A million times better than Dracula. Great to see newer edition if this books making it out into the world! If you're into vampires and powerful women, you'll love this.

Carmilla is a short early vampire novel written about a quarter century before Bram Stoker's Dracula full of lust. fear, and confusion. The main character Laura lives with her father in a large house and is lonely due to the isolated nature of their estate. She is expecting a visit from a neighbor but instead receives a letter saying that said neighbor's daughter has passed on. The father seems to be mad with grief - he doesn't write clearly and so neither Laura nor her father have any suspicions of what could have happened. No one in the story is expecting another beautiful young woman to quite literally crash into their lives and attempt to sweep Laura off of her feet.
The book might seem preposterous at times for a modern audience - the family taking in a stranger's daughter for an unspecified amount of time while being expected to ask her no questions about who she is, where she's coming from, where she's going, or even her family name - but the plot has enough intrigue to carry you through the whole story without feeling like I did at times while reading Dracula (namely that the thing was dragging on and on into infinity). Le Fanu did a lot of heavy lifting for the vampire genre with this one story as well. He reinforced the sensual rich vampire trope we got in Polidori's The Vampyre, he acknowledged sexuality of women in the 19th century (even if it's not how we would acknowledge it today), he relied heavily on psychological horror and suspense instead of gore, and he created a story that is incredibly atmospheric. It's also readable in an afternoon, which is saying a lot considering the time period it came out of. I loved the cover art of the Pushkin Press deluxe edition.

This was an interesting book. it's difficult to think what it would be like to read this at the time without knowing anything about vampires.

I really enjoyed the voice of the narrator. The 'you'll think it's crazy but it really happened' tone of the book.

It's a quick read, that must have been so groundbreaking when published.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I understand this was written in the 1800's and I think that's why I didn't get it at all. I was hoping for more of a Dracula's brides and didn't get that. I got confusion.

This was such a fun vampire story! I actually didn't know that it was written in the 1800s, but that honestly made it so much better. We get to learn what Carmilla lived through years later. I thought this was done very well. Overall, a great classic that more people need to read!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house for the opportunity to re-read one of the first gothic novels I have ever read.

I jumped at the opportunity to read this book. I remember being 16 and hiding this book from my mother and reading it late at night, it was my first adult gothic novel and I loved it. It set the course of my reading for quite some time.

I love it now just as much as I did then. A classic story that is way better than dracula in my opinion. It is dark and brooding, intriguing and sexy, a great storyline. It is hard to believe that this novel was written in 1872. Wonderful story, a must read.

I love vampire stories and wanted to read a spooky story for the Halloween season. I have read a bit of Dracula and enjoyed it, but I liked this story more. It's more fast paced and it's shorter so I finished it in a day. I had to take some time to get used to the language and word choice in the book so I definitely couldn't skim it, but it made me appreciate and understand the story better. I liked the backstory of how vampires are created and who Carmilla was. This book gives off a gothic and spooky vibe that's perfect for Halloween. I will definitely be re-reading this in the future!

4.5/5 Stars

As I received an e-ARC, I can't comment on the physical impression of this deluxe gift edition from Pushkin Press, but judging by the cover image I imagine it will be lovely.
Up from 3.5 stars for the genre-defining history.
Thank you very much to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is a classic, and deserves a place next too, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and of course Dracula by Bram Stoker.
This story is a little predictable, but it has a poetic writing style, and it flowed very nicely for an older book.

If you like classic horror, then this is a must read.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.*

Carmilla was an eerie vampire book, predating Dracula. I found it looking for a vampire book, but when it was first written you'd assume it was more of a mystery. Carmilla creates a relationship with Laura. It was a great read. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in a dark romance.

A classic, sapphic vampire novel that had a mammoth impact on gothic fiction. I enjoyed the deluxe version, would recommend it!

Carmilla is a gothic novella and an early example of the vampire in fiction.

It took me a little while to adjust to the writing but once I did I found the story fast paced and compelling. While a modern reader is probably more familiar with the vampiric elements which were novel when it was written, I still found this book intriguing. It was interesting to consider how Carmilla influenced future vampire stories, such as Dracula, and how far the genre has come since then.

Carmilla isn’t scary or a horror by modern standards but it is incredibly gothic and atmospheric. There are also strong sapphic undertones which feel very ahead of it’s time and setting.

The cover for this deluxe edition is beautiful and I’m definitely hoping to own the physical copy one day!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

🦇 REVIEW 🦇

CARMILLA
Author: Sheridan Le Fanu

#gifted by @netgalley
in exchange for an honest review
pub date: 7 September 2021

⚠️ CW: Death, blood

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CARMILLA, by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu, is a gothic novella known as "the cult classic that inspired Dracula". It was originally published in 1872 and has, among others, a gorgeous Deluxe Edition published by Pushkin Press.

This book tells the story of a young woman called Laura, who lives with her father and house staff in a schloss (castle) in Austria, of the friendship she developed with a young woman by the name of Carmilla who they happened to receive as a guest for a period of time and of the mysterious, frightening events that followed Carmilla's arrival.

At first the story felt a bit dense (despite it being only 160 pages long), probably because I'm not used to reading classics and gothic stories at that, but it was still good. I didn't find it scary or gory or anything of the sort.

The way the location was described made it look both bleak and beautiful, and the relationship between the girls was mysterious and alluring (I really wish that aspect of the story had been more explored, it had so much potential).

This was a short novella that didn't give me everything I was looking for but it was a great way to begin my spooky season reads! 👻

#CarmillaDeluxeEdition #NetGalley #bookreview

3.5 stars for the OG of vampire fiction (yes, even earlier than Stoker's Dracula). Some fantastic creeping dread and mystery unfortunately combined with heavy handed explanations/"coincidences" that took away from the atmosphere of the tale. But, overall, a great read for the spooky season.

The og vampire story, Carmilla is dark and luxurious, and perfect for Halloween season. I've been meaning to read Carmilla for the longest time, and I'm so glad I was able to read the deluxe version.

i really loved the writing style of this book: it felt like a secret was being shared between the protagonist and the reader, as if it's a tale that can't be spoken of. a bit too dramatic in some bits, but then again, it's from the 1800s

i wished there was more interaction between laura and carmilla, but all the little we had was interesting and eerie enough to have me pleased.

So this one didn’t really do it for me. I felt a bit lost during most of it. But I did finish it. I think it could definitely be a hit or miss but I wouldn’t say it was bad I just had a bit of a hard time following the story. I’m so glad to have had it for my trip to Idaho, it kept me company either way.

I enjoyed reading Carmilla i found it a fun short read with a great plot and great characters that i loved reading about and highly recommend to anyone wanting to read this its so worth it.

This was a spooky, sapphic treat of a read - it's short but the language is quite of it's time so take your time with it. But it's an iconic vampire story that paved the way for so much of the fantasy genre. Big recommend to horror fans, especially if you like your monsters with teeth and a lil bit sexy.

A creepy yet enchanting quick read that may seem predictable, but only because it's been copied ad nauseam over the years. Absolutely worth the short time it'd take to read. Unsure what qualifies this edition as "deluxe" since the content is just the original story, with no added introduction or notes. Perhaps it's something about the physical copy that is missed in an e-book.