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Vampire Horror!
Four classic tales of the undead, read by Bill Wallis, Anthony Head, John Telfer and Cornelius Garrett. The Vampyre by John Polidori, Wailing Well by M.R. James, For the Blood is the Life by F. Marion Crawford, and An Episode of Cathedral History by M. R. James.
The Vampyre sees a young English gentleman accompanying an aristocrat on a tour of Europe. But Aubrey soon discovers that the charming Lord Ruthven is not what he appears to be. In The Wailing Well, three boy scouts find more than they bargained for when they search for a haunted well, while For the Blood is the Life tells the story of a mysterious mound and a murdered girl's dreadful vengeance. And in An Episode of Cathedral History, the uncovering of a stone tomb unleashes a terrible force of darkness.
Evocatively read by three of our finest actors, and with atmospheric music, these bloodcurdling tales are perfect listening for long winter nights.
The Vampyre sees a young English gentleman accompanying an aristocrat on a tour of Europe. But Aubrey soon discovers that the charming Lord Ruthven is not what he appears to be. In The Wailing Well, three boy scouts find more than they bargained for when they search for a haunted well, while For the Blood is the Life tells the story of a mysterious mound and a murdered girl's dreadful vengeance. And in An Episode of Cathedral History, the uncovering of a stone tomb unleashes a terrible force of darkness.
Evocatively read by three of our finest actors, and with atmospheric music, these bloodcurdling tales are perfect listening for long winter nights.
Audiobook
First published October 6, 2011
About the author
John William Polidori
364 books181 followersJohn William Polidori was an Italian English physician and writer, known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction.
Polidori was the oldest son of Gaetano Polidori, an Italian political émigré scholar, and Anna Maria Pierce, a governess. He had three brothers and four sisters.
He was one of the earliest pupils at recently established Ampleforth College from 1804, and in 1810 went up to the University of Edinburgh, where he wrote a thesis on sleepwalking and received his degree as a doctor of medicine on 1 August 1815 at the age of 19.
In 1816 Dr. Polidori entered Lord Byron's service as his personal physician, and accompanied Byron on a trip through Europe. At the Villa Diodati, a house Byron rented by Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the pair met with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and her husband-to-be, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their companion (Mary's stepsister) Claire Clairmont.
One night in June, after the company had read aloud from the Tales of the Dead, a collection of horror tales, Byron suggested that they each write a ghost story. Mary Shelley worked on a tale that would later evolve into Frankenstein. Byron wrote (and quickly abandoned) a fragment of a story, which Polidori used later as the basis for his own tale, The Vampyre, the first vampire story published in English.
Rather than use the crude, bestial vampire of folklore as a basis for his story, Polidori based his character on Byron. Polidori named the character "Lord Ruthven" as a joke. The name was originally used in Lady Caroline Lamb's novel Glenarvon, in which a thinly-disguised Byron figure was also named Lord Ruthven.
Polidori's Lord Ruthven was not only the first vampire in English fiction, but was also the first fictional vampire in the form we recognize today—an aristocratic fiend who preys among high society.
Dismissed by Byron, Polidori travelled in Italy and then returned to England. His story, "The Vampyre", was published in the April 1819 issue of New Monthly Magazine without his permission. Whilst in London he lived and died in Great Pulteney Street (Soho). Much to both his and Byron's chagrin, "The Vampyre" was released as a new work by Byron. Byron even released his own Fragment of a Novel in an attempt to clear up the mess, but, for better or worse, "The Vampyre" continued to be attributed to him.
His long, Byron-influenced theological poem The Fall of the Angels, was published anonymously in 1821.
He died in August 1821, weighed down by depression and gambling debts. Despite strong evidence that he committed suicide by means of prussic acid, the coroner gave a verdict of death by natural causes.
His sister Frances Polidori married exiled Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti, and so John is the uncle of Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti and Christina Rossetti, though they were born after his death.
His sister Charlotte made a transcription of his Diaries, but censored "peccant passages" and destroyed the original. Based only on the transcripton, The Diary of John Polidori was edited by William Michael Rossetti and first published in 1911 by Elkin Mathews (London). A reprint of this book, The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc was published by Folcroft Library Editions (Folcroft, Pa.) in 1975. Another reprint by the same title was printed by Norwood Editions (Norwood, Pa.) in 1978.
A number of films have depicted John Polidori and the genesis of the Frankenstein and "Vampyre" stories in 1816: Gothic directed by Ken Russell (1986), Haunted Summer directed by Ivan Passer (1988) and Remando al viento (English title: Rowing with the Wind) directed by Gonzalo Suárez (1988). He also appears as a minor and unsympathetic character in the Tim Powers horror novel The Stress o
Polidori was the oldest son of Gaetano Polidori, an Italian political émigré scholar, and Anna Maria Pierce, a governess. He had three brothers and four sisters.
