You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
joanne_listenstobooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cerilla's review against another edition
3.0
Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss: la novela.
Se lee en una horita en la que se disfruta del origen de los vampiros en la literatura, una tóxica relación sáfica y el ambiente gótico que lo envuelve todo.
Creo que lo peor es su brevedad: la trama da mucho juego, pero avanza muy deprisa, casi abrupta en ocasines. Podría haberse detenido a explorar mejor la relación entre las protagonistas. Y quizá cambiar el relato del final por hechos ocurridos a lo largo de la historia que mantuvieran el suspense y la intriga en lugar de soltarlo todo de golpe en los últimos capítulos.
Se lee en una horita en la que se disfruta del origen de los vampiros en la literatura, una tóxica relación sáfica y el ambiente gótico que lo envuelve todo.
Creo que lo peor es su brevedad: la trama da mucho juego, pero avanza muy deprisa, casi abrupta en ocasines. Podría haberse detenido a explorar mejor la relación entre las protagonistas. Y quizá cambiar el relato del final por hechos ocurridos a lo largo de la historia que mantuvieran el suspense y la intriga en lugar de soltarlo todo de golpe en los últimos capítulos.
jerrireads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
natalie11's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
writteninthebooks's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
spenkevich's review against another edition
5.0
‘Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood.’
Step aside, Dracula, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu is my new yardstick for vampiric stories. You may have heard the big talking point around Carmilla, a queer vampire story published as a serial in The Dark Blue (later collected in La Fanu’s [b:In a Glass Darkly|837422|In a Glass Darkly|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1178784539l/837422._SY75_.jpg|1142157]) in 1871 and predates [a:Bram Stoker|6988|Bram Stoker|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1202438456p2/6988.jpg]’s [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387151694l/17245._SY75_.jpg|3165724] (1897) by several decades. But does it live up to the hype? Yes, and some. Set in Austria and drenched in gothic tones of dread, Carmilla is a gripping tale of seduction and bloody horror, treating us to the mysterious Carmilla growing close to 19-year old narrator Laura as a strange plague seems to be killing the young women in the local region. As scary as it is spicy, Carmilla is a riveting read that presents early vampiric lore as well as some excellent examinations of class warfare and a loss of innocence in this chilling coming-of-age tale.
Original llustration from Dark Blue publication by D.H. Friston
For maximum reading experience, listen to this song.
The notion of a seductive vampire is alive and well in Carmilla, with Le Fanu boldly exploring themes of women’s sexuality. For the 1870s, this book feels pretty erotic, with a lot of caressing and kisses that do not disguise a craving of sexual intimacy between Carmilla and Laura. If one is anxious this will lead to an assertion of the draw of homosexuality as demoic or anything like that, rest assured this is not present in the text. It is frequently noted that the two girls are drawn to one another’s beauty, and even the old men of the book seem charmed by that (the father is actually a rather endearing character). The short novel creeps forward, piling dread upon dread across supernatural sequences with some truly frightening imagery. The gothic setting of constantly grey weather in a countryside full of decaying castles (Le Fanu uses the utterly delightful term schloss as often as possible) set a perfect tone for the tale. This has a growing tension that reminded me of [a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1693104678p2/159.jpg]’ [b:The Turn of the Screw|12948|The Turn of the Screw|Henry James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567172392l/12948._SY75_.jpg|990886], though it has been suggested that James was inspired by this novel for the narrative framing in his own book. With each surmounting horror, from shared dreams between the two girls, Carmilla disappearing from her room, a shadowy figure walking through the fog down a path beyond the schloss, and frequent deaths in the town, the novel will keep you flipping pages eagerly enjoying this little gothic gem.
‘But to die as lovers may—to die together, so that they may live together.’
