Dr. Immortelle (Fantasy and Horror Classics) (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781447405467)

From the under-appreciated world of early 20th-century speculative fiction comes Kathleen Ludwick's dark and intense short story, Dr. Immortelle.

While the author is a more obscure figure in the history of the macabre, the story itself is a potent piece of early vampire fiction. The narrative centers on the mysterious Dr. Immortelle, a figure whose very name hints at a terrifying secret concerning eternal life and unnatural preservation. Like many classic tales of the era, the story features themes of forbidden knowledge, obsessive love, and the price of immortality. It is marked by a distinctive style of subtle dread and atmosphere that characterized much of the pre-war supernatural genre.

Dr. Immortelle is a valuable read for those seeking out scarce literary horror, specifically the often-overlooked contributions to the vampire mythos written outside the shadow of Dracula.