In my last column, I discussed the evolution of the cinematic vampire, from silent films like “Nosferatu” to its latest incarnation in the musical horror film “Sinners.”

I mentioned, as you might recall, that the modern vampire first emerged in fiction in the 1819, with the publication of John William Polidori’s novella, “The Vampyre,” which was the first vampire story published in English.

Polidori was inspired to write the story following a fateful trip to Lake Geneva with poets Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, in which Byron suggested they have a competition to see who could write the best ghost story.

It was during this time that Shelley’s wife, the writer Mary Shelley, came up with the idea for her masterpiece, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.”

Since these two fictional mons

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