indeed, in the intro (there's one heading each story, giving a bit of background & I'd say don't skip them, they're worth reading) the editor states " I challenge anyone to remain unmoved by this brilliant tale".
One other which stood out was "Pillar of Fire" a previously unpublished short by Ray Bradbury. And finally "The Living Dead" had a twist, that while not unexpected, made me smile.
Overall a good read about the sort of vampires that lurk in the shadows - if you want the sexy True Blood-type vampire these aren't going to be to your taste but for me they just
November 3, 2025
Out of the two Vampire books.i read this was defintely the.better of the two as the stories were far mire interesting especially The Vampire.of Groglin Grange which.i really.enjoyed.
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