A review by stacialithub
The Vampyre, by John William Polidori

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.