Carmilla

Written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Narrated by Tracey Childs

Laura and her father live a quiet life in their remote castle in the dense forests Styria. It is a solitary existence for young Laura, who has no companionship except for her governess and the occasional visits of neighbouring gentry. Into this lonely life comes the mysterious house guest, Carmilla. Slowly Laura falls under Carmilla’s spell. Whilst she is both attracted and repulsed by Carmilla, she seems unable to find the energy to resist her. A spate of sudden wasting deaths afflict the peasants in the countryside around the castle and Laura herself falls ill. Will they manage to work out the cause of her illness in time or will she just be the latest victim of the vampire Carmilla?

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Copyright Group
• Release date: Jan 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781780003887

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic horror. Born in Dublin, Le Fanu was raised in a literary family. His mother, a biographer, and his father, a clergyman, encouraged his intellectual development from a young age. He began writing poetry at fifteen and went on to excel at Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied law and served as Auditor of the College Historical Society. In 1838, shortly before he was called to the bar, he began contributing ghost stories to Dublin University Magazine, of which he later became editor and proprietor. He embarked on a career as a writer and journalist, using his role at the magazine as a means of publishing his own fictional work. Le Fanu made a name for himself as a pioneer of mystery and Gothic horror with such novels as The House by the Churchyard (1863) and Uncle Silas (1864). Carmilla (1872), a novella, is considered an early work of vampire fiction and an important influence for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897).

Reviews for Carmilla

[thereadingmermaid · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Before Dracula there was Carmilla!Originally published in 1872, Dracula in 1897, this chronicles the story of a young woman's susceptibility to another seemingly young woman's (Carmilla) affections. But something is very wrong and has been wrong ever since Carmilla came into the picture. Can they stop this evil before it goes too far?This is complete and utter speculation but I just want to put it out there... this could very well be the novel that Bram Stoker read that indeed inspired him to write the novel Dracula. This novel together with Bram Stoker's Irish heritage and folklore would indeed come together beautifully to create the novel that we all know and love.But enough about Dracula. Let's talk about Carmilla! I think it's absolutely fabulous that the very first vampire ever to grace the publishing world was indeed a female. Personally I found her word usage and talk of everlasting love to be so seductive that I damn near threw my arms around her in submittance. I always find it very interesting when the author of a certain sex decides to write from the point of view of the opposite sex. We find that here as the author who wrote the novel was a man and is writing from the point of view of Laura who was the victim in this tragic tale of vampirism. Nevertheless, Le Fanu pulls it off with flying colors! You really do feel as if you are reading the words of a distraught woman penning the details of a horrific occurrence.Although this novel held no secrets or mystery for me (the ever-faithful horror fanatic) it is indeed nothing less than a heart pounding page turner. This one had my heart racing and me reading through the pages as fast as I could to find out what happens next. This is a very well done novel and I can't quite understand why it hasn't gotten the praise that it deserves over the years... or should I say decades now?This is one that every true horror fan should read! Most definitely recommend! ❤️

[Spencer Plate · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful, classic story. It is only a few hours, so it is great for a short flight. Those who say that it is a story of lovers are mistaken, and may not understand the attempt to explain the intensity of the vampire's influence.

[khris · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The only superior audio version that’s available on this site

[Lov2laf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As old classics go, this was pretty good. In modern day, the creepiness factor and romance is muted but I can see how this would've been quite the horror back in the day.

Carmilla is a vampire story that predates Bram Stoker's "Dracula" but involves the additional scandal of sapphic affection on the part of Carmilla. It's interesting to see all of the seeds of vampire ethos in this novella: seduction, sexual deviance, hell on earth, shapeshifting, and so on.

There are a million versions of this story. Scribd alone has four audiobook versions and at least twenty plus printed versions. I decided to go with the audiobook by Tracey Childs because I liked her delivery and was very glad I did. Her narration was really engaging.

The story is only a couple of hours long so it's a good one to consume in a morning or afternoon.

