The Vampyre, Also Featuring: The Vampire; or, The Bride of the Isles

The Vampyre (1819) follows a young Englishman, Aubrey, who becomes enchanted by the mysterious Lord Ruthven. As they travel through Europe, Aubrey witnesses Ruthven's destructive influence and uncovers unsettling truths. After Ruthven disappears and Ianthe, a woman who Aubrey loves, dies under suspicious circumstances. Bound by an oath not to reveal Ruthven's secrets, Aubrey is horrified when Ruthven reappears in London under a new identity and begins courting Aubrey's sister. Aubrey watches helplessly as Ruthven prepares to claim his next victim.

The Vampire; or, The Bride of the Isles (1820) is a Gothic melodrama set in the Scottish Isles, where Lady Margaret is haunted by a prophetic vision of her own death at the hands of a vampire. As the story unfolds, themes of supernatural dread, romantic peril, and eerie prophecy converge in a theatrical spectacle that helped popularize the vampire as a refined and seductive antagonist on the English stage.