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The Family of the Vourdalak

 The Family of the Vourdalak by Aleksei Tolstoy is novella about vampires.  The stories of vampires in the Victorian era seemed to have different rules.  As time goes by the rules change.  Writers tend to pick and choose what properties they give their monsters.

In this tale of vampirism, the undead have a need to make their family and or other loved ones like them.  It doesn’t make sense.  The father goes out to hunt for a vampire and tells his children that if he doesn’t come back within a certain time frame, they are to put a stake through his heart.  But the question was, did he come back in time or should they risk putting a steak through the heart of their father?

This novella did have some really creepy moments.  The author did a great job with the bone chilling descriptions.


The Family of the Vourdalak was published in 1884.  The audio program I listened to was narrated by Simon Vance.

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