Aubrey is a young Englishman, who meets Lord Ruthven – a mysterious man who has recently entered London's upper class. The two men travel to Rome. There Ruthven does something that Aubrey disapproves, so the young man leaves for Greece. He meets the daughter of a hotelier, Ianthe, who draws his attention. She tells him about a vampire and dies mysteriously after Ruthven also arrives in Greece. Who is Lord Ruthven and why did he come to London? What did he do in Rome that caused Aubrey's disapproval? What were the legends saying? How did Ianthe die? Find all the answers in John Polidori's short story "The Vampyre" from 1819.