He was one of the earliest pupils at recently established Ampleforth College from 1804, and in 1810 went up to the University of Edinburgh, where he wrote a thesis on sleepwalking and received his degree as a doctor of medicine on 1 August 1815 at the age of 19.
In 1816 Dr. Polidori entered Lord Byron's service as his personal physician, and accompanied Byron on a trip through Europe. At the Villa Diodati, a house Byron rented by Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the pair met with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and her husband-to-be, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their companion (Mary's stepsister) Claire Clairmont.
One night in June, after the company had read aloud from the Tales of the Dead, a collection of horror tales, Byron suggested that they each write a ghost story. Mary Shelley worked on a tale that would later evolve into Frankenstein. Byron wrote (and quickly abandoned) a fragment of a story, which Polidori used later as the basis for his own tale, The Vampyre, the first vampire story published in English.
Rather than use the crude, bestial vampire of folklore as a basis for his story, Polidori based his character on Byron. Polidori named the character "Lord Ruthven" as a joke. The name was originally used in Lady Caroline Lamb's novel Glenarvon, in which a thinly-disguised Byron figure was also named Lord Ruthven.
Polidori's Lord Ruthven was not only the first vampire in English fiction, but was also the first fictional vampire in the form we recognize today—an aristocratic fiend who preys among high society.
Dismissed by Byron, Polidori travelled in Italy and then returned to England. His story, "The Vampyre", was published in the April 1819 issue of New Monthly Magazine without his permission. Whilst in London he lived and died in Great Pulteney Street (Soho). Much to both his and Byron's chagrin, "The Vampyre" was released as a new work by Byron. Byron even released his own Fragment of a Novel in an attempt to clear up the mess, but, for better or worse, "The Vampyre" continued to be attributed to him.
His long, Byron-influenced theological poem The Fall of the Angels, was published anonymously in 1821.
He died in August 1821, weighed down by depression and gambling debts. Despite strong evidence that he committed suicide by means of prussic acid, the coroner gave a verdict of death by natural causes.
His sister Frances Polidori married exiled Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti, and so John is the uncle of Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti and Christina Rossetti, though they were born after his death.
His sister Charlotte made a transcription of his Diaries, but censored "peccant passages" and destroyed the original. Based only on the transcripton, The Diary of John Polidori was edited by William Michael Rossetti and first published in 1911 by Elkin Mathews (London). A reprint of this book, The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc was published by Folcroft Library Editions (Folcroft, Pa.) in 1975. Another reprint by the same title was printed by Norwood Editions (Norwood, Pa.) in 1978.
A number of films have depicted John Polidori and the genesis of the Frankenstein and "Vampyre" stories in 1816: Gothic directed by Ken Russell (1986), Haunted Summer directed by Ivan Passer (1988) and Remando al viento (English title: Rowing with the Wind) directed by Gonzalo Suárez (1988). He also appears as a minor and unsympathetic character in the Tim Powers horror novel The Stress o
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 5, 2025
Four short vampire stories, all fairly different and can be summarised as follows:
The Vampyr - Mostly noteworthy as the OTHER horror story that was written in the contest that gave us Frankenstein. This is, inevitably, not as good, although the idea of a vampire roaming Europe casually ruining people’s lives for kicks is novel enough. Once it zeroes in on our hapless protagonist it’s less fun though.
Wailing Well - M R James tries out a different kind of story, which at the start is more comedic than scary (a line about Scouts having to stop the lifesaving badge practical despite only four casualties is both very funny and feels very modern), once the horror starts it’s surprisingly nasty and well-written. The audiobook also has this story read by Anthony Head which is probably why I enjoyed this one the most.
The Blood Is The Life - An interesting take on vampirism because there’s nothing that suggests that the vampire in this story did anything in particular to turn into a vampire, instead the traumatic death was itself enough to bring up a vengeful vampiric spirit. Outside of that this has a lot of preamble and small town drama and thievery which makes it feels like extra incident is being used to extend a snappier and scarier short story.
An Episode of Cathedral History - Also not really a vampire story, and the suggestion of it being something older and more demonic is much more interesting. Since it’s M R James again it’s also got an encyclopediac knowledge of church history and how the layout of churches has changed over the years, which adds some flavour to the idea of old, dark history being unearthed as a result of ignorant modern ideas.
The Vampyr - Mostly noteworthy as the OTHER horror story that was written in the contest that gave us Frankenstein. This is, inevitably, not as good, although the idea of a vampire roaming Europe casually ruining people’s lives for kicks is novel enough. Once it zeroes in on our hapless protagonist it’s less fun though.
