What do you think?
Rate this book
Vintage Vampire Stories
Long lost to the public in out-of-print pulp magazines, dusty Victorian anthologies, and the pages of now defunct newspapers—these vintage vampire stories have truly proved immortal. Resurrected now for the year 2011, this is a stunning collection of nineteenth-century vampire stories by heavyweights such as Sabine Baring-Gould and Bram Stoker. These rare stories are arranged in chronological order from 1846 to 1913 and are compiled by two of the world’s leading vampire anthologists and experts. Also included are rare images of Bram Stoker’s handwritten manuscript pages for Count Vampire (1890) courtesy of the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia.
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2011
36 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 28, 2024
This truly is a wonderful collection of long forgotten vampire (vampyre) stories, lovingly collected for this anthology in 2011.
Vintage Vampire Stories brings together a whole host of vampires; who knew there were so many variations!
Lovers of classic or gothic horror, will love this anthology. Those who like their vampires of the Twilight variety, probably won't.
My only problem with this anthology was the number of typos in the kindle edition. Otherwise, a most enjoyable read in the run up to Halloween. 👻🎃
Vintage Vampire Stories brings together a whole host of vampires; who knew there were so many variations!
Lovers of classic or gothic horror, will love this anthology. Those who like their vampires of the Twilight variety, probably won't.
My only problem with this anthology was the number of typos in the kindle edition. Otherwise, a most enjoyable read in the run up to Halloween. 👻🎃
August 24, 2023
Full review incoming!
Overall
I enjoyed this! I really appreciated the range of different kinds of vampires in this book - there were lots of very interesting tales on what a ‘vampire’ is. I also very much appreciated how out-of-print and obscure texts only printed in pamphlets were brought together here, as well as the attempt made at making the collection vaguely international, although it was just that - vaguely international, still leaning heavily towards British and American texts. In the introduction to Morley Roberts' The Blood Fetish, the narrator alluded to African traditions of vampire stories, and so I thought it was a shame that this, the only 'African' story included in the book, was another British text, inspired by Africa. It was also a shame that the majority of the stories were written around the turn of the nineteenth-century, but I suppose that's partly down to the nature of the content?
I listened to this as an audiobook so idk if I've spelled the titles right...
Pu Songling, The Blood Drinking Corpse (1679) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Short but powerful.
William Henry Giles Kingston, The Vampire, or Pedro Pasheiko and the Brusha (1863) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
An interesting take on what a ‘vampire’ is. It kind of sets up a theme for the rest of the collection (and vampire literature more broadly), which is that a LOT of men seeming to be writing about sexy scary women taking their life force…!
Mary Fortune, The White Maniac: a Doctor's Tale (1867) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
See my separate review here.
George John Whyte-Melville, Madam de Sancroix (1869) - ⭐️
Can’t remember this so it can’t have been that good.
Sabine Baring-Gould, Marjorie of Quether (1884) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The first part dragged but then things started getting good. The only thing is, I’m not sure you can have a plot which drags at times and a deeply unlikeable narrator - I feel like you have to choose.
Bram Stoker, Count Wampyre (1890) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kind of felt out of place here, but it was interesting to include. Everyone loves a bit of Stoker lore.
Julian Osgood Field, A Kiss of Judas (1893) - ⭐⭐⭐
The first bit of this was good, then it just got really confusing. Although the part where the was delightfully creepy. Much like many of the books here, this was a good take on vampire lore / what vampires are, etc.
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Herself (1894) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another excellent take on what it means to be a vampire! Genius! I’ll definitely be reading more of Braddon’s work.
Prof. P. Jones, The Priest and His Cook (1895) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The ‘Priest and his Cook’ was pretty funny - an excellent twist on what it means to be a 'vampire'. However, this was excerpted from a full-length novel The Probatim: A Slav Novel, which contains a number of Savic folktales - I guess this is one of them, although the introduction doesn’t make that entirely clear. This story is preceded by the phrase “The old man complied willingly above all as Vranic had bought a bucara of wine with him, so he at once began the story of:” Within the larger novel, this story is meant to jokingly illustrate to a character (The Tailor) that he can’t possibly know a real vampire - for this is “only a story” - except he does, and then the excerpt here continues on, detailing that man’s troubles with the vampire. That part of the story was good, too, but I’d have preferred it if here we only had the actual story of ‘The Priest and His Cook’.
