A Beautiful Vampire (Fantasy and Horror Classics)

The price of her beauty is the life force of those who love her. In this chilling 1896 short story, Arabella Kenealy, a physician and writer preoccupied with themes of vitality and social health, introduces a unique and terrifying variant of the vampire mythos. The beautiful and magnetic Lady Deverish is a woman of exceptional charm, yet those who enter her intimate circle begin to wither and fail. As her companions grow pale, weak, and strangely listless, Lady Deverish herself thrives, her beauty becoming more luminous, her presence more compelling. She is a predator who preys not on blood, but on the very "nerve-force" and vitality of the living. Through the eyes of a baffled but observant medical professional, the story unravels the terrifying truth: Lady Deverish is a psychic parasite, an invisible menace whose mere presence is a form of vampirism. Her condition is a sophisticated, psychological drain that leaves her victims alive, but utterly exhausted of their will and energy. A fascinating and overlooked work of Victorian horror, A Beautiful Vampire is an early, powerful exploration of the psychic vampire, offering a subtle, chilling look at the fear of the seductive woman who consumes the men around her.