Reviews

The Vampyre, by John William Polidori

hollyn_middle's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

deadlamp's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

told my friend about how Aubrey drops everything to go sightseeing with a vampiric stranger and she said she would do the same thing. she is so silly and so going to get murdered. anyways vampyre deserves respect for being. u know. the first. but beyond that it’s a super enjoyable story! the context of the writing competition that took place for this to be made is interesting, too.

bolachawaifu's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

almalotus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

cat_224tnr's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

stacialithub's review

3.0

I am very glad I Polidori's "The Vampyre". (It is available as a free download through Gutenberg.) Polidori was not a writer by profession & it shows; however, reading from the historical context (that it was written the same time/place/event where Frankenstein was written) & the fact that it was the first vampire story written in English make it pretty interesting. Common opinion is that Lord Ruthven (the vampire in the story) is a thinly veiled version of Lord Byron (Polidori's boss). I find it quite amusing that Polidori created a cunning, charismatic entity of pure evil that's based off of Lord Byron (the gossip page star of his day). These days, if someone wants to complain about his boss, he posts a rant on FB or something. I think Polidori's way is much classier (and long-lasting), lol. I'd love to know what Byron thought of it. If he was even partly as evil as Lord Ruthven is, I think Byron must have taken a certain amount of gleeful pride in being the basis for such a magnetic devil. ;-) Either way, read it for the historical aspect, especially if you have or plan to read Dracula or other vampire-inspired tales.

xkay_readsx's review

4.0

This is a short story published in 1819. I thought the background of this story is fascinating. In 1816, three friends spent the summer at Lake Geneva and decided to write ghost stories because the weather was cold and gloomy from volcanic eruption (The year without summer). As a result, we have The Vampyre and Frankenstein.

larkspire's review

3.0

This is a very good little gothic horror, excellently written (for the most part) and about as tense as most of its contemporaries are. Dracula is tenser, but of course it would be hard to believe that Stoker wasn't taking notes from Poridori (or at least from the same people Poridori took notes from, since The Vampyre was only the first English vampire story).

For the first vampire story published in English, this was much newer to me than I expected. Frankly, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did; I anticipated adding an extra star purely to recognise the story's innovations/uniqueness for its time, rather than just because I liked reading it. But I enjoyed it quite a lot, and it definitely scratched that gothic itch. The limited amount of blood-sucking and increased focus on the horror, or at least the eeriness, of the vampire as a functioning person in society was novel to me too, and very effective. Fans of Anne Rice, Richelle Mead, and L.J. Smith might feel differently.

Spoiler

The last paragraph, though? The last paragraph reads like a joke. So much tension was built and "she had glutted the thirst of a VAMPYRE!" had the opposite of the effect that I'm assuming the author was going for. Leaving it vaguer, or even just toning it down and wording it slightly differently would have made the whole thing much creepier, in my opinion. But maybe I'm just ruined by creepypasta and shitposts, unlike the reading audiences of the time.

rouge_red's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.0

Highly dramatic with a body count! It's definitely written in a dry way typical of the time period. I wasn't convinced at first, but it was kind of fun by the end.

ejcoates's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

I really enjoyed this text and can see how it helped to popularise many elements of the contemporary vampire tale. Lord Ruthven was a fascinating character and grows increasingly unnerving throughout the story. I also liked the globe-trotting element that allowed for elements of traditional folklore to be explored, along with themes of the natural and supernatural worlds challenging the stuffy conventions of Romantic era London.