Classic Vampire Tales (Vol. 1‪)‬

Classic Vampire Fiction at its very finest! Includes DRACULA'S GUEST by BRAM STOKER, plus other amazing stories by: J. SHERIDAN LEFANU / M. R. JAMES / F. MARION CRAWFORD / MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN / JAMES ROBINSON PLANCHE / JOHANN LUDWIG TIECK / E. F. BENSON / and ALGERNON BLACKWOOD.

Here's a little bit about each story:

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Lefanu:

A Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla. Carmilla predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years, and has been adapted many times for cinema.

Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker

It is widely believed that "Dracula's Guest" is the deleted first chapter from the original Dracula manuscript, which the publisher felt was superfluous to the story. In the preface to the original edition of Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories, Stoker's widow Florence wrote, "To his original list of stories in this book, I have added an hitherto unpublished episode from Dracula. It was originally excised owing to the length of the book, and may prove of interest to the many readers of what is considered my husband's most remarkable work."

An Episode Of Cathedral History by M. R. James

“Let us, then, be introduced to the actors in a placid way. Let us see them going about their ordinary business undisturbed by forebodings, pleased with their surroundings; and into this calm environment, let the ominous thing put out its head, unobtrusively at first, and then more insistently, until it holds the stage.”

The Room In The Tower by E. F. Benson

The story tells of a young man who frequently has nightmares, which tell of his visiting a friend's house during summer and then encountering the room in the tower, where he has to stay. The young man then is invited to a friend's house during summer, and is surprised that everything there matches his strange nightmares. Eventually seeing what the room hides inside, it reveals to be a gruesome portrait of Mrs. Stone, the mother of his "friend" in his nightmares. The young man eventually encounters the true horror that the room hides...

The Transfer by Algernon Blackwood

A desolate patch of earth where nothing seems to grow. A man noted for his ability to draw the life out of others. When this man and the desolate patch of earth come into contact, both are forever changed.

For The Blood Is The Life by F. Marion Crawford

This story was written four years before he died. Very atmospheric. The descriptions are lovely and so too is the segue from normal to paranormal as two friends sit after dinner on a hot summer night.

Luella Miller by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Luella Miller looks innocent and seems incapable of surviving on her own, so she calls her friends, relatives and lovers to help her. And one by one, they die.

The Bride Of The Isles by James Robinson Planche

This melodrama was first performed at the English Opera House in 1820. It was Planché's first success and an adaptation of a French melodrama, Le Vampire by Pierre Carmouche, Charles Nodier and Achille de Jouffry, which was first staged in Paris. This French play was inspired by John Polidori's tale, The Vampyre, published in 1819 and based on Fragment of a Novel, written by Lord Byron in 1816.

Wake Not The Dead by Johann Ludwig Tieck

Sin, while pleasurable, brings eternal negative repercussions. Considered the first modern vampire romance, about a man who loves his wife so much he has a necromancer return her to life, only to discover that she has become a vampire.