A review by book_busy
The Vampire by John William Polidori

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

In some ways (pacing, amusing characterisation of a villain as lord Byron) I enjoyed this more than Dracula whose own narrative speed is quite tortoise-like. However, this is an altogether pace-for-pace kind of story and I never really felt all that attached to the characters. Let's put it this way, I'm not surprised Mary Shelley came out victorious here. Nonetheless, as a gothic horror story, though predictable, it didn't have anything fundamentally wrong with it? I wasn't surprised by anything. The setting change to Athens was the most interesting but this likely is essentially just stealing from Byron's own adventures to Greece so I struggle to credit Polidori with that. I had to read it out of curiosity and, given it's brevity, I'm glad I have so that I have sated that curiosity. Had it been longer than 100 pages I would have tapped out and gone home.