This has an old worldly feel, the story is about Aubrey who doesn’t know what he has signed up for when he becomes a companion to Lord Ruthven.

Its gothic tone makes this an atmospheric read, and how the story unfolds is not disrupted by the imperfect plot. The ending could have gone two ways and kept me guessing.

As John Polidori was working on this Mary Shelly was writing her Frankenstein, at the time they were both staying at Villa Diodati, they were responding to a challenge set by Lord Byron. Neither of them would foresee the impact Frankenstein and The Vampyre will make.