I just completed a new version of the "Carmilla" story called "Carmilla and Laura" by S D Simper which kept the same setting and characters but made Carmilla a much richer and more sympathetic character and also played up a mutual romantic attraction between Carmilla and the latest subject of her affection. I did like Simper's choices. Simper's version has a feeling of greater intimacy between the two ladies and I felt more connected. However, Le Fanu's version let's us get close to the narrator, too, but his version is giving an account of a horror and done so more as a warning to others. It was interesting to see the differences and I recommend both versions.

[Lucia Garcia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Disclosure: I like vampire Stories.
The writing is nothing spectacular and the whole story is very simple and to the point. The plot and the "secrets" are very obvious. Yet, the point is not to find out who, but how ;)
I loved that Le Fanu started with the documentation of vampire Stories, which have yielded so much for centuries. Also, for the time when it was written, it features a lesbian infatuation (as vampires can't feel love... At least in the original stories) with simple but rather descriptive scenes.
It is also a short and enjoyable read

[virago77 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Excellent performance; okay story. The performance by the voice actors is what kept me listening; they were excellent. I love the time period and the subject material, but the story just didn't do it for me. There were places where it grabbed my attention, but mostly I couldn't really get into it. This may be one of those stories that requires a re-listen at a later date.

[laurochka-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A concise gothic horror. Interesting to have a female character as the villain. Enjoyable.

[aneris-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5

One of the reasons why I liked Carmilla so much is it's a very good vampire story. It would be even better if I didn't know that from the beginning. Nobody's fault. Everyone knows Carmilla is a vampire story.

It was first published 1872 and people usually expect those to be a bit harder to get through. Carmilla is definitely not like that. It almost reads like a contemporary story.

There are sixteen chapters but the story itself was sort of divided in two parts. One is told to us by Laura, our young narrator, years later. The other is almost the same story which happened to another girl. This one is told to Laura and her father by the father's friend. It doesn't end well.
I won't retell the story itself.

Carmilla the character drove me crazy. I'll give you just one example what annoyed me about her. At one point of the story a funeral procession is passing by. People are singing a hymn. Laura, being a decent person, stands up and joins in the singing. Carmilla starts with you offend me with this and 'how can you tell that your religion and mine are the same'. She is a freaking guest there and neither Laura nor those people did anything offensive.

[Alice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Adored this! The character are dramatic and it goes perfect with the atmosphere of the whole book. Great narrator as well!

[Chloe Rogers · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Homophobic classic, boring, flat characters with no plot. The narrator does a good job though

[candacevan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure if this is the _original_ lesbian vampire story, but having been published in 1872, it's certainly one of the older ones.

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

I hadn't realized, until I was into reading it, that I must have read it before, years ago. It's a story, written by a man, about a young woman's near-death experience with a mysterious woman, Carmilla, who arrives under mysterious circumstances and seems to develop decidedly erotic feelings toward our heroine.

This book would be of interest to anyone interested in lesbianism, lesbians in literature, vampire literature, and portrayals of women in literature.

[Toni Snyder · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So a great classic, I enjoyed listening. The story was before it’s time.

[Niquole Renee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved the story and the narrator did a great job breathing life into the characters. To me, this is such a sad story; romantic and tragic and it was great!

[__lindsey__ · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More proof that I like books mostly for a certain atmosphere/mood. There was not much to this story! Not much of a plot, not a whole lot to the characters, and no surprises, really. Just nice and dark/spooky/mysterious. I would re-read this one in the fall around Halloween.

[shannonlove65 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good rendition of a classic vampire story.

[vombatiformes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Carmilla is such a short book that it's totally inexcusable for any vampire fan not to have picked it up at some point. It's also a worthwhile read for people that are interested in depictions of homoeroticism in 19th century literature.Carmilla is the story of a young girl who comes to meet the titular character after she falls ill near her family's home and she is allowed to rest there until her family returns for her. Of course, Carmilla is a vampire -- and a peculiar one at that that seems to prefer to prey on a specific subset of people. She is a sympathetic character despite her monstrousness, and at times it's hard to tell whether Carmilla is simply manipulating Laura entirely or legitimately has feelings for her. The truth about Carmilla is revealed gradually over the course of the story, as Laura falls further under her spell, and the build up is exciting and a little terrifying as you can tell that Laura does not want to believe what she does about her new friend, however ambivalent her feelings are about her. There were a lot of questions left unanswered, such as the nature of the group of people that leave Carmilla at Laura's home and I would be curious to read more about them. There are some attempts at bridging a history between Carmilla-of-the-past and Carmilla-of-the-future, but it's left sadly underdeveloped due to the length of the book. I'm tempted to go searching for expansions that I feel SURE must have been written later on by other writers featuring this character because she's so enchanting, but on it's own, Carmilla is still a brilliant early vampire book that really set the stage for a lot of the attributes we consider synonymous with vampires in fiction today.

