Gothic Tales from the Lost Summer of 1816 - Frankenstein, The Vampyre, & Other Stories from the Villa Diodati

A volcanic eruption in Indonesia caused global climatic disruption and 1816 became known as the ‘Year Without a Summer’. This uncertain, subliminal time became a pivotal moment in the emergence of modern horror literature. Trapped indoors by weeks of relentless storms, a group of brilliant literary minds, including Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (then Mary Godwin), and John Polidori, were challenged by Lord Byron to each write a tale of the supernatural. The resulting works, produced in a spirit of intellectual rivalry and imaginative experimentation, would exert a lasting influence on Gothic fiction.

This collection features the complete literary output of that legendary gathering at the Villa Diodati:

• Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
• The Vampyre by John Polidori
• A Fragment of a Novel by Lord Byron
• Fragment of a Ghost Story by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Together, these works mark a decisive moment in literary history that continues to shape critical understandings of horror and the supernatural. This collection is the ideal read for those interested in how a single cultural moment crystallised the modern Gothic genre.