Dick Donovan, The Woman with the Oily Eyes (1899) - - ⭐⭐⭐⭐️
Fairly solid, but just lacking something for me. Maybe it's just that I felt kinda bad for the characters.
Dick Donovan, The Story of Annette: From Official Records (being the sequel to The Woman with the Oily Eyes) (1899) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So Dick Donovan is the pseudonym of 'the prolific author' James Edward Muddock and is a fictional author-detective - I really like the idea of including this extra component to The Woman with the Oily Eyes as it reads like Donovan's own case notes, which helps bring the author-character to life. I actually preferred this to the first story.
Hugh Mccrae, The Vampire (1901) - ⭐
This was very short and I didn't really get it. The narrator went out for oysters with a vampire he fancied? Ok? I can barely remember this - it really didn't stand out.
Phil Robinson, Medusa (1902) - ⭐⭐
Kinda standard. Shout-out to Oxford lol. It would be nice if American narrators maybe Googled how to pronounce English place names / words before recording an audiobook.
R. Murray Gilchrist, The Lovers' Ordeal (1905) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lionel Sparrow, The Vengeance of the Dead (1907) - ⭐⭐⭐️
BAD Australian accent time. This was ok. It involved
Morley Roberts, The Blood Fetish (1909) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was great, another great twist on what it means to be a 'vampire'. Also the academic beef was a bonus. I just don't think you can say this is an 'African tale'.
Appendix:
Charles Dickens Jr., Vampires and Gouls (1871) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really liked this. I'm not entirely sure why it was included as an appendix, rather than in the main body of text in publication order - I suspect because this is non-fiction, but then Stoker's notes were included in the main body, too, and they surely also count as non-fiction?
Overall
I enjoyed this! I really appreciated the range of different kinds of vampires in this book - there were lots of very interesting tales on what a ‘vampire’ is. I also very much appreciated how out-of-print and obscure texts only printed in pamphlets were brought together here, as well as the attempt made at making the collection vaguely international, although it was just that - vaguely international, still leaning heavily towards British and American texts. In the introduction to Morley Roberts' The Blood Fetish, the narrator alluded to African traditions of vampire stories, and so I thought it was a shame that this, the only 'African' story included in the book, was another British text, inspired by Africa. It was also a shame that the majority of the stories were written around the turn of the nineteenth-century, but I suppose that's partly down to the nature of the content?
I listened to this as an audiobook so idk if I've spelled the titles right...
Pu Songling, The Blood Drinking Corpse (1679) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Short but powerful.
William Henry Giles Kingston, The Vampire, or Pedro Pasheiko and the Brusha (1863) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
An interesting take on what a ‘vampire’ is. It kind of sets up a theme for the rest of the collection (and vampire literature more broadly), which is that a LOT of men seeming to be writing about sexy scary women taking their life force…!
Mary Fortune, The White Maniac: a Doctor's Tale (1867) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
See my separate review here.
George John Whyte-Melville, Madam de Sancroix (1869) - ⭐️
Can’t remember this so it can’t have been that good.
Sabine Baring-Gould, Marjorie of Quether (1884) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The first part dragged but then things started getting good. The only thing is, I’m not sure you can have a plot which drags at times and a deeply unlikeable narrator - I feel like you have to choose.
Bram Stoker, Count Wampyre (1890) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kind of felt out of place here, but it was interesting to include. Everyone loves a bit of Stoker lore.
Julian Osgood Field, A Kiss of Judas (1893) - ⭐⭐⭐
The first bit of this was good, then it just got really confusing. Although the part where the was delightfully creepy. Much like many of the books here, this was a good take on vampire lore / what vampires are, etc.
