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A review by eddie
The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre by John William Polidori, Robert Morrison
3.0
It’s the 200th anniversary of John Polidori’s The Vampyre this year (2019). This short story kicked off the vampire craze in 19th-century literature. Apparently vampires were known before but Polidori’s crucial innovation was to take them upmarket, add brains, cunning and wit, and set them loose on aristocratic drawing rooms for their prey. Top hatted & cloaked vampires have been thrilling readers ever since.
It helped Polidori’s story immensely that the original publisher (a magazine) mistakenly published the story as by Lord Byron, then at the absolute zenith of his bad-boy enfant terrible chic. And that the vampire in the story shared an alias with a previous fictional portrayal of Byron by Byron’s ex, Lady Caroline Lamb. In short, the Vampyre was Byron.
Sadly, all this context is far more exciting than the story itself. Polidori’s followers have long since surpassed his efforts. However, it’s probably true to say that most if not all subsequent vampires share some Byronic personality traits.
OUP have padded out this edition with some more early tales of the macabre, all originally published in magazines around 1820-1840. It’s interesting to see what excited readers then. There are stories of the Irish troubles, Cholera epidemics, grave robbers, etc. The outstanding story is the last by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: in fact a dress rehearsal for his later novel ‘Uncle Silas’, which after this is going on my TBR. Interesting works also by writers I haven’t heard of before but who seem to have enjoyed successful literary careers in the early-19th century: Letitia E Landon and Catherine Gore. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a Victorian best selling author and statesman, contributes a short but eerily evocative tale. Le Fanu is regarded highly in the annals of horror fiction these days, & it appears Bulwer-Lytton is the focus of some interest by virtue of his perceived occultic practices (he was claimed by a contemporary Illuminati group but strenuously denied membership. But we all know what that means.)
It helped Polidori’s story immensely that the original publisher (a magazine) mistakenly published the story as by Lord Byron, then at the absolute zenith of his bad-boy enfant terrible chic. And that the vampire in the story shared an alias with a previous fictional portrayal of Byron by Byron’s ex, Lady Caroline Lamb. In short, the Vampyre was Byron.
Sadly, all this context is far more exciting than the story itself. Polidori’s followers have long since surpassed his efforts. However, it’s probably true to say that most if not all subsequent vampires share some Byronic personality traits.
OUP have padded out this edition with some more early tales of the macabre, all originally published in magazines around 1820-1840. It’s interesting to see what excited readers then. There are stories of the Irish troubles, Cholera epidemics, grave robbers, etc. The outstanding story is the last by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: in fact a dress rehearsal for his later novel ‘Uncle Silas’, which after this is going on my TBR. Interesting works also by writers I haven’t heard of before but who seem to have enjoyed successful literary careers in the early-19th century: Letitia E Landon and Catherine Gore. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a Victorian best selling author and statesman, contributes a short but eerily evocative tale. Le Fanu is regarded highly in the annals of horror fiction these days, & it appears Bulwer-Lytton is the focus of some interest by virtue of his perceived occultic practices (he was claimed by a contemporary Illuminati group but strenuously denied membership. But we all know what that means.)