Carmilla is one of the earlier vampire stories, but by no means the first. For example, [b:The Vampyre|472966|The Vampyre|John William Polidori|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347792075l/472966._SX50_.jpg|461235] by [a:John William Polidori|26932|John William Polidori|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206804357p2/26932.jpg] predates it, published in 1819 during the same writers retreat as [a:Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|11139|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1699348762p2/11139.jpg]’s [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1665008650l/18490._SY75_.jpg|4836639], but there was already a rich vampire lore for Le Fanu to draw from. It has been asserted that 18th century monk Dom Augustin Calmet’s vampire story served as an inspiration, and [a:Samuel Taylor Coleridge|11525|Samuel Taylor Coleridge|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206846928p2/11525.jpg]’s poem of a succubus,Christabel, (and the shared theme of hospitality betrayed) each influenced Le Fanu. A major source of inspiration was also found in a memoir by Captain Basil Hall, Schloss Hainfeld; or a Winter in Lower Styria, which shares the same setting as this novel and the family name Cranstoun is likely the source of the deceased Hungarian family Karnstein in Le Fanu’s novel.
That said, an aspect I found interesting reading it in the present is how I had to cast aside any preconceived notions of vampires, as there is a fairly rigid modern vampire lore that has been built over time and any deviation from it always stands out. At the novel’s conclusion there is a brief recounting of what is purported to be known about vampires at the time, insinuating a robust lore this story is immersed in. The story is framed as being from the case files of Dr. Hesselius, Le Fanu’s paranormal detective, and this story functions as Hesselius’ investigation into vampires through a first-person account written to him by a now-adult Laura. In Carmilla, vampires are able to go about in sunlight, but cannot travel far from their burial place where they return to sleep without disturbing the soil above their coffin. One aspect I found rather silly but wish continued through vampire lore is that the vampire can only disguise themselves using an anagram of their name while alive (Mircalla/Millarca/Carmilla). So if you ever meet a dude named Veste--watch out, I’m about to vampire you. Carmilla appears as a black cat instead of a bat and also can more or less teleport. But one description stands out to me:
This is the perfect metaphor. The grip of a vampire will leave you numb forever, such as how the seductive grasp Carmilla holds over Laura will either leave her dead or a vampire like her. It is said here that vampires like to multiply their numbers (which occurs either through being turned, like Carmilla, or suicide), and the story is vague on what Carmilla plans for Laura. I have my opinion, but I think the vagueness makes the story all the more eerie.
‘Dim thoughts of death began to open, and an idea that I was slowly sinking took gentle, and, somehow, not unwelcome, possession of me. If it was sad, the tone of mind which this induced was also sweet.’
This book situates Carmilla as a member of the Hungarian aristocracy, a line that ended during an uprising. There is an interesting look at class warfare and keeping down of the poor here, with peasant girls being the usual victims from the vampires.The middle-class members such as Laura’s father or the General seem to write these deaths off, assuming some disease spread amongst the poor and that their wealth and schlosses will protect them. There is certainly a disdain for the lower classes, particularly from comments by Carmilla. For her, the poor are merely a meal and we have a pretty blunt metaphor of the rich feeding off the suffering of the poor. Laura, on the other hand, offers her resources and wealth, making her much more alluring (as did the General’s niece). We see the vampire always as a social climber. I quite enjoyed how in order to integrate into human society the vampires here are always presenting a narrative involving intrigue and danger. It seems as if this playacting is a foreplay of sorts to the vampires.
‘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.’
What really drives this novel home, however, is the language. Everything is dripping in dread and gothic tones and Le Fanu has a large vocabulary surrounding dreariness and blood (or lack thereof). As the book presents itself as a scientific examination of vampires, it is interesting to note how much humorism plays into the language used. Characters are often described as languid, plaid or languorous to nudge to ideas of the blood being drained. The weather is without warmth or sun and everything is decaying or corpse-like. It is perfect.
'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.'
