I think some modern readers are so jaded and desensitized they have trouble sensing atmospheric nuance. Still, when one thinks back to the time period the book was written in, and the many rumors that circulated about the ‘undead’, I think the atmosphere was probably unsettling to readers of that time, and it effectively captured a sinister sense of foreboding in an extremely sparse amount of time and space. It’s subtle, for sure, and it doesn’t have much going on, as far as bloody graphics go. Honestly, I don’t see why people have judged this book so harshly. It is such a short story that it would take no time to read it, and then I could decide for myself if the ratings were justified or not. This year, I decided that, because it was written even before Bram Stroker’s vampire masterpiece, I really should check it out. Every fall when I find myself in the mood for a good scary story, I pause to consider this book, then I see the ratings and reviews, and give it a pass. I’ve been meaning to read this short story for years. Vampyre by John William Polidori is a 2017 Open Road Media publication. The names other than Byron's are all made up. Ridiculous framing story added not by Polidori about Lord Byron being responsible for the story at the famous Shelly, Shelly, Byron meeting that was the genesis for the real Frankenstein.

Only story I have ever read that would benefit by being much longer, it reads at times like a synopsis. Pretty dated story notable for being supposedly the first vampire story. Favorite error: '.to be present tit the nuptials.' These p-o-d books are just not worth it unless you get them really cheap, like under a dollar, or you have recourse to nothing else. I can tell from a receipt stuck between pages that the original owner paid almost $12 for this. Each page has at least two and some 5 or 6 errors. Corpse is almost always rendered as 'corse,' the as 'tho,' commas as '>.' The scanner doesn't even have an algorithm to pick the most likely candidate letter. Hey, it was new and 50 cents.Īs I feared, fraught with typos and punctuation errors. The back cover says, 'Dodo Press specializes in the publication and distribution of rare and out-of-print books.' which is code for 'cheap public domain books.' It even has a Dodo colophon that imitates the ubiquitous Penguin trademark. I haven't had a lot of luck with p-o-ds since they are usually machine scanned and nobody ever proof reads them. It will usually even tell you what city, state, and exact date it was printed. I can already tell this is a print-on-demand book (look for the little bar code on the back of the last blank page).

The Vampyre by John William Polidori