What I’m Reading – Carmilla

*Spoilers*

How do you keep a chill in the air when fall is months away? Read classic gothic horror of course. I recently finished reading Carmilla, written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu in 1872. The book is about vampires and was published around 25 years before Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

The story is short, a novella, it’s around 100 pages, so it doesn’t take long to read. Overall, I enjoyed the book. There were some esoteric words, and some of the sentences were worded a bit strangely, but it had its good parts. The beginning of the book was interesting, the middle kind of lagged, and the end really picked up the pace.

The titular character, Carmilla, is described as beautiful, young, and languorous. She schemes her way into the lives of those she plans to feed on. No one suspects such a beautiful girl of being a cold-blooded killer. In the book she sets her sights on Laura. After pretending to be hurt in an accident she stays with Laura and her father in their manor.

The girls become fast friends, and everything seems fine at first. However, Carmilla is secretive, prone to sudden mood swings, and doesn’t participate in the family prayers. She also becomes romantically involved with Laura, often kissing her, holding her hand, and telling her how much she loves her and wants to be with her forever. Laura feels equally attracted to and scared of Carmilla. Soon, news of other young women in the area dying from an unknown illness makes its way to the manor. Then Laura starts feeling fatigued and complains of nightmares. Her symptoms get worse and worse until her father calls a doctor, who says that Laura should no longer be alone at night.

They discover that Carmilla does not sleep in her room, and Laura has seen her walking in the woods at night. They decide she is only sleepwalking. However, Carmilla refuses to reveal anything about herself or her past to anyone. Laura and her father run into a friend who recently lost his niece after she had the same symptoms as Laura. He said they had a visitor with them at the time, a young, beautiful girl named Millarca. It becomes clear that something sinister is in their midst…

I enjoyed the book; it has some unique takes on vampires, their powers and origins. There were parts that I found scary so if you can get past the slow middle its a good read.

The book has themes of repressed sexuality, religion, and the supernatural.

I would recommend this book.

Rating 7/10