The Vampyre

The author, John Polidori, crafts a brief novella about a vampire named Lord Ruthven. Historically, the story has been attributed to Lord Byron, but in fact Polidori, Byron's doctor, authored the tale after parting on bad terms with Byron. Polidori's depiction of Lord Ruthven as a wealthy aristocratic vampire represents one of the first romanticized characterizations of the vampire figure in literature. In the story, Ruthven befriends a young man named Aubrey, who begins to notice the deaths and suffering of everyone he and Ruthven encounter. Towards the end of the story, Aubrey's sister is engaged to marry Ruthven, but is found dead and drained of her blood on her wedding night.