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Vampires: Back in Time to the First Darkness - The Original Stories
Here come the creatures of the night, in eight timeless tales of horror that have terrified generations and inspired the recent flowering of vampire literature. Discover classics of the genre, such as John Polidori's The Vampyre (written by Lord Byron's physician) and Carmilla, the novella that inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula and provoked a scandal with its lesbian undercurrent. This fascinating collection also features Johann Ludwig Tieck, Sheridan LeFanu, Guy de Maupssant, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (and his beloved detective, Sherlock Holmes), E.F. Benson, and Stoker himself, with “Dracula's Guest”--believed to be the original first chapter of his novel, excised by the publisher.
349 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 24, 2014
Another vampire book
If you're looking for Twilight, move on. Vampires is an anthology of the classic vampire tales wherein Vampires are Vampires -- think ghoulish shadows in the dark, fangs tainted with fresh blood; The Undead.
None of those glitters in sun stuff, thank you very much
Still I have to thank Twilight for thise resurgence in vampire stories. I actually bought my copy for the sole purpose of owning a hardbound copy of Sheridan LeFanu's "Carmilla". Hence, all the other stories is just bonus for me.
Since they are "Classics", most of the stories are actually pre-Dracula or are Dracula's contemporary. The writing style is definitely old and most plots are predictable.
My favorite so far (besides Carmilla) has been EF Benson's "The Room in Tower". It is the most "modern" story in the bunch, although it still suffers from being predictable and anticlimatic at the end. Nevertheless, the recurring imagery of Mrs Stone's party ending in that room in the tower read like frightening version of Groundhog Day. The repeated party scene. The toast, the invitation to go to the room in the tower. Everytime he stands at the threshold of the room, I hold my breath expecting something. Unfortunately, the ending does not satisfy, so...
4 stars
If you're looking for Twilight, move on. Vampires is an anthology of the classic vampire tales wherein Vampires are Vampires -- think ghoulish shadows in the dark, fangs tainted with fresh blood; The Undead.
None of those glitters in sun stuff, thank you very much
Still I have to thank Twilight for thise resurgence in vampire stories. I actually bought my copy for the sole purpose of owning a hardbound copy of Sheridan LeFanu's "Carmilla". Hence, all the other stories is just bonus for me.
Since they are "Classics", most of the stories are actually pre-Dracula or are Dracula's contemporary. The writing style is definitely old and most plots are predictable.
My favorite so far (besides Carmilla) has been EF Benson's "The Room in Tower". It is the most "modern" story in the bunch, although it still suffers from being predictable and anticlimatic at the end. Nevertheless, the recurring imagery of Mrs Stone's party ending in that room in the tower read like frightening version of Groundhog Day. The repeated party scene. The toast, the invitation to go to the room in the tower. Everytime he stands at the threshold of the room, I hold my breath expecting something. Unfortunately, the ending does not satisfy, so...
4 stars
June 14, 2014
a nice change from the romanticized vampires of today. some stories did start slow, but ended in a pleasantly unexpected way.
February 21, 2021
Honestly, a great diverse collection of the stories that starts it all. In a time where we are inundated with vampire stories in popular culture, it was great to hear the originals. I’ve never re-read an introduction to a book so many times. READ THAT TOO!
Think less pretty boys swooning over a female lead in a girlish fantasy story....and more blood chilling horror / illicit sexuality / philosophical inquiry into the link between life and death.
Carmilla and The Horla were the real winners here. I recommend you tough it out through the first few chapters because the language is pretty lofty in those texts from the 1800s. But they are necessary inclusions to make this book a true look back into “the first darkness.”
Definitely the best stories I have ever read including vampires. What more is there to say?
Think less pretty boys swooning over a female lead in a girlish fantasy story....and more blood chilling horror / illicit sexuality / philosophical inquiry into the link between life and death.
Carmilla and The Horla were the real winners here. I recommend you tough it out through the first few chapters because the language is pretty lofty in those texts from the 1800s. But they are necessary inclusions to make this book a true look back into “the first darkness.”
Definitely the best stories I have ever read including vampires. What more is there to say?
August 7, 2018
A very interesting set of short stories! I really enjoyed experiencing some original gothic vampire tales, which each in their own way creeped me out despite their age. Having craved some stories about vampires for quite some time now, it just proves that sometimes it really is best to go back to the classics.
My favourites of the set have to be Wake Not The Dead, The Vampyre, The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire and The Room in the Tower, however I throughly enjoyed The Horla and the other short stories in their own individual way. Vampires will always be one of, if not my most, favourite supernatural creature, and this anthology simply confirmed this. There really needs to be a comeback of vampire novels!
My favourites of the set have to be Wake Not The Dead, The Vampyre, The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire and The Room in the Tower, however I throughly enjoyed The Horla and the other short stories in their own individual way. Vampires will always be one of, if not my most, favourite supernatural creature, and this anthology simply confirmed this. There really needs to be a comeback of vampire novels!
March 12, 2015
Vampires are no longer terrifying creatures of the night. We dress up as them, fantasise about them and use their clichés to learn to count. While there’s nothing wrong with this, it’s quite exhilarating when I get to read about murderous, disturbing vampires. Watkins Publishing allowed me to do this with the anthology Back in Time to the First Darkness: Vampires- The Original Stories. They present the classic vampire stories:
Wake Not the Dead by Johann Ludwig Tieck
The Vampyre by John William Polidori
The Mysterious Stranger by Anonymous
Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stroker
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Horla by Guy De Maupassant
And
The Room in the Tower by E.F. Benson.
