John Polidori John Polidori (1975-1821) was a British writer and physician. Polidori accompanied Byron on his travels and attended the notorious holiday to Lake Geneva in the summer of 1816. It was during this scandalous getaway that he met the Shelleys and began ork on The Vampyre, a story which later influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula. Polidori died when he was only twenty-five, but to this day he is considered to be the father of the modern vampire story. Read More Read Less