Carmilla

by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu Narrated by Don Gentry

Overview

`Carmilla' is an 1872 Gothic novella by the Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years, it is also one of the earliest works of vampire fiction. The story is narrated as part of the casebook of Dr Hesselius, an occult detective. Set in Styria in the then-Austrian Empire, a young girl, Laura, narrates the blood-curdling tale of the vampire Carmilla or Mircalla, the Countess Karnstein. Carmilla has often been adapted to film, opera and other media, and has inspired the author Anne Rice.

Editorial Reviews

Booklist

"Machado’s work as editor is vitally important to this new edition . . . Machado reminds us of the problematic aspects of this seminal work, but she also invites readers, whether they are fans of vampire tales or not, to dive in and experience a book that birthed a trope."

Katharine Coldiron for Vol. 1 Brooklyn

"[Machado's] notes and introduction transform the novel from Victorian Gothic into postmodern Gothic, which makes this edition of Carmilla something the original text never was."

Kirkus Reviews

2019-02-17

In Irish writer Le Fanu's (Willing to Die, 1872, etc.) classic novella, a peculiar visitor arouses strange visions and sensations in a lonely young woman.

Nineteen-year-old Laura lives "rather a solitary" life in a Gothic manor tucked in the forests of Styria. So when a carriage overturns nearby, Laura urges her father to house the passenger inside: the beautiful yet capricious Carmilla, who mesmerizes Laura with her charisma and ability to enter her dreams. Le Fanu's lush, lyrical prose adds a sinister dimension to the budding relationship while also conveying the passion the two women share: "Her hot lips traveled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, ‘You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one forever.' " Since this is a foundational piece of vampire lore, readers will find little mystery around the root of Carmilla's strange behavior—and why Laura falls prey to an inexplicable illness. Still, Laura's wistful narration and Robert Kraiza's expressive illustrations maintain an air of dread throughout. Carmen Machado's (Her Body and Other Parties, 2017) introduction adds new dimensions to the tale by revealing that Le Fanu based his story on real letters written by a woman named Veronika Hausle, but he excised the queer content: "There was, in fact, so much more detail given" about Laura's desire for Carmilla, Machado writes. "She spoke not of the fear of Carmilla's return but of a profound desire for it." Machado powerfully highlights the "inadequacy" of the original text and calls readers to do the hard work of reading the real story: "See if you cannot perceive what exists below: the erotic relationship of two high-strung and lonely women. The shared metropolis of their dreaming. An aborted picnic in the ruins."

Simultaneously a delicious vampire tale and a meaningful exercise in remembering silenced voices and questioning the authority of tradition.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178516089
Publisher:	Yashiki Audio
Publication date:	01/19/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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