Most of the stories belonged in the anthology, except for The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire. While it was entertaining, it didn’t actually contain a vampire. I know it shows how vampires in literature inspired non-horror writers, but it was still disappointing. Maybe if it was one of the earliest stories, it would have made sense but this was 1924. Vampirism in literature was nothing new at this point. I just think they sacrificed a really interesting story for this. The same thing can be said about Dracula’s Guest (but it’s Dracula so it had to be included) and The Room in the Tower (which was just ok).
Most of the stories are pretty good. They vary in writing style so you’ll find at least one that you like and they all have a classic ghoulish feel to them, which you’d expect from vampire stories. I liked most characters, but would have loved a bigger variety in the plots. Then again, maybe there just weren’t any vampire stories from the vampire’s perspective.
The flow of the book was great. It starts with an introduction, which gives us basic information, and proceeds with the stories chronologically with a few exceptions. For example, Carmilla was written before Dracula’s Guest but was placed after it. It works because Carmilla was the longest story in the book and if it was chronologically, it would have been after The Mysterious Stranger, another long story. By having Dracula’s Guest between these two stories, we were given a chance to breathe and have a break from heavy reading.
There was one instance where it didn’t work. As I said earlier, I would have left out The Room in the Tower or at least moved it. The Horla would have been a better ending. It can be linked to Wake Not the Dead a lot more than The Room in the Tower does.
Many countries have their own version of vampires so they should have their own stories. Right? Unfortunately, they only stories included were written by English, German or French writers. Even if there was
just one story featuring a Vetela or a Manananggal, it would help present the vampire culture as universal and not just a western idea. This would have made it even stronger
This anthology was a great read. The stories were fascinating and it gave me a lot of knowledge of the vampire genre in a way that wasn’t boring. However, due to a few stories that didn’t appeal to me and the fact that it was primarily western-male centric writers, I’ll give it 8.4/10.
Wake Not the Dead by Johann Ludwig Tieck
The Vampyre by John William Polidori
The Mysterious Stranger by Anonymous
Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stroker
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Horla by Guy De Maupassant
And
The Room in the Tower by E.F. Benson.
Most of the stories belonged in the anthology, except for The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire. While it was entertaining, it didn’t actually contain a vampire. I know it shows how vampires in literature inspired non-horror writers, but it was still disappointing. Maybe if it was one of the earliest stories, it would have made sense but this was 1924. Vampirism in literature was nothing new at this point. I just think they sacrificed a really interesting story for this. The same thing can be said about Dracula’s Guest (but it’s Dracula so it had to be included) and The Room in the Tower (which was just ok).
Most of the stories are pretty good. They vary in writing style so you’ll find at least one that you like and they all have a classic ghoulish feel to them, which you’d expect from vampire stories. I liked most characters, but would have loved a bigger variety in the plots. Then again, maybe there just weren’t any vampire stories from the vampire’s perspective.
The flow of the book was great. It starts with an introduction, which gives us basic information, and proceeds with the stories chronologically with a few exceptions. For example, Carmilla was written before Dracula’s Guest but was placed after it. It works because Carmilla was the longest story in the book and if it was chronologically, it would have been after The Mysterious Stranger, another long story. By having Dracula’s Guest between these two stories, we were given a chance to breathe and have a break from heavy reading.
There was one instance where it didn’t work. As I said earlier, I would have left out The Room in the Tower or at least moved it. The Horla would have been a better ending. It can be linked to Wake Not the Dead a lot more than The Room in the Tower does.
Many countries have their own version of vampires so they should have their own stories. Right? Unfortunately, they only stories included were written by English, German or French writers. Even if there was
just one story featuring a Vetela or a Manananggal, it would help present the vampire culture as universal and not just a western idea. This would have made it even stronger
This anthology was a great read. The stories were fascinating and it gave me a lot of knowledge of the vampire genre in a way that wasn’t boring. However, due to a few stories that didn’t appeal to me and the fact that it was primarily western-male centric writers, I’ll give it 8.4/10.
September 8, 2014
Right I make no bones about this, and of I don't care if people get upset with what I'm going to say. Twilight is crap. Vampires and werewolves, demons, witches etc, are all nightmare creatures they're the basic elements of horror! They are scary. Yes I'm a hardcore horror buff. If you want romance buy mills & boon. The above book is full of REAL Vampire stories, the Originals. Carmilla & Wake not the Dead are my faves. If you fancy a night with some serious Gothic Blood Suckers then your in for a treat. Make sure you have a wild rose, garlic, Hawthorne and of course a wooden stake at hand and holy water.
Listen to the Children of the Night, what music they make......
Listen to the Children of the Night, what music they make......
March 10, 2012
Very enjoyable and interesting. Helped improved my vocabulary which is something I'm striving for this year. I had never read any of the stories except for the "The room in the tower" which I must have read years ago and forget where. It was a very interesting to see how vampires have progressed and how they stayed the same. Still I disagree with Twilight comment in the Introduction, as Meyer wrote Twilight without really knowing anything about Vampires/ never reading any works about them. Therefore, no linking about her fairies and her dumb fans.
Yeah, I'm one those Vamp Lovers.
Yeah, I'm one those Vamp Lovers.
December 8, 2011
Nice to read some original stories that vary vastly from what we now read as 'modern' vampire tales and in some ways a little more creepy and scary. Definitely a must read for vampire fans
May 19, 2013
Some of the original vampire stories from writers like Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Guy de Maupassant. Very good read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews