In 1816, a series of unique climate events caused the coldest summer on record across the northern hemisphere. While rain and snow raged, a group of writers gathered together at the Villa Diodati in Geneva to wait out the season. Amongst those guests were some of the most prominent writers of the day, including Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. On one evening, a contest was proposed; to come up with the most terrifying ghost story ever seen. Over the course of the summer, some works were completed, and others were abandoned, but overall, the influence of that night has lasted centuries.  This collection of works collects both the completed and uncompleted works from the contest, including fragments.

A sinister quality descended upon Villa Diodati as low temperatures, torrential rain, and thunderstorms raged outside.

In 1816, also known as "The Year without a Summer," a group of pioneering writers gathered at Villa Diodati in Lake Geneva, Switzerland, and wrote some of the most iconic Gothic horror stories in English literature. The Tales of Villa Diodati is the result of a legendary ghost story contest between friends confined indoors by unseasonably dismal weather. "We will each write a story," proposed Lord Byron. The challenge was the genesis of this blood-chilling anthology blending the macabre, supernatural, and romance.

Selections include Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the first true science fiction novel, and John Polidori's "The Vampyre," considered the originator of the romantic vampire genre. The story was inspired by Lord Byron's "A Fragment," which is also included, as is Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Fragment of a Ghost Story." These spine-tingling tales have enthralled generations of readers for centuries.