Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Predating Dracula by 26 years, Le Fanu's novella is a classic vampire tale that gets a lot less attention than it should. It is loaded with Gothic atmosphere and also introduces a lesbian vampire theme that, while appropriately circumspect, is unmistakable and something that I never would have expected in a novella written in the 1870s.

A Vampire Story

Carmilla

Carmilla is an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years.

Leontine

In the rapture of my enormous humiliation I live in your warm life and you shall die—die, sweetly die—into mine. I cannot help it; as I draw near to you, you, in your turn, will draw near to others, and learn the rapture of that cruelty, which yet is love; so for a while, seek to know no more of me and mine, but trust me with all your loving spirit.

Dess.

You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.

anna 

 "I live in you; and you would die for me, I love you so."

ayoni

"I am sure, Carmilla, you have been in love; that there is, at this moment, an affair of the heart going on."

"I have been in love with no one, and never shall," she whispered, "unless it should be with you."

Girls are caterpillars while they live in the world, to be finally butterflies when the summer comes; but in the meantime there are grubs and larvae, don't you see—each with their peculiar propensities, necessities and structure.

"You will think me cruel, very selfish, but love is always selfish; the more ardent the more selfish. How jealous I am you cannot know. You must come with me, loving me, to death; or else hate me and still come with me, and hating me through death and after. There is no such word as indifference in my apathetic nature."

"But to die as lovers may—to die together, so that they may live together."

mari

Sabrina D. 

It was long before the terror of recent events subsided; and to this hour the image of Carmilla returns to memory with ambiguous alternations--sometimes the playful, languid, beautiful girl; sometimes the writhing fiend I saw in the ruined church; and often from a reverie I have started, fancying I heard the light step of Carmilla at the drawing room door. 

But dreams come through stone walls, light up dark rooms, or darken light ones, and their persons make their exits and their entrances as they please, and laugh at locksmiths. I had a dream that night that was the beginning of a very strange agony.

Sarah Wood

Dearest, your little heart is wounded; think me not cruel because I obey the irresistible law of my strength and weakness; if your dear heart is wounded, my wild heart bleeds with yours. In the rapture of my enormous humiliation I live in your warm life, and you shall die—die, sweetly die—into mine. I cannot help it; as I draw near to you, you, in your turn, will draw near to others, and learn the rapture of that cruelty, which yet is love; so, for a while, seek to know no more of me and mine, but trust me with all your loving spirit.

Deepika ratwani 

Joseph Sheridan Lefanu

Isolated in a remote mansion in a central European forest, Laura longs for companionship-until a carriage accident brings the secretive and sometimes erratic Carmilla into her life. Le Fanu's compelling vampire tale was a source of influence for Bram Stoker's Dracula. The Lanternfish Press edition includes notes and a new introduction by award-winning author Carmen Maria Machado.

Sara Keppel

Isolated in a picturesque but remote castle deep in a Styrian forest, Laura spends her days with her family, longing for a companion her age. Her wish is granted when a carriage accident outside her home brings a girl her age into the family's care, and the two - recognising each other from dreams seen years before - become fast friends. Though they get along well at first, the stranger’s eccentricities slowly become cause for concern, as do the murders that begin to plague the towns around them…

Elena M.

Undeniably iconic, unequivocally gothic, and a tiny bit underwhelming 

Claire Maguet

Full text. One of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula by 26 years. Carmilla tales the story of a gorgeous and mysterious woman named Carmilla who, by chance, ends up residing with a young, na�ve woman embodying sheer virtue, known as Laura. Carmilla has been in a carriage accident, and so is left in the care of Laura's father. Though depicted as virtuous, Laura has been living a solitary life, holed up with her father in his isolated castle in the Styrian countryside. Perhaps because of this isolation both geographically and emotionally, Laura becomes enchanted very quickly by Carmilla and her mysterious personality...

Nearly perfectly paced and wonderfully spooky. The atmosphere sets in immediately, thick as fog rolling in from wooded hills. Having seen and loved a few of the Hammer adaptations, I was pleasantly surprised to see just how faithfully and lovingly they adapted the source; much of the camp and sexuality of those films actually comes straight from the text. Carmilla and Laura are so clearly enamoured with each other beyond mere friendship. Carmilla is as much an obsessed, codependent lover as a cat playing with her food; and Laura is obviously terrified not only of the few truly frightening encounters she experiences, but also of the intensity of her mutual, forbidden infatuation.

The anagrammatic names are quite silly, sure, and the conclusion is wrapped up a little awkwardly and too quickly. But it’s beautifully written, full of repressed lust and genuine, nightmarish horror. There was no way I wouldn’t love this.

(I read this almost entirely by candlelight past midnight. Highly recommend.)

Michael Klepacki

Nearly perfectly paced and wonderfully spooky. The atmosphere sets in immediately, thick as fog rolling in from wooded hills. Having seen and loved a few of the Hammer adaptations, I was pleasantly surprised to see just how faithfully and lovingly they adapted the source; much of the camp and sexuality of those films actually comes straight from the text. Carmilla and Laura are so clearly enamoured with each other beyond mere friendship. Carmilla is as much an obsessed, codependent lover as a cat playing with her food; and Laura is obviously terrified not only of the few truly frightening encounters she experiences, but also of the intensity of her mutual, forbidden infatuation.

