Showing results by author "John Polidori" in All Categories

Critically acclaimed audiobook reader Barnaby Edwards (Doctor Who, The Voyage of the Beagle, Space Danger) performs 11 tales of ghostly gothic spookiness. From tales of vampyres and spirits to devil’s deals and ethereal coachmen. Short but oh so sweet, these 11 stories from some of the most lauded authors of the Gothic period prove that you need only a few pages to tell a truly terrifying tale.

Young, impressionable Aubrey is fascinated by the enigmatic Lord Ruthven, and accompanies him on a tour to Europe. But Aubrey develops a growing distaste for Lord Ruthven’s sinister and grotesque conduct - especially as it concerns human blood. This novella, penned during that tempestuous night in Switzerland amongst such notables as Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley, served as the great inspiration for Bram Stoker to create Dracula.

Four classic tales of the undead, read by Bill Wallis, Anthony Head, John Telfer and Cornelius Garrett.

John William Polidori was born on 7th September 1795, in London, to Gaetano Polidori. In 1816 Dr Polidori was given the job of Byron’s personal physician and accompanied him on a trip through Europe. The publisher John Murray offered Polidori £500 to keep a diary of their travels. At the Villa Diodati, Byron’s rented villa at Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the pair met with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont.

The Vampyre by John Polidori, narrated by Declan McHugh, is one of the earliest and most influential vampire tales in literary history. This dark and atmospheric story follows the mysterious and sinister Lord Ruthven, an aristocratic figure whose charm hides a terrifying secret. As Lord Ruthven lures his unsuspecting victims, the chilling truth about his nature is slowly revealed, drawing listeners into a world of gothic suspense and supernatural horror.

Aubrey, an orphaned young gentleman in possession of a large fortune, arrives in London for the season where he meets the mysterious Lord Ruthven. Aubrey befriends Lord Ruthven and upon discovering that Ruthven is planning a trip to Europe, decides to take his grand tour at the same time and travel with him. The longer Aubrey is with Ruthven the more he discovers about him. He decides to distance himself from Ruthven; but is he already too late to save all that he holds dear from the thirst of the vampire?

Noted as one of the first pieces of literature to feature vampirism effectively, The Vampyre follows the adventures of a wealthy young man named Aubrey who befriends a mysterious, suave nobleman named Lord Ruthven. As Aubrey begins to realize just how dangerous Lord Ruthven is, he discovers that his beloved sister is in the monster's sights.

Few horror stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. This collection of eight enduring stories, some well-known, others less familiar, carry you to all corners of the world where terrors lurk. Featuring work by H.P. Lovecraft, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edgar Allan Poe and Vernon Lee, experience the skin-crawling undead, a pestilence that leaves no one unaffected, imagined horrors that emerge from disturbed minds and others that require no imagination at all....

In 1816, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley visited Lord Byron in Switzerland. After reading an anthology of German ghost stories, Byron challenged the Shelleys and his personal physician, John Polidori, to write horror stories of their own. Polidori was the only one to complete a story, and a good one, at that. Mary did come up with an idea though, and it became was the germ of Frankenstein.

Do you like vampire love stories and vampire romance from different countries? If so, you will really enjoy our 5 in 1 Vampire Love Story Box Set: Stories of Vampire Romance from Around the World.

El vampiro (en inglés: The Vampyre) es un relato escrito por John William Polidori, el creador del género del vampiro romántico.​ Lo escribió en la ciudad de Ginebra en el que fue el año sin verano: en las famosas y tormentosas noches del 16 al 19 de junio de 1816. La obra surgió en la Villa Diodati, donde se hallaba Polidori con Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, y la hermanastra de ésta Claire Clairmont. La Villa Diodati era considerada por Mary Shelley como un lugar culturalmente sagrado, en donde habían estado escritores como John Milton, Rousseau y Voltaire.

A young English gentleman of means, Aubrey is immediately intrigued by Lord Ruthven, the mysterious newcomer among society’s elite. His unknown origin and curious behavior tantalizes Aubrey’s imagination. But the young man soon discovers a sinister character hidden behind his new friend’s glamorous facade. When the two are set upon by bandits while traveling together in Europe, Ruthven is fatally injured. Before drawing his last breath, he makes the odd request that Aubrey keep his death and crimes secret for a year and a day.

La historia sigue a Aubrey, un joven inglés que viaja a Europa del Este y se encuentra con Lord Ruthven, un misterioso noble que esconde un oscuro secreto. A medida que se desarrolla su amistad, Aubrey se ve arrastrado a un mundo de horror y desesperación al descubrir la verdadera naturaleza de Ruthven.

John William Polidori was an English physician and an associate of Byron and Shelley. On a tour with the two poets and Mary Godwin (later Shelley), Polidori participated in a competition to write a short ghost story. Polidori's contribution was The Vampyre, which is considered to be the first modern work of vampire fiction. The central figures in the plot are the mysterious and sinister Lord Ruthven, and a naïve and wealthy young man named Aubrey. Polidori's tale proved very influential.

Chi non è curioso di scavare nelle allucinazioni, in quei sogni psicotropi dove panico e orrore assumono la forma di quel che non vogliamo vedere? O di scoprire le origini letterarie dei vampiri, la loro prima apparizione su carta e inchiostro? O ancora, di leggere di assassini, presagi di morte, cuori pulsanti, pendoli e corvi neri — chi, insomma, non desidera indagare nelle proprie paure? In questo volume, quattro storie tra le più classiche del genere, racconti che hanno influenzato cultura pop e letteratura, cinema e televisione.

Quando Aubrey incontra Lord Ruthven per le strade di Londra, il giovane inglese non può far a meno di notare l'aura di mistero che avvolge lo sconosciuto - una solennità antica e oscura, un pallore sinistro che rendono Lord Ruthven una figura indecifrabile. Insieme viaggiano per l'Europa, e questa sensazione di oscurità imminente non abbandonerà mai Aubrey. C'è una leggenda, una voce nell'orecchio di Aubrey a cui lui però non vuole dar retta neppure quando, sulla loro strada, cominceranno a incontrare strane uccisioni di donne.

The story begins in the modern-day London party scene. Two men quickly strike up a friendship and later decide to travel across Europe together, encountering some beautiful women and wild adventures along the way. But could either one of the friends have ever predicted how this story would end?

Aubrey, jeune homme de bonne famille, rencontre Lord Ruthven, un homme étrange et mystérieux qu'il admire aussitôt et avec lequel il se lie d'amitié. Ils partent ensemble en voyage en Europe, en Italie puis en Grèce. Aubrey se rend vite compte que le Lord sème la désolation et la mort sur sa route, en même temps qu'il exerce sur son entourage une inquiétante fascination. Il décide de prendre ses distances avec son ami, mais il va s'avérer bien plus difficile que prévu de quitter un tel homme.

Per chi ama il genere gotico, e non sa resistere alle atmosfere dark, ecco un’imperdibile proposta in versione integrale dell’audiolibro, de "Il Vampiro"...

Il primo di questi tre racconti è lo storico "Il Vampiro" con cui John William Polidori (1795-1821) inaugurò le vicende letterarie di questa creatura dell’orrore. Lo scrittore era anche il segretario e medico personale del poeta George Byron, a cui si fa più volte riferimento, nel racconto, alttribuendone a lui la paternità, secondo una non insolita finzione letteraria.