The implacable Lord Ruthven returns in a new, horror-filled story where the deadliest vampire of all comes face-to-face with an even more fearsome enemy-a female Ghoul of great necromantic powers. Both Ruthven and the Ghoul covet the same humans. The shadow-filled castles of Europe become the stage for the ultimate confrontation between Vampire and Ghoul-and those who dare defy them The character of the Byronesque vampire Lord Ruthven was first created in 1816 by John William Polidori on the same night that Mary Shelley created Frankenstein. This volume includes an 1851 sequel presented here in its original form by the famous author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte-Cristo The book also includes an all-new story in which Dumas himself meets Ruthven in 1850s Paris, by renowned playwright and translator Frank J. Morlock.