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Herself (1894) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another excellent take on what it means to be a vampire! Genius! I’ll definitely be reading more of Braddon’s work.
Prof. P. Jones, The Priest and His Cook (1895) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The ‘Priest and his Cook’ was pretty funny - an excellent twist on what it means to be a 'vampire'. However, this was excerpted from a full-length novel The Probatim: A Slav Novel, which contains a number of Savic folktales - I guess this is one of them, although the introduction doesn’t make that entirely clear. This story is preceded by the phrase “The old man complied willingly above all as Vranic had bought a bucara of wine with him, so he at once began the story of:” Within the larger novel, this story is meant to jokingly illustrate to a character (The Tailor) that he can’t possibly know a real vampire - for this is “only a story” - except he does, and then the excerpt here continues on, detailing that man’s troubles with the vampire. That part of the story was good, too, but I’d have preferred it if here we only had the actual story of ‘The Priest and His Cook’.
Dick Donovan, The Woman with the Oily Eyes (1899) - - ⭐⭐⭐⭐️
Fairly solid, but just lacking something for me. Maybe it's just that I felt kinda bad for the characters.
Dick Donovan, The Story of Annette: From Official Records (being the sequel to The Woman with the Oily Eyes) (1899) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So Dick Donovan is the pseudonym of 'the prolific author' James Edward Muddock and is a fictional author-detective - I really like the idea of including this extra component to The Woman with the Oily Eyes as it reads like Donovan's own case notes, which helps bring the author-character to life. I actually preferred this to the first story.
Hugh Mccrae, The Vampire (1901) - ⭐
This was very short and I didn't really get it. The narrator went out for oysters with a vampire he fancied? Ok? I can barely remember this - it really didn't stand out.
Phil Robinson, Medusa (1902) - ⭐⭐
Kinda standard. Shout-out to Oxford lol. It would be nice if American narrators maybe Googled how to pronounce English place names / words before recording an audiobook.
R. Murray Gilchrist, The Lovers' Ordeal (1905) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lionel Sparrow, The Vengeance of the Dead (1907) - ⭐⭐⭐️
BAD Australian accent time. This was ok. It involved
Morley Roberts, The Blood Fetish (1909) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was great, another great twist on what it means to be a 'vampire'. Also the academic beef was a bonus. I just don't think you can say this is an 'African tale'.
Appendix:
Charles Dickens Jr., Vampires and Gouls (1871) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really liked this. I'm not entirely sure why it was included as an appendix, rather than in the main body of text in publication order - I suspect because this is non-fiction, but then Stoker's notes were included in the main body, too, and they surely also count as non-fiction?
March 28, 2021
This is a compilation of very early vampire stories that aren't the usual suspects that are generally chosen for vampire anthologies. I had come across 'The Blood Drinking Corpse' before, and 'The Blood Fetish' seemed familiar, but the others were all new to me. In a nice touch there is a short section about the author and the story before each entry. This is particularly nice when the compilation is on audio. The narration by Gildart Jackson is very good. This is an enjoyable free selection from Audible.
The Blood Drinking Corpse (1679), by Pu Songling. 3 stars. A very early story of the undead, involving some travelers who chose the wrong barn to spend the night in. This has also been translated as 'The Resuscitated Corpse' and as 'Living Dead'. It is short and straight to the point.
The Vampire; or Pedro Pacheco and the Bruxa (1863), by William H.G. Kingston. 3.5 stars. This is an interesting early take on the vampire genre that can be enjoyed on multiple levels. It can be enjoyed as a fun creepy story that was interestingly first published in a collection of children's tales while being rather gruesome for children. Also, an entire treatise could be written on the aspect of the story that scapegoats women as the bruxa which is much closer to the modern interpretation of witches than it is to vampires. Though interestingly the bruxa, who are women who aren't pious enough and get tricked into being converted to these bruxa are able to transform at night into owls or bats. This predates Dracula and his bat transformation by many years. The bruxa are attributed with the murder of children, so women are blamed for a high childhood mortality rate. Then there is Pedro, the bon vivant who gets ensnared by a bruxa. He ends up having a nighttime adventure much to the chagrin of his severe wife.