[bohemima · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An influential classic of the horror/vampire genre, Carmilla tells the story of a female vampire (but wait...what about the mother and the really pale servant) who preys solely on young women. There’s certainly a lesbian erotica undertone here. Nothing tediously overt, but you really can’t miss it. The narrator, Laura, is Carmilla’s main target, and her seduction of Laura is well-done and fairly compelling. Other young women in the area are falling ill and more or less wasting away, and finally Laura becomes ill.This is an early vampire tale, pre-dating the great Dracula. Many of the ideas and themes will occur again and again in later works by other authors.It was hard to rate this because so many vampire books have been written since this one. I’d give it three stars just on its own merits, but I’m jumping it up to four because of its long, long shadow in horror literature.

[kenshin79-90711 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The first narrator narrates the words of the second narrator, narrating the same events previously narrated by the first narrator herself.

Say what? Fear? No, not really. Just booooooredom :p

[andjhostet-527429 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An incredible vampire story predating Dracula by 50 years. Some parts were really well done. The sensual, sapphic, romantic vibes were done really well, and the interplay between that, and the dark, mysterious horror was really compelling.

That being said, the climax was kind of a let down. Told with absolutely no tension, and felt really rushed.

[iudita_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dracula is a snooze compared to this. Who knew vampires could be so entertaining? Get your Gothic fix here.

[renardkitsune · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this slim novel during college, and forgot how much I enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of gothic fiction, and so the slow build up of this novel doesn't bother me, I quite enjoy it. That being said, what I would consider the "meat" of the novel was contained in the last ten pages, which might put some readers off. I read this in a class called "The Others": a class about the otherizing of marginalized peoples--in this case I think we were exploring the stereotypes of women in literature.If you enjoy gothic fiction, or vampires, and want to read one of the pre-Dracula vampire stories, it is an enjoyable, quick read.

[banjo123 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

too old-fashioned for me. (and me an Austen-Stan)

[chris.wolak · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pre-Dracula, female vampire story. It's short (more of a novella than a novel), but all the nuts and bolts are there. Lesbian overtones are well-played for 1872. Now must watch the movie adaptations.

[evilcreature-592127 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a beautifully illustrated book, which I have never read before. If your a fan of older creepy stories about vampires, then you will certainly love this book, it is a must have. The story is really fascinating and hypnotic to read, I couldn't stop reading it.(The version of the book that I wrote this review for has a different cover) Carmilla: A Pomegranate Vintage Vampire Edition is the version of the book that I brought, it is illustrated.

[richardderus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rating: 4.5* of fiveThe Publisher Says: Carmilla is the original vampire story, steeped in the sexual tension between two young women and gothic romance.A deluxe gift edition of the cult classic that predated and greatly influenced Dracula and much vampire literature that followed, including Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.In an isolated castle deep in the Austrian forest, teenaged Laura leads a solitary life with only her father, attendant and tutor for company. Until one moonlit night, a horse-drawn carriage crashes into view, carrying an unexpected guest—the beautiful Carmilla.So begins a feverish friendship between Laura and her entrancing new companion, one defined by mysterious happenings and infused with an implicit but undeniable eroticism. As Carmilla becomes increasingly strange and volatile, prone to eerie nocturnal wanderings, Laura finds herself tormented by nightmares and growing weaker by the day...My Review: You know the story already, even if you've never read it. You've seen a Dracula movie. Same stuff, different dresses. It's pretty, um, humid, and the device of anagramming "Carmilla" is lame as all hell, but frankly if you expect modern writing from someone working in the 1870s you're ill-advised to pick it up in the first place. It's an acquired taste. Let the language and the attitudes...considered old-fashioned when the tale came out...subsume your 21st-century-ness and take a mental vacation.Lesbian Dracula story with built-in plausible deniability. LeFanu insisted his vampyre couldn't be lesbian because she was dead therefore by definition incapable of sexual activity. Great dodge, Sheridan! I can just see the tut-tutting moralists trying to figure out a response to this. Like people complaining about nudity in Maus, it's a smoke-screen for imposing *their* view of what's "nice" on others.Don't like something? Move along! No one's making you focus on it. And your kids seeing it? Lock 'em up if you want to prevent the world from having its way with them. *SPOILER ALERT* It does not work. Stop trying, rely on your parenting to warp them into the shape you want. And leave normal people alone.The deluxe (and is it ever!) hardcover for your Goth belovèd is available from the publisher.

