J. Sheridan LeFanu

The Novel predating Bram Stoker's Dracula. Complete edition Carmilla is an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years. First published as a serial in The Dark Blue (1871-72), the story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla. The character is a prototypical example of the lesbian vampire, expressing romantic desires toward the protagonist. The novella notably never acknowledges homosexuality as an antagonistic trait, leaving it subtle and relatively unmentioned. The story is often anthologized and has been adapted many times in film and other media.

Carmilla

The literary skill and psychological penetration of Victorian-era author J. Sheridan LeFanu elevate his ghost stories above most other work in the genre. This excellent introduction to his oeuvre features four chilling tales: "Squire Toby's Will," "The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh," "Sir Dominick's Bargain," and the title story.

Green Tea and Other Ghost Stories

Four chilling tales by the great Victorian master offer high craftsmanship, literary skill, and psychological penetration. Title story plus "Squire Toby's Will," "The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh," and "Sir Dominick's Bargain."

Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla. The story is presented by Le Fanu as part of the casebook of Dr. Hesselius, whose departures from medical orthodoxy rank him as the first occult doctor in literature. The story is narrated by Laura, one of the two main protagonists of the tale. Laura begins her tale by relating her childhood in a "picturesque and solitary" castle in the midst of an extensive forest in Styria, where she lives with her father, a wealthy English widower, retired from the Austrian Service. When she was six years old, Laura had a vision of a beautiful visitor in her bedchamber. She later claims to have been bitten on the chest, although no wounds are found on her.

Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years. First published as a serial in The Dark Blue (1871-72), the story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla, later revealed to be Mircalla, Countess Karnstein (Carmilla is an anagram of Mircalla). The story is often anthologized and has been adapted many times in film and other media.Carmilla, serialized in the literary magazine The Dark Blue in late 1871 and early 1872, was reprinted in Le Fanu's short story collection In a Glass Darkly (1872). Comparing the work of the two illustrators, David Henry Friston and Michael Fitzgerald, whose work appears in the magazine but not in modern printings of the book, reveals inconsistencies in the characters' depictions. Consequently, confusion has arisen relating the pictures to the plot.[citation needed] Isabella Mazzanti illustrated the book's 2014 anniversary edition, published by Editions Soleil and translated by Gaid Girard.

This classic Gothic-horror novella follows the perspective of Laura, a young girl who becomes drawn to a beautiful stranger despite her feelings of repulsion and dread. A stranger who's past is so engulfed in darkness and mystery that a shadow of unknown horror seems to linger in the background. Upon her arrival to a small rural Styrian town, the inhabitants find themselves afflicted with strange sickness and mysterious death. A sickness that this stranger is also plagued with. As Laura befriends her, a conflict of feelings and fear overwhelm the senses as she loses herself in the struggle for survival.Set in the early 19th century, this story captivates the audience as a psychological thriller that explores a mind caught in the tangled webs of desire and antipathy. Examining the connection between vampirism and victimology in an exchange that is so elegantly portrayed.A novella that with many

Annotated

Upon a paper attached to the Narrative which follows, Doctor Hesselius has written a rather elaborate note, which he accompanies with a reference to his Essay on the strange subject which the MS. illuminates. This mysterious subject he treats, in that Essay, with his usual learning and acumen, and with remarkable directness and condensation. It will form but one volume of the series of that extraordinary man's collected papers. As I publish the case, in this volume, simply to interest the "laity," I shall forestall the intelligent lady, who relates it, in nothing; and after due consideration, I have determined, therefore, to abstain from presenting any précis of the learned Doctor's reasoning, or extract from his statement on a subject which he describes as "involving, not improbably, some of the profoundest arcana of our dual existence, and its intermediates." I was anxious on discovering this paper, to reopen the correspondence commenced by Doctor Hesselius, so many years before, with a person so clever and careful as his informant seems to have been. Much to my regret, however, I found that she had died in the interval. She, probably, could have added little to the Narrative which she communicates in the following pages, with, so far as I can pronounce, such conscientious particularity.