The White Maniac: A Doctor's Tale (1867), by Mary Fortune. 4 stars. Which one of the inhabitants of the white house is actually mad? An interesting and original early take on the vampire tale.
Madame de St. Croix (1869), by G.J. Whyte-Melville. 3 stars. Historically interesting. This is an excerpt from the longer 'Bones and I: Or the Skeleton at Home'. It is entitled 'The Vampire' and involves a woman of eternal youth and the man who keeps crossing her path.
Margery of Quether (1884), by Sabine Baring-Gould. 3 stars. Another weird early vampire tale involving a creature that resides in a belfry. What is interesting is how the victim and the townsfolk react to this creature.
Count Wampyr (1890), by Bram Stoker. Early notes for the novel Dracula.
A Kiss of Judas (1893), by Julian Osgood Field. 3 stars. This is a very loose interpretation of vampire as this story is peopled by a creature described as more of a demon. It does score points for originality. The protagonist, Colonel 'Hippy' Rowan, has a very strange encounter on a cruise ship. He inadvertently insults a stranger who is hell bent to have his revenge.
Herself (1894), by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. 2.5 stars. Braddon was a popular, prolific, Victorian author of what was called 'sensation fiction'. 'Herself' is one of her less widely known stories. it involves an heiress who inherits an Italian Villa, much to her detriment.
The Priest and His Cook (The Vampire) (1895), by Prof. P. Jones. 4 stars. This is an excerpt from 'The Pobratim: A Slav Novel', which contains Slavic folk tales. A story within a story. The first story about the greedy priest and his unpleasant cook is very humorous. The larger story involves a man who is trying to prevent his brother from becoming a vampire.
The Woman With the Oily Eyes (1899), by Dick Donovan. 3.5 stars. A suspenseful tale of a man trying to rescue his friend from a diabolical woman he has become entangled with much to the devastation of his bride.
The Story of Annette (From the Official Files), a Sequel/Prequel to The Woman With the Oily Eyes, by Dick Donovan. 2 stars. This really doesn't add much to the story.
The Vampire (1901), by Hugh McCrae. 2 stars. This is a weirdly romantic poem about an encounter with a vampire by an Australian author.
Medusa (1902), by Phil Robinson. 3 stars. Another tempting female vamp with mesmerizing eyes.
The Lover's Ordeal (1905), by R. Murray Gilchrist. 2.5 stars. The ordeal in question is that a young man is given the task of staying the night in a haunted house that belongs to his betrothed.
The Vengeance of the Dead (1907), by Lionel Sparrow. 2 stars. Spiritualists, Hindu mysticism, revenge, and murder. Too much exposition.
The Blood Fetish (1909), by Morley Roberts. 3.5 stars. A widely travelled, largely forgotten author. This story was inspired by an incident that occurred when the author was in Africa. A fun, creepy story story about an unusual hand.
Appendix: Vampires and Ghouls (1871), by Charles Dickens Jr. A mildly interesting history of beliefs in vampires.
The Blood Drinking Corpse (1679), by Pu Songling. 3 stars. A very early story of the undead, involving some travelers who chose the wrong barn to spend the night in. This has also been translated as 'The Resuscitated Corpse' and as 'Living Dead'. It is short and straight to the point.
The Vampire; or Pedro Pacheco and the Bruxa (1863), by William H.G. Kingston. 3.5 stars. This is an interesting early take on the vampire genre that can be enjoyed on multiple levels. It can be enjoyed as a fun creepy story that was interestingly first published in a collection of children's tales while being rather gruesome for children. Also, an entire treatise could be written on the aspect of the story that scapegoats women as the bruxa which is much closer to the modern interpretation of witches than it is to vampires. Though interestingly the bruxa, who are women who aren't pious enough and get tricked into being converted to these bruxa are able to transform at night into owls or bats. This predates Dracula and his bat transformation by many years. The bruxa are attributed with the murder of children, so women are blamed for a high childhood mortality rate. Then there is Pedro, the bon vivant who gets ensnared by a bruxa. He ends up having a nighttime adventure much to the chagrin of his severe wife.