[katiewrites · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first time in a while a classic has interested me this much. I got it as an All Hallow’s Read present from my mom and it was a fascinating read. Very quick, very spooky, and interesting to see where some of the vampire lore came from. I’d love to read it again more carefully through the lens of a queer theorist.

[jamestomasino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was surprisingly good!

[greeniezona · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was intrigued by the idea of a lesbian vampire story that predated Dracula, but once I started reading it I triple faked myself out. First, there was the modern introduction that provided a Gothic framing for the story -- written as a modern academic providing evidence that while this story was perceived as fiction when first released, recent diaries, etc., have suggested that the entire thing could have been based on real accounts the author personally knew! This introduction was perhaps far too clever and had opposite its intended effect. Paired with the fact that the only author photo and bio on the back cover was that of the modern author of the introduction, and not Le Fanu himself, I developed this conviction that the entire thing was a con. That Machado had written it all. Even visiting the Wikipedia pages for the book and Le Fanu couldn't shake my feeling of unreality. Add on the very modern illustrations, and I just couldn't read this as a pre-Dracula Gothic tale, but it felt modern throughout.Which isn't necessarily a bad thing? After I emerged from the mists of this novel and dug a little deeper on the research, it became clear that this book was what it said it was. (Minus the gloss of it being a true if barely obscured account of a real vampire. Probably.) And that's kind of fascinating -- that it could have still felt so modern. Maybe just because so little period fiction with lesbian sensibilities survived to be handed down across ages.Fun, but I would have preferred it without the introduction.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Lefanu is one of the earliest vampire works, predating Dracula by 26 years. This is a novella length tale of Carmilla, a female vampire, who arrives at a European manor house under mysterious conditions and yet is invited to stay there for a few months. The young lady who lives at the manor, Laura, and Carmilla become fast friends. But the surrounding area seems under a curse as many young girls fall victim to a strange wasting disease that eventually takes their lives.When Laura starts showing symptoms of the same disease, her father summons medical, religious and spiritual help yet it is only when an old friend comes to visit and tells his story about how a vampire took his loved one from him, that the pieces are put together and Carmilla is exposed.Unfortunately I didn’t have a very good translation of this story so in addition to an interesting vampire tale, I also had a puzzle to solve with figuring out the strange translation. For example the word ‘candy’ was used in place of sweet, and “pricey” was used in place of dear. So the phrase my ‘pricey candy girl’ meant my dear, sweet girl. Luckily, I found this more amusing than irritating. I did enjoy the story and noticed many standard vampire traits that are still in use today. Carmilla is the prototype of female vampires and hints at the lesbianism that is so often used in stories about female vampires. She selects only female victims and often becomes emotionally involved with them. She is extremely beautiful, is able to walk through walls and has an animal alter ego as a huge black cat.Carmilla is an intriguing Gothic vampire story that still works today.

[charrlygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After my re-read of this classic, I would give Carmilla 3.5 stars.

I loved the atmosphere and the language, even if I thought it was a bit too flowery at times.

I know that it's wrong to judge a work of this age by today's standards, but man, everyone in this book seemed stupid and too naive to be believable. The whole time, I was thinking "My God, man, wake up!"

I'm glad I re-read this one but I think that shall be it for me with Carmilla.