The Vampire by John William Polidori

Original language: English

Original title: The Vampyre

Year of publication: 1819

Translation: in this edition there is no

Valuation: essential for fans of the genre. For the rest, it’s okay

I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the first and genuine vampire, the one who has given rise to all those in literature, cinema or even cartoons that have been, the original and inimitable vampire imagined by John William Polidori, Lord Byron’s doctor. , that legendary night of June 18, 1816, “the year without summer”, at the Villa Diodati, on the shores of Lake Leman, and which also saw the birth of another mythical creature at the hands of Mary Wallstonecraft Godwin (even then), Frank’s so-called monster… How? No? How not!?

Well no. Or not entirely like that, at least. To begin with, Polidori’s is not the first vampire to appear in literature, although he is the most successful vampire archetype: the seductive, fascinating vampire, with aristocratic manners and even titles, subjugator of women and dominator of men. Does this description sound familiar to anyone?

Secondly, it is not so clear that this story arose that famous night, when Lord Byron proposed to his companions that they write two horror stories, apparently, after the stimulating reading of the book. Fantasmagorianavery successful at that time-; Apparently, Polidori wrote or at least concocted another story and it was after that night that he composed the vampirebased on an idea launched… by Byron himself. Because that is another: despite the fact that the first edition was published under the authorship of the romantic poet par excellence – a ruse by the editors to sell more copies, perhaps? – there is no doubt of the authorship on the part of his personal doctor – for short time-, Polidori. But whether the original idea could have been due to Lord Byron or not, what is clear is that he was the inspiration for the vampire of the story, a nobleman who caused a sensation in salons and other social gatherings, especially among the ladies, whom he seduced, “used” (this sounds a bit old, I know) and then left them lying around like a Kleenex… more or less, what Byron was accused of in his time (although he did not drink the blood of his “victims”, let it be known). Furthermore: even the name of the vampire, Lord Ruthven, is a direct allusion to Byron, since it is the name he received in Glenarvonand roman à clef written by Caroline Lamb, his jilted lover and similar that same year. Following his example, it seems that what Polidori wrote was, above all, revenge against his eventual employer, with whom he did not get along very well.

Now, who cares about all this? If the unhappy Polidori has taken the glory for having created an entire classic archetype not only of the horror genre, but of all literature and he did it as an invective against his former boss, eclipsing, if not the fame of his name, then that of his work, fine, after the mockery and disdain he had to endure from Byron and his posh friends. . And with esop, furthermore, that’s enough, because the novel itself – a long story, rather – doesn’t provide much either: in it, this Lord Ruthven, after fascinating London society, embarks on a journey through exotic continental Europe together with a rather lazy young man named Aubrey – exactly the same as Byron and Polidori did, coincidentally -; fool and all, Aubrey ends up discovering, even if it’s late, that his traveling companion is nothing more than an infamous vampire…. and I won’t tell you more because, even though, as I said, the novel is short, there is still some than another plot-twist interesting.

The style, as one might suppose in a literary work from two hundred years ago, no matter how Gothic it may be, is today a bit lavish and no less emphatic, but it can be read easily and even with pleasure by a standard contemporary reader (myself, For example). In any case, the book is read in a flash…So I don’t know what you’re waiting for to take a look at it: remember that before Bram Stoker, before Anne Rice and before, of course, Stephen King, there was John William Polidori, perhaps not the first, but certainly not the last of the vampire creators.

Oh, and this edition has a prologue by Mariana Enriquez, which you won’t deny is a plus!

As the cover of the edition that I have read is quite dull, I also reproduce here that of the first time the novel was published, in which the cuckoo editors attributed the authorship to Lord Byron. To be honest, he immediately denied having written it, but, given his unkind words, one may suspect that it was more because he realized the satirical barb that was being thrown at him than because of fair-play among writers…