Theodor Hildebrand 1 hr 46 min read

Two pistol-shots ring through the castle at night, spreading indescribable terror, the second volume of a German vampire romance.

Theodor Hildebrand's 1828 novel ('The Vampire; or, The Corpse-Bride,' Part Two) is an early German gothic of the dead who will not rest, riding the vampire craze of its decade. Lurid, atmospheric Romantic horror. Read it for a period piece from the first great wave of vampire fiction, gloomy and blood-shadowed.

In its time

Published in 1828, during the 1820s, tales of mesmerism, ghosts, and the fantastic voyage flourish in the romantic imagination.

Reading it

1 hr 46 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).