This is an excellent early vampire story that certainly has deserved to survive through the public consciousness. It even influenced Dracula, most notably in the deleted first chapter that later appeared as a short story, Dracula’s Guest, but one can see similarities in characters like the Baron or the General being an influence for Van Helsing. [a:Anne Rice|7577|Anne Rice|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383250078p2/7577.jpg] has cited Carmilla as a major influence for her Vampire Chronicles series, and there have been comic and film adaptations of Le Fanu’s slim novel. I quite enjoyed the openness of women’s sexuality here and Le Fanu certainly knows how to succinctly create a sensual atmosphere within an otherwise deathly cold tone. While the ending is a bit abrupt, it isn’t unsatisfying and still leaves a lot to ponder over. Also it’s always fun to consider this theory that correlates the popularity of vampire or zombie media with the rise of either right or left-wing politics. Carmilla is a classic and has certainly seduced me. Now to figure out these bite marks on my neck…
4.5/5
Below is art from an unreleased graphic adaptation by [a:Rosemary Valero-O'Connell|14204613|Rosemary Valero-O'Connell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1532469408p2/14204613.jpg]
Step aside, Dracula, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu is my new yardstick for vampiric stories. You may have heard the big talking point around Carmilla, a queer vampire story published as a serial in The Dark Blue (later collected in La Fanu’s [b:In a Glass Darkly|837422|In a Glass Darkly|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1178784539l/837422._SY75_.jpg|1142157]) in 1871 and predates [a:Bram Stoker|6988|Bram Stoker|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1202438456p2/6988.jpg]’s [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387151694l/17245._SY75_.jpg|3165724] (1897) by several decades. But does it live up to the hype? Yes, and some. Set in Austria and drenched in gothic tones of dread, Carmilla is a gripping tale of seduction and bloody horror, treating us to the mysterious Carmilla growing close to 19-year old narrator Laura as a strange plague seems to be killing the young women in the local region. As scary as it is spicy, Carmilla is a riveting read that presents early vampiric lore as well as some excellent examinations of class warfare and a loss of innocence in this chilling coming-of-age tale.
Original llustration from Dark Blue publication by D.H. Friston
For maximum reading experience, listen to this song.
The notion of a seductive vampire is alive and well in Carmilla, with Le Fanu boldly exploring themes of women’s sexuality. For the 1870s, this book feels pretty erotic, with a lot of caressing and kisses that do not disguise a craving of sexual intimacy between Carmilla and Laura. If one is anxious this will lead to an assertion of the draw of homosexuality as demoic or anything like that, rest assured this is not present in the text. It is frequently noted that the two girls are drawn to one another’s beauty, and even the old men of the book seem charmed by that (the father is actually a rather endearing character). The short novel creeps forward, piling dread upon dread across supernatural sequences with some truly frightening imagery. The gothic setting of constantly grey weather in a countryside full of decaying castles (Le Fanu uses the utterly delightful term schloss as often as possible) set a perfect tone for the tale. This has a growing tension that reminded me of [a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1693104678p2/159.jpg]’ [b:The Turn of the Screw|12948|The Turn of the Screw|Henry James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567172392l/12948._SY75_.jpg|990886], though it has been suggested that James was inspired by this novel for the narrative framing in his own book. With each surmounting horror, from shared dreams between the two girls, Carmilla disappearing from her room, a shadowy figure walking through the fog down a path beyond the schloss, and frequent deaths in the town, the novel will keep you flipping pages eagerly enjoying this little gothic gem.
‘But to die as lovers may—to die together, so that they may live together.’
Carmilla is one of the earlier vampire stories, but by no means the first. For example, [b:The Vampyre|472966|The Vampyre|John William Polidori|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347792075l/472966._SX50_.jpg|461235] by [a:John William Polidori|26932|John William Polidori|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206804357p2/26932.jpg] predates it, published in 1819 during the same writers retreat as [a:Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|11139|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1699348762p2/11139.jpg]’s [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1665008650l/18490._SY75_.jpg|4836639], but there was already a rich vampire lore for Le Fanu to draw from. It has been asserted that 18th century monk Dom Augustin Calmet’s vampire story served as an inspiration, and [a:Samuel Taylor Coleridge|11525|Samuel Taylor Coleridge|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206846928p2/11525.jpg]’s poem of a succubus,Christabel, (and the shared theme of hospitality betrayed) each influenced Le Fanu. A major source of inspiration was also found in a memoir by Captain Basil Hall, Schloss Hainfeld; or a Winter in Lower Styria, which shares the same setting as this novel and the family name Cranstoun is likely the source of the deceased Hungarian family Karnstein in Le Fanu’s novel.
