Great Pulteney Street

As you know, I visited John's London house twice in 2008. I would love to go there again one day. If anyone on my blog has also visited, feel free to let me know.

Never Forgotten...

It has been a while since I posted on this blog and I do feel quite guilty for it, but never have I forgotten about John Polidori.

The anniversary of his death is coming up shortly. Doesn't seem long since last year. If you want to pay any tributes to John, there are 2 memorial websites called Find A Grave and Gone Too Soon and on each site I am the owner of a memorial for him. So feel free to search on those sites for his page and leave him a virtual flower or candle. Thank you. Got to keep the blood of the vampyre flowing...

Remembering John Polidori on his birthday...

On this day in 1795, John Polidori was born in London at 38, Great Pulteney Street, Soho. Take the time to remember our 1st vampyre writer on his 215th birthday.

Suicide In Soho

It was on this day in 1821 that John Polidori committed suicide in his house in Soho, London. He was only 2 weeks away from his 26th birthday. It has been said his death was accidental. The verdict at the time was "death by the visitation of God" to preserve the reputation of his family who were too ashamed to admit John had taken his life. But it was no accident.

How I am feeling right now, I cannot even think about going into detail about what happened to him and why he took his life. But I made this post to show that the troubled young man who created our glamorous vampyre is still remembered after all these years. I wish he could have stayed around longer to show us what other works he had to change the way we see literature today.

I may seem abrupt for not going into anymore detail on my own blog, but it is a very sensitive day and subject for me.

I love you John Polidori and so do many others. Thank you for your legacy and memory. You will never die. You are immortal...

Graduation from Edinburgh University

John became a doctor of medicine at such a young age and today in 1815 would have been his graduation. He presented a complex thesis on somnambulism which earned him the doctorate.

Another exam...

On this day in 1815, it would have been another exam day for John. He went through so many to receive his doctorate, but the hard work paid off as he became the youngest graduate of Edinburgh University; he received his doctorate at the very young age of 19.

Exam Day...

Just an update for my blog to say that on this day in 1815, John Polidori would have been doing one of his many exams to earn him a doctorate.

On This Day...

On this day in 1821, John's epic poem The Fall Of The Angels received a negative review. It was published anonymously. It wasn't until after his death that his poem was published with his name on the title page and given the recognition it deserved.

John Polidori in books and films: the wrong impression

If you have seen the 1986 Ken Russell movie called Gothic, then you will get the impression that Lord Byron's doctor was an obnoxious imbecile who did nothing but piss off Byron and his friends. That is the "surface" view of John Polidori. Events from the past have been distorted horribly over time and something that started off as a small matter becomes a major issue now.

In Gothic, both John Polidori's intelligence and appearance are insulted. It's not the actor's fault who portrays him. It's the people who did casting for the movie. They obviously did no research beforehand.

There are also many novels portraying John Polidori and his life, including Lord Byron's Doctor by Paul West and The Vampyre by Tom Holland. Neither of these books do John any justice.

John and Byron had their disagreements, but not to the extent that is shown in these inaccurate books. They parted as friends in 1816, with no hard feelings. Between them, there were just small arguments that meant nothing and if they were in modern times, half of the things would be laughed off in a matter of minutes and no-one would make such a big deal about it. Everyone (no matter how close they are as friends) has arguments and get on each other's nerves every once in a while. That doesn't necessarily mean they want to kill each other!

John was eccentric, there is no doubt about it, but there is a difference between eccentricity and complete idiocy as portrayed in Gothic.

At times he has become a laughing stock, just through lack of research, lack of understanding and just seeing the surface view of different situations in history. If people bothered to find out more about him, then they would realize there was so much depth to the handsome and intelligent man who wrote The Vampyre and that his whole life didn't revolve around the Villa Diodati; a small event in history that was only a few months out of his short yet incredible life.

6 Places Where John Polidori Lived & Visited

1. London

Born, lived and died in Soho. Also took up lodgings in Covent Garden in 1819/1820.


2. York

He attended the boarding college Ampleforth here and it was the same place where he applied to join a monastery in 1820. He was turned down due to his scandalous lifestyle.


3. Scotland

Studied at Edinburgh University and received his doctorate in 1815, aged only 19.



4. Norwich

He worked as a doctor there, was introduced to high society and of course was the place he suffered the tragic carriage accident in 1817.



5. Switzerland

The infamous night at the Villa Diodati took place in Geneva and he also travelled around a lot, getting into all kinds of trouble, with and without Lord Byron.



6. Italy

His infamous arrest at the La Scala theatre took place here and was also the setting for being caught up in thunderstorms and getting arrested at midnight.

John Polidori's Rules Of Immortality

1. Become a medical prodigy at a very young age.

2. Become involved with writers, poets and people with a higher status than yourself.

3. Write a vampyre story that will change horror literature forever.

4. Become involved in scandalous affairs, so you get talked about by your family and others. It's not the best way to be remembered, but it's something.

