The Vampyre, by John William Polidori

History of the First Vampire Story in English Prose

Sep 6, 2009

John Polidori's short story "The Vampyre" (1819), based on a fragment by Lord Byron, inspired a wave of vampire fiction that has continued into the modern day.

Dr. John Polidori's short story "The Vampyre," first published in New Monthly Magazine in 1819, was the first vampire story in English prose. It inspired a surge of popular interest in vampires, essentially creating the now-familiar image of the vampire as a seducer, an irresistible synthesis of sex and death. There were several theatrical adaptations of the story, including Heinrich Marschner's opera Der Vampyr. The vampire character, Lord Ruthven, was the most well-known image of vampires until Bram Stoker published Dracula in 1897.

History of "The Vampyre"

Although Polidori is the author of "The Vampyre," the original story idea is not his own. It came about during a gathering of writers, including Lord Byron and Mary Shelley, while Dr. Polidori was serving as Byron's traveling physician. In June of 1816, the authors, trapped inside due to bad weather, challenged each other to write ghost stories. Mary Shelley's story developed into the novel Frankenstein, while Polidori's own fragment became his novel Ernestus Berchtold; or, The Modern Oedipus, published in 1819.

Lord Byron wrote a short fragment about vampires, a subject which he had already explored in his poem The Giaour, one of the earliest pieces of fiction to address those mythic creatures. Whether or not he told the rest of the story to the others is unclear, but Byron abandoned the fragment. Soon after, Polidori was dismissed, and, at the request of a friend in Geneva, he expanded the concepts in Byron's fragment into a complete short story.

Publication and Misattribution of "The Vampyre"

“The Vampyre” was published in the April 1819 issue of New Monthly Magazine as “The Vampyre: A Tale by Lord Byron.” The misattribution was intentional; the publishers wished to increase sales by taking advantage of Byron’s popularity.

Polidori, who had never intended the story for publication, was shocked to see it in print (and especially without proper credit). He wrote a letter to the editor stating that the story was “not Lord Byron’s, but was written entirely by me.” Byron himself disavowed the story, writing, “I desire the responsibility of nobody’s dullness but my own.” Despite these protests, the misattribution persisted.

Autobiographical Nature of "The Vampyre"

Some aspects of "The Vampyre" reflect parts of Polidori's life and his relationship with Byron. In many ways, Lord Ruthven, a sexual predator as well as a vampire, can be read as a fictionalization of Lord Byron. The vampire's name comes from the title character in the novel Glenarvon by Lady Caroline Lamb, a scandalous fictional attack on Lord Byron.

Similarly, Aubrey, the vampire's traveling companion, can be read as an analogue for Dr. Polidori. In the same way that Aubrey was rendered unable to act by the more powerful Lord Ruthven, Polidori and his work as a writer were overshadowed by the more famous and talented Byron, whom he served and idolized. Weighed down by depression, Polidori committed suicide in 1821.

Fictional Legacy of "The Vampyre"

"The Vampyre" transformed the vampire myth from the monster of folklore to the dark, sexual, and predatory creature still popular today. The story spawned several theatrical adaptations, including Le Vampire (Carmouche, Jouffroy, and Nodier, 1820), The Vampire, or The Bride of the Isles (James Robinson Planché, 1820), and two 1828 operas titled Der Vampyr, one by Heinrich Marschner and the other by Peter Josef von Lindpaintner.

Other popular fiction which expanded this new version of the vampire myth included Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood and, of course, Dracula. The development of vampire lore has continued with modern fiction such as Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. Without Polidori's "The Vampyre," our modern conception of the vampire myth would be radically different.

The copyright of the article The Vampyre, by John William Polidori in 18th & 19th Century British Fiction is owned by Amelia Hill. Permission to republish The Vampyre, by John William Polidori in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.