Review: Horror Story: "Vampire" by Jan Neruda

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This short tale follows a group of travelers from Constantinople (Istanbul) to the island of Prinkipo (Büyükada) in the Sea of Marmora. They are a small group, consisting of the narrator, a Polish family, and a Greek artist—or probably an artist. At least he’s always carrying a sketch pad around. On the recommendation of the Greek artist, they find rooms at a hotel run by a Frenchman. They are very pleased. Most of the rest of the story extolls the beauty of the island and the wonderful weather. At one point, after the party has climbed a hill, the father of the family exclaims, “God knows I haven’t any enemies, but if I had I would forgive them here!” The sad element is the couple’s married daughter, who seems to be either recovering from an illness or just coming down with one. As they’re walking, she stops to cough, her new husband at her side. She insists, “It is nothing. I am happy!” The narrator notes with some irritation that the artist seems to be sketching them. And then, they overhear a heated argument between the artist and the proprietor of the hotel. At first, they listen for their entertainment. The story turns on a dime and ends up being sad and creepy in a matter of paragraphs. Author Jan Neruda was born in Prague, which was then in the Kingdom of Bohemia and part of the Austrian Empire. The son of a grocer, he became a teacher and later a freelance journalist and writer, advocating Czech patriotism. The Chilean poet Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, and is better known as Pablo Neruda, took his pseudonym after Jan Neruda. This story is available as an audiobook on Librivox ______ Title: “Vampire” Author: Jan Neruda (1834-1891) First published: The Evening Standard Book of Strange Stories 1934 Source: ISFDB