Carmilla
by Sheridan Le Fanu
on order from publisher
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144
8 May 2025
Paperback
HarperCollins Publishers Limited
William Collins
9780008774981
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'I was conscious of a love growing into adoration, and also of abhorrence.'
When lonely nineteen-year-old Laura welcomes an enigmatic stranger into her home in the heart of the Stryian forest, she has no idea that the beautiful Carmilla is not what she seems. Laura's childhood nightmares have resurfaced, and a mysterious illness is beginning to take hold as the intimacy between the two women evolves into something more sinister.
First published in 1872, twenty-six years before Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, there was Carmilla, the original female vampire with a taste for innocent young women. Le Fanu's Gothic tale of dark obsession, ancient legend and wayward daughters set the stage for the many horror stories that followed.
The Irish sure do love their vampires! Carmilla was written in 1872, predating Bram Stoker’s Dracula by 26 years. Many consider it the original vampire novel. I was blown away by how well this story holds up. It reads like a sexually charged fever dream. It’s hard to know whether you should be turned on or afraid. I guess it’s this dark dichotomy that draws us to these mysterious creatures of the night. Carmilla is a sensual gothic romance that explores the nature of love and lust. It’s unapologetically sapphic and I love that a story like this existed in its time.
Daniel, Unity Books auckland