5. If the coroner's verdict averts suicide, then you will manage to avoid being buried at a crossroads with a stake through your heart, so then you may become your own creation, the vampyre, and wander for eternity.

Just a reminder...

On this day in 1819, The Vampyre was published in the New Monthly Magazine, under Lord Byron's name. Is it ironic because it was April Fool's Day? No, maybe not for the time, but looking back from modern life, yes, I think it was a cruel trick to play, even if it was unintentional.

But thank goodness John wasn't a person to back down and accept it. After several struggles, writing to editors, etc and stating he was the true author of The Vampyre, he finally got the credit he deserved, with his name on the title page. But he received the unfairly small sum of £30 for his story, instead of £300 or more. He could have been a very rich man indeed if things would have flowed smoothly...

But who would have thought that an English/Italian physician would be the major influence for modern vampire writers? When he wrote the story, he had no idea how much he would change that genre of literature for the best. He called his story "imperfect and unfinished" and had no intention of getting it published, but when it was, John wanted to shake off the "Lord Ruthven" name and change it to Lord Strongmore instead. Which I believe that very edition is available somewhere...

Anyway, thank you John for your modern, glamorous vampire. Without you and your influence, there would be none of these seductive blood-suckers out there now. I just hope you somehow know that you have made a great difference, thanks to a wet summer in 1816.

John Polidori's House

Here are 2 pictures of when I visited John's house in Soho, London, on August 13th, 2008. I visited again in October of that year.

The atmosphere outside the house was so overwhelming and indescribable. It was like entering a different dimension, from the rushing around and loudness of the street just next to it, to a sound-proof, dismal atmosphere on Great Pulteney Street. I know I picked up on John's despair. I felt a horrible loneliness. I can hardly imagine the heaviness of the air and atmosphere inside John's house, if that was the atmosphere just outside... especially his bedroom... Another person who visited gave the same description as I did. But I would still love to visit again, to feel and sense him there in his own environment.

11 facts about John Polidori that you may not know...

Feel free to leave comments please! :)



1. He gave Mary Shelley the influence to write Frankenstein by talking about re-animating corpses.

2. He was good at playing chess.

3. He could also play the flute.

4. In 1820, he wanted to become a monk, but due to his scandalous background, the monastery rejected him.

5. He was tall.

6. Although he attempted duels with several people, he never actually fought in one.

7. He had 7 siblings, but one died as a baby.

8. He was uncle of the Rossetti siblings, but they were born after John's death.

9. He was often mistaken for Lord Byron.

10. Many women became infatuated with John and admired him from a distance, but he never actually got involved with anyone.

11. He was bisexual.

Works by John Polidori that I recommend

Most people will only know John Polidori because of his vampyre tale, but despite his short life, he wrote some very interesting prose, stories and essays. He experimented in many fields and here are 4 of the works I strongly recommend, (including The Vampyre).

1. The Vampyre - The first vampyre story written in English and the foundation for modern vampyre literature. Read the story twice, once to enjoy it and the second time to analyse the similarities between that story and modern imitations.

2. Ernestus Berchtold - John Polidori's only full-length novel that was released the same year as The Vampyre in 1819. Combines incest with spirituality. A very haunting story.

3. Oneirodynia - His essay on somnambulism that earned him the doctorate in 1815, at the very young age of 19. A fascinating account.

4. The Fall Of The Angels - An epic poem about the creation and the end of the world. This was John's last ever published work that shows evidence of the deep depression he was experiencing at the end of his life.

Introduction

People who know me will probably know how I became familliar with writer, John Polidori. It wasn't through reading his short story, The Vampyre. It wasn't through Lord Byron. It was through a spiritual connection with him, before I had even heard his name! I had an article published about it last year in a UK magazine called "Take A Break's Fate & Fortune", (October's issue). I have also contacted other magazines about my experience.

Since then, I have been interested in his vampyre creation, his other works and his fascinating, yet tragically short life. He has become an important part of my own life, as a major influence and in love.

I have always liked vampyres from being young, but only in movies; particularly The Lost Boys and Interview With The Vampire. But the literature was never my interest. The only book I really knew about was Bram Stoker's Dracula and I thought that was the first aristocratic vampyre novel... that was until I was educated by the creator himself, John Polidori, in the summer of 2006!

Before his story, vampyres were European walking corpses, almost like zombies, preying on their relatives. But when John Polidori's story, The Vampyre was released, the whole idea of vampyres was changed... for the better. They became English, aristocratic seducers, preying on society, not at all ugly-looking, in fact, John made them sexual to lure people in with their charms, then the blood-sucking could come naturally. Vampyres combine lust with death, which always brings us a little closer to it, a little closer to the unknown and a little closer to John...





***If you want to leave comments on my blog, I would appreciate it and if anyone has questions about my mentioned "experiences" feel free to email me.***