The White Maniac: A Doctor's Tale (1867), by Mary Fortune. 4 stars. Which one of the inhabitants of the white house is actually mad? An interesting and original early take on the vampire tale.
Madame de St. Croix (1869), by G.J. Whyte-Melville. 3 stars. Historically interesting. This is an excerpt from the longer 'Bones and I: Or the Skeleton at Home'. It is entitled 'The Vampire' and involves a woman of eternal youth and the man who keeps crossing her path.
Margery of Quether (1884), by Sabine Baring-Gould. 3 stars. Another weird early vampire tale involving a creature that resides in a belfry. What is interesting is how the victim and the townsfolk react to this creature.
Count Wampyr (1890), by Bram Stoker. Early notes for the novel Dracula.
A Kiss of Judas (1893), by Julian Osgood Field. 3 stars. This is a very loose interpretation of vampire as this story is peopled by a creature described as more of a demon. It does score points for originality. The protagonist, Colonel 'Hippy' Rowan, has a very strange encounter on a cruise ship. He inadvertently insults a stranger who is hell bent to have his revenge.
Herself (1894), by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. 2.5 stars. Braddon was a popular, prolific, Victorian author of what was called 'sensation fiction'. 'Herself' is one of her less widely known stories. it involves an heiress who inherits an Italian Villa, much to her detriment.
The Priest and His Cook (The Vampire) (1895), by Prof. P. Jones. 4 stars. This is an excerpt from 'The Pobratim: A Slav Novel', which contains Slavic folk tales. A story within a story. The first story about the greedy priest and his unpleasant cook is very humorous. The larger story involves a man who is trying to prevent his brother from becoming a vampire.
The Woman With the Oily Eyes (1899), by Dick Donovan. 3.5 stars. A suspenseful tale of a man trying to rescue his friend from a diabolical woman he has become entangled with much to the devastation of his bride.
The Story of Annette (From the Official Files), a Sequel/Prequel to The Woman With the Oily Eyes, by Dick Donovan. 2 stars. This really doesn't add much to the story.
The Vampire (1901), by Hugh McCrae. 2 stars. This is a weirdly romantic poem about an encounter with a vampire by an Australian author.
Medusa (1902), by Phil Robinson. 3 stars. Another tempting female vamp with mesmerizing eyes.
The Lover's Ordeal (1905), by R. Murray Gilchrist. 2.5 stars. The ordeal in question is that a young man is given the task of staying the night in a haunted house that belongs to his betrothed.
The Vengeance of the Dead (1907), by Lionel Sparrow. 2 stars. Spiritualists, Hindu mysticism, revenge, and murder. Too much exposition.
The Blood Fetish (1909), by Morley Roberts. 3.5 stars. A widely travelled, largely forgotten author. This story was inspired by an incident that occurred when the author was in Africa. A fun, creepy story story about an unusual hand.
Appendix: Vampires and Ghouls (1871), by Charles Dickens Jr. A mildly interesting history of beliefs in vampires.
November 12, 2019
Good Victorian Era and Older Stories
I enjoyed this collection of vampire stories from earlier times. Most of them are from the Victorian period, some even older, and you have to be okay with the archaic style of English and the slower pace of such stories, or you won't enjoy them. That said, there are some very creepy scenes in several of these stories, and it's interesting to see how the vampire legends manifest in different cultures and times, and what these authors came up with for plots. One flaw in this collection is that certain words are mistyped, probably due to computer programs. For instance, in one sentence the word "clay" appears instead of the word "day" which makes you pause for a moment to be sure you're understanding the sentence properly. But you can tell what the correct word should be, by the context. Still, I wish someone had proof read this collection more closely and fixed those errors. Otherwise, if you like old-fashioned tales, you'll probably like this bunch.
