Try free for 30 days
-
The Vampyre
- Narrated by: Gregory Sheridan
- Length: 1 hr and 32 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $11.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
The Vampyre
A Tale
By John William Polidori
Narrated by Gregory Sheridan
John William Polidori (1795-1821) was an English physician and an associate of Byron and Shelley.
On a tour with the two poets and Mary Godwin (later Shelley), Polidori participated in a competition to write a short ghost story. Polidori's contribution was The Vampyre, which is considered to be the first modern work of vampire fiction.
The central figures in the plot are the mysterious and sinister Lord Ruthven, and a naïve and wealthy young man named Aubrey. The latter forms a friendship with Ruthven, and the two set off on a European tour together. However, Aubrey soon becomes disgusted with Ruthven's manipulative and vicious behavior and leaves him to explore antiquities in Greece, where he falls in love with Ianthe, the daughter of an innkeeper.
Shortly afterward, Ianthe is found dead, with her throat torn open, and the locals claim that her death is the work of a vampire. Aubrey falls dangerously ill, and discovers, to his dismay, that Ruthven has joined him and is nursing him back to health. On resuming their travels the pair are attacked by bandits and Ruthven is killed. Aubrey returns to London and later finds, to his amazement, that Ruthven has been restored to life. Eventually, Ruthven marries Aubrey's sister, who is later found dead, with her body drained of blood.
Polidori's tale proved very influential. Prominent authors like Gogol, Dumas, and Tolstoy produced vampire stories, and later in the century, Bram Stoker wrote the most famous vampire story of all, Dracula.