10 h 28 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the terror hiding inside polite society draws you closer instead of driving you away?
In The Vampire, Paul Féval brings the undead into Paris in the days of Napoleon. Soldiers, secrets and old fears fill a city marked by revolution and war. Families have lost people, fortunes and certainties. Against this unsettled backdrop, a threat hides inside polite society and feeds on desire.
Obsession drives the terror: attraction matters as much as force. Féval draws on the Gothic tradition to turn desire into a source of dread. His storytelling favours scenes, suspense and strong feeling over long reflection, pulling you toward a world where what draws people close can also place them in danger.
What you’ll discover
- Paris under Napoleon Enter a city where soldiers and secrets share the streets with fears that refuse to fade.
- Terror behind polite manners Meet an undead threat that hides within society rather than standing apart from it.
- The pull of obsession Explore how attraction gives the monster power and turns desire into a source of fear.
- Scenes charged with suspense Follow storytelling that moves quickly, placing shivers and strong feeling ahead of long reflection.
- An earlier vampire tradition Discover how a French storyteller imagines the undead within the Gothic fiction of his time.
Who will love it
For readers who love classic horror, vampire stories before Dracula, and nineteenth century French popular fiction, with Gothic terror, obsession and secrets in Napoleonic Paris.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Féval writes within the Gothic tradition
- Napoleonic Paris makes a haunted stage
- Obsession is the engine of the terror
- A tale told for shivers and speed
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- 15-minute summary
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Il vampiro
by Paul Féval · 1865
In Napoleon's Paris, the undead hide inside polite society, feeding on desire as obsession opens the door to terror.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Vampire is a Gothic tale by Paul Féval, the French writer who made his name with adventure serials and tales of crime and terror in the middle of the nineteenth century. It belongs to the family of vampire stories that grew popular in Europe long before the age of film.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Féval writes within the Gothic tradition
Paul Féval wrote at a time when French readers devoured fiction in serial form. Stories came out in pieces, and each piece had to leave the reader wanting the next. That habit shaped his style. He liked strong plots, sharp contrasts and a sense that danger waits behind every door.
The Gothic tradition gave him his tools. Gothic stories set fear in old houses, dark streets and half-forgotten secrets. They place ordinary people in front of something they cannot explain. The vampire fits this world well, because it is both a monster and a figure of seduction.
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What is The Vampire by Paul Féval about?
It is a Gothic tale of vampires, fear and obsession set in Paris in the age of Napoleon. It follows the old legend of the undead through the dramatic, fast-moving manner of French popular fiction.
Who was Paul Féval?
Paul Féval was a French novelist who died in 1887. He wrote adventure, crime and supernatural stories, often in newspaper instalments, and is best known for The Hunchback.
Is The Vampire older than Dracula?
Yes. Féval wrote in the nineteenth century, before Bram Stoker published Dracula in 1897. His book is part of the earlier European stream of vampire fiction that helped prepare readers for later horror.
The author
Paul Féval
1816–1887 · French novelist and playwright
French novelist and dramatist 1817-1887.
More by Paul Féval
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