Wailing Well - M R James tries out a different kind of story, which at the start is more comedic than scary (a line about Scouts having to stop the lifesaving badge practical despite only four casualties is both very funny and feels very modern), once the horror starts it’s surprisingly nasty and well-written. The audiobook also has this story read by Anthony Head which is probably why I enjoyed this one the most.
The Blood Is The Life - An interesting take on vampirism because there’s nothing that suggests that the vampire in this story did anything in particular to turn into a vampire, instead the traumatic death was itself enough to bring up a vengeful vampiric spirit. Outside of that this has a lot of preamble and small town drama and thievery which makes it feels like extra incident is being used to extend a snappier and scarier short story.
An Episode of Cathedral History - Also not really a vampire story, and the suggestion of it being something older and more demonic is much more interesting. Since it’s M R James again it’s also got an encyclopediac knowledge of church history and how the layout of churches has changed over the years, which adds some flavour to the idea of old, dark history being unearthed as a result of ignorant modern ideas.
August 6, 2023
Included:
The Vampyre by John Polidori - Second read and equal feelings to the first time, good narrator Bill Wallis.
The Wailing Well by M. R. James - Very enjoyable and had a very foreboding atmosphere, another fantastic narrator Anthony Head.
For the Blood is the Life by F. Marion Crawford - Very mysterious and another great sinister atmosphere, really enjoyed the narration as well by John Telfer.
An Episode of Cathedral History by M. R. James - Very interesting atmosphere and tale with another great read by Cornelius Garrett.
The last three were equally my favourites for brilliant creation of atmosphere. Great classic collection though.
The Vampyre by John Polidori - Second read and equal feelings to the first time, good narrator Bill Wallis.
The Wailing Well by M. R. James - Very enjoyable and had a very foreboding atmosphere, another fantastic narrator Anthony Head.
For the Blood is the Life by F. Marion Crawford - Very mysterious and another great sinister atmosphere, really enjoyed the narration as well by John Telfer.
An Episode of Cathedral History by M. R. James - Very interesting atmosphere and tale with another great read by Cornelius Garrett.
The last three were equally my favourites for brilliant creation of atmosphere. Great classic collection though.
August 16, 2023
The narration, as one might expect from the list of actors, is excellent. This is a fine small collection of stories and certainly worth the time for the M.R. James pieces alone.
November 8, 2024
Four decent vintage horror stories. I really only listened to this for Anthony Head's narration.
Each story was different and interesting.
Each story was different and interesting.
November 30, 2025
The Vampyre - John Polidori - 3.5 stars
The Wailing Well - M.R. James - 4 stars
For the Blood is the Life - F. Marion Crawford - 3 stars
An Episode of Cathedral History - M.R. James - 3.5 stars
The Wailing Well - M.R. James - 4 stars
For the Blood is the Life - F. Marion Crawford - 3 stars
An Episode of Cathedral History - M.R. James - 3.5 stars
September 28, 2024
This was free with my Audible membership and fits a couple of different spots on my Halloween Bingo card.
It features 4 vintage horror tales:
The Vampyre by John Polidori (I've been wanting to read this as it's one of the books that came about the during the year with no summer, 1816. Due to the powerful eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, and the resulting particle clouds, temperatures dropped and caused miserable weather. Unfortunately,(or perhaps fortunately for the literary world), this was the setting of a group of vacationers reading stories aloud to one another, and then penning their own. This was one of them.
All that build up and I thought it was just ok. I know it must have been shocking for readers of the time, but in today's world it was just meh.
Wailing Well by M.R. James 3*
For the Blood is the Life by F. Marion Crawford 4*-
An Episode of Cathedral History by M. R. James 4*
Overall, the narrators gave good performances and I enjoyed these rather tame, but fun vintage horror tales.
It features 4 vintage horror tales:
The Vampyre by John Polidori (I've been wanting to read this as it's one of the books that came about the during the year with no summer, 1816. Due to the powerful eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, and the resulting particle clouds, temperatures dropped and caused miserable weather. Unfortunately,(or perhaps fortunately for the literary world), this was the setting of a group of vacationers reading stories aloud to one another, and then penning their own. This was one of them.
All that build up and I thought it was just ok. I know it must have been shocking for readers of the time, but in today's world it was just meh.
Wailing Well by M.R. James 3*
For the Blood is the Life by F. Marion Crawford 4*-
An Episode of Cathedral History by M. R. James 4*
Overall, the narrators gave good performances and I enjoyed these rather tame, but fun vintage horror tales.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews