Reviews

The Vampyre; A Tale by John William Polidori

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every_cloud's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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? No

3.0

farfuglietti's review against another edition

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5.0

Sììììììììììììììììììììì!
Questo è stato il mio primo libro vampiresco e L'HO ADORATO!

old_odd_biscuit's review against another edition

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2.0

Written in the same storytelling game that spawned Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, this predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by a whopping 78 years.

Polidori modelled his vampire Lord Ruthven on Lord Byron, who reportedly didn't rate Polidori's writing highly. I have to say Byron might have been right about that. The storytelling struck me as plain and artless. The stand out example of this is the last line, which is almost childish, on a level close to just saying BOO.

Nevertheless, this is worth reading if you are interested in the history of vampire stories. It's a short story so it doesn't take much of your time, a good trade for experiencing something so influential yet less famous than Dracula. Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla, written about 50 years after this, is more fun.

tome_of_alexandria's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

This is such a fun short read! You can tell that Polidori really put a lot of Byron into Ruthvan's character to express how much he disliked it. It was also interesting to see a style of vampire that is a bit different from today.