Horror and Romance

The protagonist, Laura, narrates how her life goes from placid and calm to disconcerting and frightening when Carmilla appears, a beautiful and enigmatic young woman.Laura, the protagonist of the story, is a young woman who lives with her father and servants in an old castle in the remoteness of Styria (Austria). She often remembers when she was a little girl and was asleep in the arms of a young girl and woke up feeling two needles in her neck.His life takes a turn when, in front of the castle where they live, a lady's carriage suffers an accident, and his daughter, who also traveled in it, is unconscious, as the lady could not waste time and should continue traveling, the young woman is received at Hollis Castle until his mother comes back for her. Laura and the young woman, Carmilla, make friends, even though the new tenant shows peculiarities in her behavior: she wakes up after noon and locks herself in her room without showing signs of being in it.Themes"Funeral": illustration by Michael Fitzgerald. The Dark Blue.The story shows many characteristics of Gothic terror, and highlights the popular stereotype of the vampire and the perplexity of the characters in the face of supernatural events, and increases it to ecstasy and terror at the same time.It should also be noted that the subtle influence of erotic content, which is related to vampires, is lesbian in nature. Sheridan Le Fanu took that theme, a taboo for the time, but knew how to put it in such a way that the reader of the time was approaching the subject.

Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years. First published as a serial in The Dark Blue (1871-72), the story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla, later revealed to be Mircalla, Countess Karnstein (Carmilla is an anagram of Mircalla). The story is often anthologized and has been adapted many times in film and other media.Le Fanu presents the story as part of the casebook of Dr. Hesselius, whose departures from medical orthodoxy rank him as the first occult detective in literature.Laura, the teenage protagonist, narrates, beginning with her childhood in a "picturesque and solitary" castle amid an extensive forest in Styria, where she lives with her father, a wealthy English widower retired from service to the Austrian Empire. When she was six, Laura had a vision of a beautiful visitor in her bedchamber. She later claims to have been punctured in her breast, although no wound was found.Twelve years later, Laura and her father are admiring the sunset in front of the castle when her father tells her of a letter from his friend, General Spielsdorf. The General was supposed to bring his niece, Bertha Rheinfeldt, to visit the two, but the niece suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. The General ambiguously concludes that he will discuss the circumstances in detail when they meet later.Laura, saddened by the loss of a potential friend, longs for a companion. A carriage accident outside Laura's home unexpectedly brings a girl of Laura's age into the family's care. Her name is Carmilla. Both girls instantly recognize the other from the "dream" they both had when they were young.Carmilla appears injured after her carriage accident, but her mysterious mother informs Laura's father that her journey is urgent and cannot be delayed. She arranges to leave her daughter with Laura and her father until she can return in three months. Before she leaves, she sternly notes that her daughter will not disclose any information whatsoever about her family, past, or herself, and that Carmilla is of sound mind. Laura comments that this information seems needless to say, and her father laughs it off.Carmilla and Laura grow to be very close friends, but occasionally Carmilla's mood abruptly changes. She sometimes makes romantic advances towards Laura. Carmilla refuses to tell anything about herself, despite questioning by Laura. Her secrecy is not the only mysterious thing about Carmilla; she never joins the household in its prayers, she sleeps much of the day, and she seems to sleepwalk outside at night.Meanwhile, young women and girls in the nearby towns have begun dying from an unknown malady. When the funeral procession of one such victim passes by the two girls, Laura joins in the funeral hymn. Carmilla bursts out in rage and scolds Laura, complaining that the hymn hurts her ears.When a shipment of restored heirloom paintings arrives, Laura finds a portrait of her ancestor, Mircalla, Countess Karnstein, dated 1698. The portrait resembles Carmilla exactly, down to the mole on her neck. Carmilla says she might be descended from the Karnsteins even though the family died out centuries before.During Carmilla's stay, Laura has nightmares of a large cat-like beast entering her room and biting her on the chest. The beast then takes the form of a female figure and disappears through the door without opening it. In another nightmare, Laura hears a voice say, "Your mother warns you to beware of the assassin," and a sudden light reveals Carmilla standing at the foot of her bed, her nightdress drenched in blood. Laura's health declines, and her father has a doctor examine her. He finds a small blue spot on her chest and speaks privately with her father, only asking that Laura never be unattended.

J. Sheridan LeFanu

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