A review by will_cherico
The Vampyre; A Tale by John William Polidori

adventurous dark tense 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

3.75

I enjoyed this a lot more on reread. There's an eerie, gloomy sense of creeping doom over the entire story as Aubrey flees from one country to the other, always followed by Lord Ruthven. Parts of it come off as corny since it's about as loaded with vampire tropes as you can get, but that doesn't stop the writing from being super impressive and filling me with a truly dreadful feeling as the climax approached. Despite Aubrey spending the majority of the story in hospice, it flows really well - it feels like he never truly has time to recover before Ruthven is back in his life.