The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories

About this book

Seductive erotic doomed to immortality and forever hungry theyre lurking under the cover of darkness. In this collection of the very best vampire stories ever told we see this pale creature of the night emerge from the shadows of myth and legend. Here in all their horror and all their glory are the great vampires of literature: male and female invisible and metamorphic doomed and daring. Their skin deathly pale their nails curved like claws their fangs sharpened for the attack they are gathered for the kill and for the chill. Carefulthey are all crafty enough to steal their way into your imagination and steal away your hopes for a restful sleep. Contents: Introduction (Vampires) (1987) - essay by Alan Ryan. Fragment of a Novel (1816) - short story by Lord George Gordon Byron as by George Gordon Lord Byron. The Vampyre: A Tale Lord Ruthven (1966) - novelette by Dr. John William Polidori as by John Polidori. Varney the Vampyre; or The Feast of Blood (excerpt) (1847) - short fiction by James Malcolm Rymer. The Mysterious Stranger (1854) - novelette by Karl von Wachsmann (trans. of Der Fremde 1844) as by Anonymous. Carmilla Martin Hesselius (1872) - novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu as by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Good Lady Ducayne (1896) - novelette by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Draculas Guest Dracula (1914) - short story by Bram Stoker. Luella Miller (1902) - short story by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman as by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman. For the Blood Is the Life (1905) - short story by F. Marion Crawford. The Transfer (1911) - short story by Algernon Blackwood. The Room in the Tower (1912) - short story by E. F. Benson. An Episode of Cathedral History (1914) - short story by M. R. James. A Rendezvous in Averoigne Averoigne (1931) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith. Shambleau Northwest Smith (1933) - novelette by C. L. Moore. Revelations in Black (1933) - novelette by Carl Jacobi. School for the Unspeakable (1937) - short story by Manly Wade Wellman. The Drifting Snow (1939) - short story by August Derleth. Over the River (1941) - short story by P. Schuyler Miller. The Girl with the Hungry Eyes (1949) - short story by Fritz Leiber. The Mindworm (1950) - short story by C. M. Kornbluth. Drink My Blood (1951) - short story by Richard Matheson (variant of "Drink My Red Blood ..."). Place of Meeting (1953) - short story by Charles Beaumont. The Living Dead (1967) - short story by Robert Bloch (variant of Underground). Pages from a Young Girls Journal (1973) - novelette by Robert Aickman. The Werewolf and the Vampire (1975) - novelette by R. Chetwynd-Hayes. Love-Starved (1979) - short story by Charles L. Grant. Cabin 33 Count of Saint-Germain (1980) - novella by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Unicorn Tapestry (1980) - novella by Suzy McKee Charnas. Following the Way (1982) - short story by Alan Ryan. The Sunshine Club (1983) - short story by Ramsey Campbell. The Men and Women of Rivendale (1984) - short story by Steve Rasnic Tem. Bite-Me-Not or Fleur de Feu (1984) - novelette by Tanith Lee. Also published as: Vampires: Two Centuries of Great Vampire Stories.