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