I enjoyed this collection of vampire stories from earlier times. Most of them are from the Victorian period, some even older, and you have to be okay with the archaic style of English and the slower pace of such stories, or you won't enjoy them. That said, there are some very creepy scenes in several of these stories, and it's interesting to see how the vampire legends manifest in different cultures and times, and what these authors came up with for plots. One flaw in this collection is that certain words are mistyped, probably due to computer programs. For instance, in one sentence the word "clay" appears instead of the word "day" which makes you pause for a moment to be sure you're understanding the sentence properly. But you can tell what the correct word should be, by the context. Still, I wish someone had proof read this collection more closely and fixed those errors. Otherwise, if you like old-fashioned tales, you'll probably like this bunch.
March 28, 2023
So, this is actually a wonderful collection of old vampire stories. The editor has done well. The reason this is at a 3-star is that, well, the stories themselves aren't great. Bram Stoker did a lot with Dracula, and it's obvious from this collection how far modern vampire lore in media has come. I enjoyed the read just because it was strange. I never knew how the stories would end because I was never quite sure what kind of vampire we were dealing with. There's some xenophobia with these old stories, and there seems to be some racism involved in assuming certain looks to be "evil", all that is to be expected in old stories, but it's still not pleasant as a modern reader. This collection is for people who want a greater experience with vampire fiction and it's history and not really for casual readers.
October 28, 2017
Better than average collection of late 19th early 20th century vampire stories. Sometimes the “vampire” is a bit of a stretch. My favorite story is the last story about vampire hand.
June 15, 2022
An excellent collection of obscure UK and AUS vampire stories.
October 28, 2023
Academically it's kind of interesting, but none of the stories in this collection really stuck out to me.
October 19, 2024
A fascinating selection.
October 12, 2025
picked this for halloween month, the stories are nice and they definitely fit with the vibe.
November 4, 2015
4.0 stars
the Blood-Drinking Corpse by Pu Songling ****
the Vampire; or, Pedro Pacheco and the Bruxa by William H.G. Kingston ****
the White Mania: A Doctor's Tale by Mary Fortune ****
Madame de St Croix by G.J. Whyte-Melville ****
Margery of Quether by Sabine Baring-Gould ****
Count Wampyr by Bram Stoker ****
A Kiss of Judas by Julian Osgood Field ****
Herself by Mary Elizabeth Braddon ****
the Priest and His Cook by Prof P Jones ****
the Woman with the Oily Eyes by Dick Donovan ****
the Story of Annette by Dick Donovan ****
the Vampire by Hugh McCrae ****
Medusa by Phil Robinson ****
the Lover's Ordeal by R. Murray Gilchrist ****
the Vengeance of the Dead by Lionel Sparrow ****
the Blood Fetish by Morley Roberts ****
Vampyres and Ghouls by Charles Dickens, Jr ****
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
the Blood-Drinking Corpse by Pu Songling ****
the Vampire; or, Pedro Pacheco and the Bruxa by William H.G. Kingston ****
the White Mania: A Doctor's Tale by Mary Fortune ****
Madame de St Croix by G.J. Whyte-Melville ****
Margery of Quether by Sabine Baring-Gould ****
Count Wampyr by Bram Stoker ****
A Kiss of Judas by Julian Osgood Field ****
Herself by Mary Elizabeth Braddon ****
the Priest and His Cook by Prof P Jones ****
the Woman with the Oily Eyes by Dick Donovan ****
the Story of Annette by Dick Donovan ****
the Vampire by Hugh McCrae ****
Medusa by Phil Robinson ****
the Lover's Ordeal by R. Murray Gilchrist ****
the Vengeance of the Dead by Lionel Sparrow ****
the Blood Fetish by Morley Roberts ****
Vampyres and Ghouls by Charles Dickens, Jr ****
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
June 26, 2012
While contemporary Vampire Stories certainly have their place,
please do not, for a Moment, mistake this Book for a piece of pop-culture...
