a forest
A01=John Polidori
A01=Sheridan Le Fanu
an unfamiliar guest
Author_John Polidori
Author_Sheridan Le Fanu
carmilla
Category=DNT
Category=FKC
Category=FYL
Category=VXQM2
classic horror
early irish literature
english literature
eq_anthologies-novellas-short-stories
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_mind-body-spirit
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
forthcoming
ghost stories
gothic book
high society
isolation
mythical creatures
nobility
novella
seduction
shapeshifters
strong female protagonist
supernatural novels
the castle
the vampyre
vampire book
vampire fantasy
vampires
victorian gothic
Product details
- ISBN 9780143139003
- Weight: 500g
- Dimensions: 132 x 204mm
- Publication Date: 01 Oct 2026
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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The first vampire short story in English, The Vampyre by John Polidori, and the first vampire novella, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, are published together in one hardback volume. The Vampyre (1819) features Lord Ruthven, a deathly pale yet fatally charismatic nobleman who preys on women of high society. It is generally considered as the first fully developed vampire narrative in English literature. Carmilla (1871–2) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is a nineteenth-century Gothic novella featuring a protagonist who typifies the long line of female and lesbian vampires in literature, movies, television series and artwork. In a castle deep in the Austrian forest, Laura, a young woman, leads an isolated life with her father. A horse-drawn carriage crashes and an unexpected guest, the mysterious and seductive Carmilla, enters their lives.
John Polidori (1975-1821) was a British writer and physician. Polidori accompanied Byron on his travels and attended the notorious holiday to Lake Geneva in the summer of 1816. It was during this scandalous getaway that he met the Shelleys and began work on The Vampyre, a story which later influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula. Polidori died when he was only twenty-five, but to this day he is considered to be the father of the modern vampire story. Sheridan Le Fanu was born and died in Dublin. He was one of the greatest exponents of the ghost story and the author of Uncle Silas and In a Glass Darkly.