The anagrammatic names are quite silly, sure, and the conclusion is wrapped up a little awkwardly and too quickly. But it’s beautifully written, full of repressed lust and genuine, nightmarish horror. There was no way I wouldn’t love this.

(I read this almost entirely by candlelight past midnight. Highly recommend.)

Cate

Underrated classic rightfully gaining traction again. An easy read, I’m glad to say this was the first true vampire/gothic book I picked up and finished. It has an uncomplicated simple yet flowing prose but does not lack the quality of being truly gothic. 

Will definitely reread by the end of the year.

Underrated classic rightfully gaining traction again. An easy read, I’m glad to say this was the first true vampire/gothic book I picked up and finished. It has an uncomplicated simple yet flowing prose but does not lack the quality of being truly gothic. 

Will definitely reread by the end of the year.

Carmilla would love the life on the internet especially with cyber account and I'm very sure of it

loveeeeed this book so nicely written and simple

evie coxon

beautifully written, a timeless narrative about the suppression of queer female sexuality.

Emilia Noel

adriftzoey

maven of the eventide has a brilliant series reading this!!! 

mia esme hsu

Anna 

This is how my stupid, wretched, useless, clingy, pathetic, intense, humiliating, absurd, and heartbreaking way of loving looks like. 

This is how my stupid, wretched, useless, clingy, pathetic, intense, humiliating, absurd, and heartbreaking way of loving looks like. 

I UNDERSTAND YOU, SIS.

beautiful writing and plot. obsessed with carmilla's declarations of love for laura.

however i was expecting more intimacy between them, i wish we spent more time focusing on exploring their relationship, but i really enjoyed this!

marceline

beautiful writing and plot. obsessed with carmilla's declarations of love for laura.

however i was expecting more intimacy between them, i wish we spent more time focusing on exploring their relationship, but i really enjoyed this!

Isabela Vitoria

lésbica vampira 👏👏👏👏👏👏

ariel 

A representation of the Victorian women's repressed sexuality and identity in a story of a blood-sucking and alluring female vampire that hypnotises young girls into lesbian love and lust. Though it still depicts that lustful part of the female identity as dangerous and damaging, it also depicts it as a reality that people choose to ignore and repress. As great and ahead of its time the story is on these matters, the class dynamics with the very highlighted importance of the newly emerging middle class and the thoroughly ignored and belittled plebians make it hard to enjoy the book to its fullest. Still, an essential and amazing read! 

aral

Now, I don’t want to upset the Oscar Wilde stans, but THIS is what I thought I was going to get with that ugly portrait book. This was written 18 years before that novel and gave me everything I wanted out of a queer classic, short of a happy ending. I find it funny that this was supposed to warn readers against sexual exploration and freedom but created a sapphic narrative to be consumed by gays for generations to come. I thought this was very easy to read. There weren’t any long, drawn out passages that made me roll my eyes at the pretentiousness of them. It was beautiful and to the point. I’m not a huge fan of classics thus far, but it’s ones like these that keep me interested in consuming more. 

Nik ✨

Now, I don’t want to upset the Oscar Wilde stans, but THIS is what I thought I was going to get with that ugly portrait book. This was written 18 years before that novel and gave me everything I wanted out of a queer classic, short of a happy ending. I find it funny that this was supposed to warn readers against sexual exploration and freedom but created a sapphic narrative to be consumed by gays for generations to come. I thought this was very easy to read. There weren’t any long, drawn out passages that made me roll my eyes at the pretentiousness of them. It was beautiful and to the point. I’m not a huge fan of classics thus far, but it’s ones like these that keep me interested in consuming more. 



You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever. One of the most hugely influential vampire stories of all time, Le Fanu's Carmilla was written before Bram Stoker's Dracula. A true gothic novel, it is eery, rich in character and place and bathed in blood and moonlight. When a mysterious carriage crashes outside their castle home in Styria, Austria, Laura and her father agree to take in its injured passenger, a young woman named Carmilla. Delighted to have some company of her own age, Laura is instantly drawn to Carmilla. But as their friendship grows, Carmilla's character changes and she becomes increasingly secretive and volatile. As Carmilla's moods shift and change, Laura starts to become ill, experiencing fiendish nightmares, her health deteriorating night after night. It is not until she and her father, increasingly concerned for Laura's well-being, set out on a trip to discover more about the mysterious Carmilla that the terrifying truth reveals itself...

Listened to the Audible Dramatization. Did not expect the ending still!

Susan

yousr abu sboulah

Andrea Morales

que homofóbico que una vampira y una humana no terminen juntas y felices … so what if she’s the devil ???

Victoria 

tori 👻

“You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.” 

Before Dracula there was Carmilla.

I liked it a lot. There’s something in 19th century gothic fiction (homoeroticism) that’s my shit. 

Carmilla A Vampire Story

Reviews

Highlights