Brian Stableford
The theme of the resurrection from the dead takes multiple aspects, that of ghosts, zombies and vampires, but nothing is more frightening and seductive as the latter. Whereas a ghost is nothing more than a dead person who persists in wanting to continue living, it is in a form that ranges from the ineffably ethereal to the grotesquely repulsive. The vampire, on the other hand, is an incarnated ghost, condemned to feed on the blood of the living, (or sometimes their psychic energy) to keep on living. The vampire is a dead person who refuses to be dead; he asserts that he is not dead, but 'more-than-alive.'In this thematic collection (the first of three), we have gathered seven remarkable stories by Cyprien Bérard, Paul Féval, Louis-Sébastien Mercier, Marie Nizet, Charles Nodier, Jean Ray and J.-H. Rosny Aîné, published between 1768 and 1933, that encapsulate the basic archetypes of the Vampire myth, in both its erotic and thanatological forms.Meet the seductive Lord Ruthwen and the terrifying Count Dragomin, the Heir of Dracula; visit Selene the Vampire city and the legendary Isle of Blood; cross swords with Boris Liatoukine, the Vampire Captain, and the Demons of the Night.Is life after death a desirable dream or a loathsome abomination? And what price must be paid for it? Moral ambiguities abound in these stories which are but the mirror of our visions of the afterlife, and the embodiment of our choices.TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by J.-M. & Randy LofficierLouis-Sébastien Mercier : The Isle of Blood (1768)Charles Nodier : Smarra, or The Demons of the Night (1820)Cyprien Bérard: The Vampire Lord Ruthwen (1820)Paul Féval: Vampire City (1867)Marie Nizet: Captain Vampire (1879)J.-H. Rosny Aîné: The Young Vampire (1920)Jean Ray: The Heir of Dracula (1933)
