Vampyre

Vampyre

This is a must-have story for fans of vampire stories. After all, the Vampyre by John Polidori is the starting point for modern (non-sparkling) vampires – charming, cunning undead beings who seduce the pious and feed on their blood. Prior to that, vampires were not that different from zombies, ugly little creatures who flailed their arms and snacked on their families. These folks didn't have a plan, a method for attacking their prey, at least not until Polidori added a bit of sexiness and oomph to the vampire image.

Before diving into the summary, I should mention one of the controversies surrounding this story. It's nothing scandalous in a 'it got banned from sixty counties' way; rather, it is a debate about the original author. Polidori was the physician of the famous poet Lord Byron and was part of his little traveling group (one that included Percy Shelly and his wife, Mary Shelly). Thus, he was part of their storytelling nights where they encouraged each other to write horror tales. It's been said that Polidori stumbled upon the concept for this story after overhearing a vampire story (or such) by Lord Byron. Of course, this has been debated by many folks, some of whom note that the story might have been all Polidori's work, minus any input from the poet. 

So, why bother mentioning the controversy? Well, the events and personalities Vampyre ring a bell if you know more about Byron and his friends. Thus, you have an enigmatic character called Lord Byron who love creating a bit of havoc wherever he went. All those whose lives were touched by him fell into ruin. There were rumors about him having strange powers. Of him being of a darker nature than he let on. Enter a young and impressionable man called Aubrey. He travels with Lord Ruthven, keeping him company on his weird little adventures. I say adventures, but it mostly consisted of the man trying to seduce women or ruin the good name of rich men. Sounds a bit like how folks perceived Byron at the time, doesn't it? It lends to the argument that Polidori was probably inspired by Byron's lifestyle as opposed to any story written by him.

Anyway in the story itself, Aubrey becomes wary of Lord Ruthven. He tries to get away from him and is successful for a while. He falls in love and is quite content until his ladylove is killed by a strange creature. While he is coping with this loss, he meets up with his strange friend again. And this time, they set off on a path that leads to a life of madness for poor Aubrey. Lord Ruthven rising from the dead, his sister being pursued by the latter, Aubrey himself ending up in a madhouse … it all goes a bit wonky for the poor man.

The writing style takes some getting used to, well that is if you haven't read some of the older literary works for a while. However, once you get into the story, it proves to be quite entertaining. Polidori's version of the vampire is a cross between Whedon's Angelus and Anne Rice's Lestat. He has the dramatic flair and love of luxuries present in the latter as well as the cruel streak more often attributed to the latter. Polidori's undead creature was thus a medley of his latter children (discounting the disowned vegan mutant), an interesting indication of how the vampires we know and love (not in any way referring to anything that sparkles) started out.