Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How did John Polidori’s story The Vampyre connect to Lord Byron?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Lord Byron
British Romantic poet George Gordon, Lord Byron, c. 1820.
During the "haunted summer of 1816," Lord Byron and his personal physician, John Polidori, were staying at a villa in Geneva, Switzerland, alongside Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley.1
To pass the time during the cold, stormy weather caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora, Byron proposed a ghost story contest among the group. This challenge inspired Polidori to write the short story "The Vampyre" (1819). The story is notable for featuring an aristocratic vampire character who was modeled after and bore a resemblance to Lord Byron himself.1