I am not a reviewer! Please read the Book, however, if you would enjoy the opportunity to discover older, somewhat neglected
Vampyre *Literature*.
One of the Editors of this fine collection, Robert Eighteen-Bisang, was involved in the transcription of notes for Bram Stoker's
Dracula, .
www.canada.com/surreynow/news/story.h...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have, thus far, read only a few of the Stories within this amazing treasure. These are international tales, beginning with a Story by one Pu-Songling of Shadong Province, China, written in 1679. The Anthology includes Stories which were published from 1679-1909, with an Appendix, which happens to have been penned by one Charles Dickens, Jr. (1871).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the first five Stories I have read is Sabine Baring-Gould's, "Margery of Quether." (1884) I have rarely been so frightened by a piece of literature!! The images within these pages are forEver inscribed within my Mind...
The man who wrote "Margery of Quether"...well, I would like to write more about him after I research him a bit more...He is worthy of a more thorough investigation than I may have time to do...I'd still enjoy being able to...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope to return soon and tell you more about this somewhat semi- buried Gold. I cannot wait to sink my...wait! I don't wish to be trite here :) I can't wait to burrow more deeply into this gleaming, so far, horrifying, literary Collection!
Many hearty thanks to the Editors,
Mr. Eighteen-Bisang and Mr. Richard Dalby
CherylFaith Taylor, in mid-read of several Books, June 2012
please do not, for a Moment, mistake this Book for a piece of pop-culture...
I am not a reviewer! Please read the Book, however, if you would enjoy the opportunity to discover older, somewhat neglected
Vampyre *Literature*.
One of the Editors of this fine collection, Robert Eighteen-Bisang, was involved in the transcription of notes for Bram Stoker's
Dracula, .
www.canada.com/surreynow/news/story.h...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have, thus far, read only a few of the Stories within this amazing treasure. These are international tales, beginning with a Story by one Pu-Songling of Shadong Province, China, written in 1679. The Anthology includes Stories which were published from 1679-1909, with an Appendix, which happens to have been penned by one Charles Dickens, Jr. (1871).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the first five Stories I have read is Sabine Baring-Gould's, "Margery of Quether." (1884) I have rarely been so frightened by a piece of literature!! The images within these pages are forEver inscribed within my Mind...
The man who wrote "Margery of Quether"...well, I would like to write more about him after I research him a bit more...He is worthy of a more thorough investigation than I may have time to do...I'd still enjoy being able to...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope to return soon and tell you more about this somewhat semi- buried Gold. I cannot wait to sink my...wait! I don't wish to be trite here :) I can't wait to burrow more deeply into this gleaming, so far, horrifying, literary Collection!
Many hearty thanks to the Editors,
Mr. Eighteen-Bisang and Mr. Richard Dalby
CherylFaith Taylor, in mid-read of several Books, June 2012
June 25, 2014
Vintage Vampire Stories is a collection of 15 rare vampire stories written between 1679 and 1909, plus the reproduction of Bram Stoker's notes for Dracula and an essay about vampire literature by Charles Dickens Jnr.
While I admire the goals behind the creation of such a book, I didn't find it an enjoyable read. Many of the stories focused more on exposition instead of action (i.e. breaking the cardinal rule of "show, don't tell") and/or failed to grab my attention. I often skimmed and was guilty of skipping the stories that really didn't grab me. One of the most enjoyable reads – Margery of Quether by Sabine Baring-Gould – had more than a few typos which just brought the story down.
1.5 stars.
While I admire the goals behind the creation of such a book, I didn't find it an enjoyable read. Many of the stories focused more on exposition instead of action (i.e. breaking the cardinal rule of "show, don't tell") and/or failed to grab my attention. I often skimmed and was guilty of skipping the stories that really didn't grab me. One of the most enjoyable reads – Margery of Quether by Sabine Baring-Gould – had more than a few typos which just brought the story down.
1.5 stars.
Read
February 26, 2015Most stories were About female vampires-not all of whom were pretty!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2016
Short stories about life-sucking ghouls from before Dracula was a brand name...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews