Author

John Polidori

1795-1821 · English physician and writer, author of The Vampyre

About John Polidori

John William Polidori (1795-1821) was an English physician and writer who served as Lord Byron's personal doctor during the famous 1816 summer near Lake Geneva. Trained at Edinburgh, he wrote fiction, drama and medical work before dying young. The Vampyre transformed aristocratic Byronic charisma into a predatory supernatural type.

Notable works

On this site

The Vampyre

John Polidori

1819 · 19th Century · Short Stories

The Vampyre is a brief but enormously influential Gothic tale that turns the vampire from folkloric corpse into a fashionable aristocratic predator. Aubrey, a young gentleman of imagination and moral seriousness, enters London society and becomes fascinated by Lord Ruthven, a mysterious nobleman whose charm is inseparable from coldness.

high medical relevanceThe SupernaturalLove DesirePower / Politics