That said, an aspect I found interesting reading it in the present is how I had to cast aside any preconceived notions of vampires, as there is a fairly rigid modern vampire lore that has been built over time and any deviation from it always stands out. At the novel’s conclusion there is a brief recounting of what is purported to be known about vampires at the time, insinuating a robust lore this story is immersed in. The story is framed as being from the case files of Dr. Hesselius, Le Fanu’s paranormal detective, and this story functions as Hesselius’ investigation into vampires through a first-person account written to him by a now-adult Laura. In Carmilla, vampires are able to go about in sunlight, but cannot travel far from their burial place where they return to sleep without disturbing the soil above their coffin. One aspect I found rather silly but wish continued through vampire lore is that the vampire can only disguise themselves using an anagram of their name while alive (Mircalla/Millarca/Carmilla). So if you ever meet a dude named Veste--watch out, I’m about to vampire you. Carmilla appears as a black cat instead of a bat and also can more or less teleport. But one description stands out to me:
’One sign of the vampire is the power of the hand. The slender hand of Mircalla closed like a vice of steel on the General's wrist when he raised the hatchet to strike. But its power is not confined to its grasp; it leaves a numbness in the limb it seizes, which is slowly, if ever, recovered from.’
This is the perfect metaphor. The grip of a vampire will leave you numb forever, such as how the seductive grasp Carmilla holds over Laura will either leave her dead or a vampire like her. It is said here that vampires like to multiply their numbers (which occurs either through being turned, like Carmilla, or suicide), and the story is vague on what Carmilla plans for Laura. I have my opinion, but I think the vagueness makes the story all the more eerie.
‘Dim thoughts of death began to open, and an idea that I was slowly sinking took gentle, and, somehow, not unwelcome, possession of me. If it was sad, the tone of mind which this induced was also sweet.’
This book situates Carmilla as a member of the Hungarian aristocracy, a line that ended during an uprising. There is an interesting look at class warfare and keeping down of the poor here, with peasant girls being the usual victims from the vampires.The middle-class members such as Laura’s father or the General seem to write these deaths off, assuming some disease spread amongst the poor and that their wealth and schlosses will protect them. There is certainly a disdain for the lower classes, particularly from comments by Carmilla. For her, the poor are merely a meal and we have a pretty blunt metaphor of the rich feeding off the suffering of the poor. Laura, on the other hand, offers her resources and wealth, making her much more alluring (as did the General’s niece). We see the vampire always as a social climber. I quite enjoyed how in order to integrate into human society the vampires here are always presenting a narrative involving intrigue and danger. It seems as if this playacting is a foreplay of sorts to the vampires.
‘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.’
What really drives this novel home, however, is the language. Everything is dripping in dread and gothic tones and Le Fanu has a large vocabulary surrounding dreariness and blood (or lack thereof). As the book presents itself as a scientific examination of vampires, it is interesting to note how much humorism plays into the language used. Characters are often described as languid, plaid or languorous to nudge to ideas of the blood being drained. The weather is without warmth or sun and everything is decaying or corpse-like. It is perfect.
'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.'
This is an excellent early vampire story that certainly has deserved to survive through the public consciousness. It even influenced Dracula, most notably in the deleted first chapter that later appeared as a short story, Dracula’s Guest, but one can see similarities in characters like the Baron or the General being an influence for Van Helsing. [a:Anne Rice|7577|Anne Rice|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383250078p2/7577.jpg] has cited Carmilla as a major influence for her Vampire Chronicles series, and there have been comic and film adaptations of Le Fanu’s slim novel. I quite enjoyed the openness of women’s sexuality here and Le Fanu certainly knows how to succinctly create a sensual atmosphere within an otherwise deathly cold tone. While the ending is a bit abrupt, it isn’t unsatisfying and still leaves a lot to ponder over. Also it’s always fun to consider this theory that correlates the popularity of vampire or zombie media with the rise of either right or left-wing politics. Carmilla is a classic and has certainly seduced me. Now to figure out these bite marks on my neck…
4.5/5
Below is art from an unreleased graphic adaptation by [a:Rosemary Valero-O'Connell|14204613|Rosemary Valero-O'Connell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1532469408p2/14204613.jpg]
melineegout's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0