We've all done unhinged things for love, but have you ever invented an entire cultural genre? In 1816, the "Year Without Summer," a volcanic winter traps five creative minds at the Villa Diodati. While Mary Shelley dreams up Frankenstein, her admirer, Dr. John Polidori, is busy being insecure, jumping off balconies, and spraining his ankle. From that humiliation and unrequited love, he conjures a new kind of monster: the aristocratic, seductive predator. This is the story of The Vampyre, the failed romantic who wrote him, and the brutal lesson of a sprained ankle. Key Works Mentioned & People Work: The Vampyre (1819) by John Polidori Work: Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley Concept: The Year Without Summer (1816) Event: Mount Tambora eruption (1815) Location: Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva People: John William Polidori, Mary Godwin (Shelley), Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Claire Clairmont Further Reading & Resources The Vampyre: A Tale by John Polidori Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality by Paul Barber

Today, having examined both sides of Vlad's legacy, we ask the obvious question: So, arbiter of justice or monster? And the answer is...complicated... Today's primary text is a paraphrasing of the Church Slavonic text:  The Tale of the Voivode Dracula https://sourcebook.stanford.edu/text/tale-dracula-voivode

Today we examine the duality of Vlad. But more specifically, the land he fought for.  There have been longer rulers in the region. More popular rulers. But none who claimed the Devil who would fight for God. A quick note: Wallachian geopolitics and history is fascinating. Vlad's life and lineage is chronicled in Radu Florescu & Raymond McNally's "Dracula: Prince of Many Faces".  Alongside this title; Captivating History has an accessible and thorough history of Vlad and Wallachia available in audiobook, Kindle, and print forms "Vlad the Impaler: A Captivating Guide to How Vlad III Dracula Became One of the Most Crucial Rulers of Wallachia and His Impact on the History of Romania" Both come with my highest recommendation.

He's only the third Vlad I know of, and definitely the one I'd least like to be stuck in a forest with.  We briefly dive into the history, lore, and non-vampiristic character of Vlad Tepes III, Son of the Dragon. If you're interested in Vlad, I highly recommend these two books: Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times In Search Of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires Both authored by Radu Florescu & Raymond T. McNally If you'd like to connect on social media, feel free to follow me @RavynReads 

We've had a scientific rebuttal from 2025. But we've also got one from an 18th century librarian-monk-scholar! @RavynReads on socials

When I'm not reading books into a microphone, I have a degree in biomedical sciences.  Unbelievably, our two worlds are about to collide as we revisit the stories of early vampires and examine the likely biomedical causes of the descriptions. I'm delighted to say that your high school chemistry class is about to come roaring back. Forget Dracula, the scariest thing we'll encounter today is the ideal gas law... After all, pressurized vampires equal necrosis, rigor, & trauma. ... @RavynReads for socials and updates (and no more chemistry jokes) Marked explicit for pretty gross post-mortem biology 

Today, we're taking a break from all the blood and gore and returning to a far more seemingly placid disquiet.  Grand Isle and the slow piercing of the Ponteliers. I hope you enjoy, friends. @RavynReads for social and updates

18th-century medicine has entered the vampire discourse... And...things to do not go well... This one is marked as explicit for the fairly dispassionate description of dissections. @RavynReads for socials and updates Visum et Repertum:  The Vampire Project: Visum et Repertum VISUM ET REPERTUM by Johannes Fluckinger (1732) – @literaryvampire on Tumblr  

The First Vampire never knew he was the first vampire. Which honestly, seems unfair. @RavynReads for socials and updates