Fifteen chilling tales recount some of the earliest examples of vampire lore ever published.

Gothic tales, traditional folklore, satire, psychological horror, and even romance set the stage for a diverse cast of undead characters, including the first ever black vampire story, gay vampires, lesbian vampires, psychic vampires, some old, some young, but all bloodthirsty!

This anthology also features the first vampire story ever set in the Carpathian region (The Mysterious Stranger, a possible influence on Bram Stoker), as well as Stoker's own story Dracula's Guest, excised by his publisher from his classic Dracula novel before publication.

CONTENTS:

A Fragment (1816) - Lord Byron

The Vampyre (1819) - John William Polidori

The Black Vampyre (1819) - Uriah Derick D'Arcy

Clarimonde (1836) - Théophile Gautier

The Mysterious Stranger (1854) - Anonymous (Karl von Wachsmann)

Carmilla (1872) - J. Sheridan LeFanu

Ken's Mystery (1883) - Julian Hawthorne

Manor (1885) - Karl Heinrich Ulrichs

Good Lady Ducayne (1896) - Mary E. Braddon

Dracula's Guest (1897) - Bram Stoker

The Tomb of Sarah (1900) - F. G. Loring

The Vampire Maid (1900) - Hume Nisbet

For The Blood is The Life (1911) - Francis Marion Crawford

The Room in The Tower (1912) - E. F. Benson

The Transfer (1912) - Algernon Blackwood