Preview

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Vampire Stories

By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Martin H. Greenberg, Robert Eighteen-Bisang
Narrated by: Steven Menasche
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Who would suspect that the same mind that created the most famous literary detective of all time also took on the eternally popular genre of vampires? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a contemporary of Bram Stoker, gave us some fascinating works of vampire fiction. From the bloodsucking plant in "The American's Tale" to the bloodsucking wife in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," he reveled in the horror created by creatures who survived on the blood of men and women.

As the best-selling Twilight series has dominated bookstores, it's the perfect time to offer the first-ever compilation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's vampire tales. Get ready to sink your teeth into this heart-stopping anthology. Each of these 12 short stories has been pulled from obscurity and hand selected for this collection. Conan Doyle's famous friendship with vampire king Bram Stoker is thought to have influenced these many blood-sucking tales, including "The Captain of the Pole Star," about a medical student on an arctic voyage haunted by a heat-draining Eskimo vampire and "The Three Gables," in which vampirism is cunningly used as a metaphor for capitalism.Featuring an introduction by world-renowned vampire expert, Robert Eighteen-Bisang, this is a must-have anthology for all vampire lovers, and for any Arthur Conan Doyle enthusiast.

©2009 Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Tekno Books (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Editorial reviews

Although many of the stories in this collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's vampire tales are steeped in horror and foreboding, narrator Stephen Menasche does not produce a heavy-handed performance. Instead, he draws listeners close with his ability to create the personalities and feelings of the characters - from the Captain's growing paranoia and psychosis in "The Captain of the Pole Star" to the menace under the sweetness of Miss Northcott in "John Barrington Cowles".

Although classic vampires make an appearance in some of the stories, this anthology goes beyond typical monster tales and explores the theme of vampirism itself.

What listeners say about Vampire Stories

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    29
  • 4 Stars
    24
  • 3 Stars
    21
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    11
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    32
  • 4 Stars
    35
  • 3 Stars
    21
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Very disappointing

Sadly, none of this book succeeded at providing the promised amusement. The last story, a Holmes story not written by Doyle, was outright insulting, while the early stories had dialog that felt stilted and unnatural, far from what I’ve come to expect from the illustrious author. To top it all off, I found most of the stories to be boring and unfulfilling.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I lack adequate grey matter to appreciate the nuance in these stories and what I view as stilted language is appropriate to the setting and time. But if you are like me, I’d give this one a pass.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

like nails on a chalkboard

I LOVE Doyle, but this narration was Terrible. Horrible accents, mispronounced words and overall poor understanding of what he was reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Poor Narration…

As others said in their reviews, the title was misleading. I might’ve enjoyed it a bit more with a different narrator. He didn’t give life to the book, in my opinion. Hopefully this was just a hard book for him to narrate.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a fun book

I like the Conan Doyle books. this was definitely not all about vampires. the "female" voices were a bit off.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Some good stories

I enjoyed many of the stories, however I feel the title of the book was a bait and switch. I don’t even believe the word vampire was used in the first four or five stories. No vampire appeared in any of the stories. Besides this fact they were good short stories.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

where are the vampires?

the stories are great. but the title is a bit misleading,considering though you could argue that there are vampire like creatures in two of the stories, There really not any vampires in this book atleast not we understand them today or even during Victorian times.
in short if you're looking for a book about vampires this isn't it. One could even make the argument that this entire book is Victorian clickbait.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

entertaining enough, not much to do with vampires

the narrator wasnt my favorite and "vampire" is a loose concept more to do with a characters personal self or seeming. interesting fun stories though.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Would be better with a different narrator

Although the stories were decent, only a few seemed to actually involve a vampire. I have loved his writing for as long as I have been reading and he does a phenomenal job at bringing his characters to life. That said, I wish they had named it something that let you know it wasn't all vampire short stories.
The narrator was VERY hard to listen to. He would pause in strange spots and seemed to trip up over words. I had to play it at 1.3x speeds so I wouldn't get so frustrated with his reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Misleading

This was a huge disappointment:

The narrator’s attempts at accents were ludicrous and even annoying;
the foreword was missing; and
the term “vampire” in the title was misleading (seriously, y’all, The Ring of Thoth” is a mummy story).

Worst—not all the stories were written by Doyle!

Definitely returning this book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not What One Would Hope

Ooooo my god. It was wonderful to discover some of Doyle's non-sherlock fiction, after hearing about it for so long. I'm sure much of it can hold the reader's attention and maybe even go further than that but NOT if youv'e got this particular audio version. IT WAS TERRIBLE.

The narrator seems convinced he is reading P.G. Wodehouse rather than Doyle's thrillers and it is off putting in such a bizarre and obnoxious way that turns suspense into drudgery. His accents are laughable and he mispronounces all kinds of things that you wouldn't think it possible to get wrong. It was just...so confusing.

That being said, most of Doyle's writing is no less enjoyable than any classic Sherlock tale. I'd love to sit down and read them IRL rather than by audio and get a better feel for them. I have to note however, be prepared for much more racial/ethnic/social discrimination from Doyle than you might find in the more well-known writings. It goes from descriptions that almost fly under the radar about class and wealth to downright disgusting systemic categorizations about blacks and other racial minorities of the period. The "Gables" story towards the end starts out especially gross and that's when I just had to put it down.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful