The Vampyre: A Tale by Lord Byron (1819)

The Vampyre: A Tale is a Gothic horror novella written by John William Polidori and first published in 1819. The story is based on a fragment of a story written by Lord Byron during a stay at Lake Geneva in 1816, which Polidori expanded and completed. The novella tells the story of Lord Ruthven, a mysterious and charismatic aristocrat who is revealed to be a vampire. The protagonist, Aubrey, becomes increasingly fascinated with Ruthven, but ultimately realizes the danger he poses. The story is notable for being one of the first vampire stories in English literature and for establishing many of the tropes associated with the vampire genre. It is also considered to be a significant contribution to the Romantic movement in literature. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.