The Unholy Compact Abjured Vampire Story by Charles Pigault-Lebrun )

The Unholy Compact Abjured was published by French novelist Charles Pigault-Lebrun (1753-1835) in 1825. This is a very early vampire story and was only the fourth published in the English language. "The Vampyre" by John Polidori in 1819, "The Black Vampyre" by Robert Sands also in 1819 and "Wake Not the Dead" by Ludwig Tieck in 1823 are the prior three and are included in The Best Vampire Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Vampire Anthology. "The Unholy Compact Adjured" is not, however, since it is rather flamboyant and fails to reach the level of character and story-line of the others. It is still worth a read on a dark night.