Book Review - 'Carmilla' by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

2020 EDIT: Rereading the classic lesbian vampire novella 'Carmilla'.

It's short, easy to digest, a little problematic for its time, and anticlimactic; not nearly enough is explained towards the end. Laura doesn't really do anything and is useless as a "protagonist" - she's a passive narrator, which I am not a fan of.

But maybe the ambiguity and uncertainty was the intent; Laura is confused, frightened and hardly believing what is happening to her. The novella's potentially unreliable sources add to its eeriness, and dispense further weight to its mystery elements and gothic atmosphere. It's a beautiful, sensual, and horrific atmosphere, too.

'Carmilla' is like a mini 'Dracula' and 'Interview with the Vampire' - a bite size, liqueur dark chocolate delicacy. I love Carmilla herself and her ambivalent and complex relationship with the naive and sheltered Laura. Everything is so multilayered; creepy but enticing!

Now having seen the web series, which is a loose adaptation, I appreciate 'Carmilla' more than I did six years ago.

There are no easy answers that are handed to us on a silver platter, and there shouldn't be. Be afraid in your home, and in your mind. In your dreams, your mortal body.

Final Score: 3.5/5





Original Review:



"Young people like, and even love, on impulse. I was flattered by the evident, though as yet undeserved, fondness she showed me. I liked the confidence with which she at once received me. She was determined that we should be very near friends." - p. 29


My first review of 2014!

'Carmilla' - a strange, beautifully disjointed novella. I really enjoyed it.

However it does contain some of what I interpret as flaws evident in quite a few novellas: a rushed ending after a well-paced beginning and middle, certain plot points and elements either left unexplained or unexplored further, and turning points that are slightly underdeveloped for a short story, thus leading to anticlimaxes.

But the main characters are fleshed out and interesting, and there is a creepy tone to the story in how it plays out its mystery (even though most modern day readers would already know that Carmilla is a vampire). The Styria countryside setting is lovingly described - in daylight and nighttime - without going overboard. Indeed there are not many instances of prose that could easily have been cut out and not affected the story at all.

The novella's biggest strength comes from Carmilla herself and her interactions with the narrator, Laura (whose name is not mentioned until page 64 out of 108).

Their relationship is very complex and up to much interpretation. Is Carmilla merely lonely in her existence and craving love, hating what "nature" has turned her into? Or is she truly a monster, and it is life and power she craves? Laura is confused about her feelings for this strange but stunningly beautiful girl whom she first saw in a nightmare in her childhood, and is now suddenly thrust into her household. One moment she admires Carmilla, but then distrusts her because of her secrecy, and then she fears her, and doesn't like how Carmilla gets possessive of her ("You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever." p. 34).

But towards the end, the century-old vampiress may successfully have Laura under her thrall. Or perhaps Laura is just a meek, sheltered 19th century 19-year-old who is easily fooled by beauty over reason. Up to the very last page she is shown to be forever torn up about how she feels; about the horror she's been a part of.

But with all that is said and done, would the monster have mercilessly killed her after all? Is Laura an unreliable narrator?

This is a case of a vampire love story that got right what 'Twilight' didn't in the 21st century, concerning how relationships work. If there isn't a trusting, healthy companionship between two lovers who see each other as equals, then their "love" is a tragedy and should end so.

And of course Laura will need the men in her life to save her from doom at the hands of an evil woman seductress. Female relationships being represented as poisonous is a trope that goes back much further than I had initially thought (and Laura's mother is dead before the story begins). Still, her fascination with Carmilla is understandable, and she herself is as lonely as the demon.

Maybe a genuine friendship could have been possible between the two. We will never know...

I don't want to believe that the lesbian undertones in 'Carmilla' are the reason it has staying power even to this day. Sure it was controversial in its time, but that doesn't equal a good story; and one that doesn't show its age much. Thankfully, 'Carmilla' is a well plotted tale with creepy foreshadowing and macabre mysteries that will make the reader's mind spin trying to suss out the answers that are never revealed.

Before Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', there was Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla'. Sensual Gothica that also makes you think.

Final Score: 3.5/5

A 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' Trilogy Facebook update, concerning its movie casting, contains this quote: "because we all need to think about six-pack abs on a Monday"

I'd prefer actors to be chosen for a role because they can, you know, act. Unless Hollywood ends up casting yet more generic white supermodel people, I don't care how the DOSAB characters will look, male or female.