In case you've never heard of Carmilla, let me happily introduce you to one of the earliest depictions of vampire in literature and the first depiction of the lesbian vampire, which would later become a trope because of this short book. Additionally, Bram Stoker's Dracula was inspired by Carmilla, but often goes ignored or not mentioned (which feels adpt to me, when a movie inspired by a 1922 interpretation of Dracula is currently in theaters). As a lesbian and a vampire enthusiast, reading Carmilla has been one of my goals for a while and I finally got around to it. Overall, I highly recommend this book for people interested in understanding vampire lore and the history of vampires in literature, especially because it is short and easy to digest. I particularly enjoyed learning where certain parts of vampire lore likely developed out of this book, like their hatred of religious imagery.

As I mentioned above, Carmilla is not long and it is an easy read. Le Fanu is often to the point, and does not use a lot of purple prose which can be difficult for some people (though I love it so). This addition likely helped, since Machado edited his sentences and usage of commas specifically to make it easier to understand. His allusions and thematic wrestling between seduction, evil, and desire is interesting and should be quite obvious to readers, since Le Fanu makes sure several times you understand what he meant and why he wrote specific sections.

I do think in some aspects the length of the novel did hurt the development of the plot and characters, since as a reader there were several times where I felt like I did not understand Laura or Carmilla as much as I wished to and that I wanted better development of their relationship. Many scenes Le Fanu establishes that there is something off about Carmilla, but I wished there were one or two scenes that highlighted the regular relationship between Carmilla and Laura. This would have aided in the gothic horror elements of the novel, which Le Fanu tends to tell you about rather than showing you. This also would probably be a bit sympathetic towards lesbians and lesbian relationships, which I don't particularly think was Le Fanu's point with the novel. I do feel like the abrupt shifting in plot development specifically really reminded me that this was published in newspapers and needed to remind readers what had just happened.

The other developmental moment that I think really hinders this book comes when the general is introduced and proceeds to explain why Bertha died and they could not visit Laura and her father at their isolated estate. Within the introduction of these characters and their death in the beginning, it is very clear to the reader that Carmilla seduced and killed Bertha. I wouldn't mind this foreshadowing coming back at the end as a reveal to Laura and her father, but the way Le Fanu does this with the general and his story over several chapters and basically the last third of the book just completely shifts the focus of the plot in a way that I feel stalls character development for Laura, stalls the plot, and is not particularly horrific. Instead of the growing horror that has been happening to Laura because of Carmilla, some man comes to explain to them what will happen to Laura if they don't kill Carmilla. It would have been far more interesting to have this climax between the two, but we do not see them interact for any falling out after the general's story. I wouldn't even mind his story aiding Laura in connecting the dots about Carmilla that are present in the story if it didn't take up so much of the book! Because of this weird, stilted development the climax and ending feel abrupt and don't hold much emotional weight. Maybe I am more interested in humanizing my lesbian vampire predators than Le Fanu was, but no confrontation between Laura and Carmilla is a truly truly sore ending to an otherwise fantastic novel.

I do find it interesting that, and you may forget this in the course of reading the book, Laura dies as well. I find it an apt pattern in vampire gothic media that a woman will escape her abuser or predator (who is also a symbol of her desire, yes) only for her to die, or for her to die in order for the vampire to also die. Can you tell I saw a certain vampire movie recently?

Anyways if anyone wants to chat about women in vampire fiction I'd love to, something I enjoy ruminating about.

I would be remiss to mention that there is racism/racist depictions of black people present in the book, around when Carmilla and Laura first meet. It's not prolonged in the plot or a character that sticks around, but it happens and you should be aware of that going into the book. Frankly, I found it weird and that it did not serve the book but I want to check out literary publications that analyze the moment to better understand it. Regardless, you should know and it's not my place as a white person to excuse it.

Carmen Maria Machado's edition is, in my opinion, the one to read if you can. As I mentioned above, Machado made edits to make it more readable especially with the commas. She adds footnotes to help explain locations or historical contexts that I would have completely missed otherwise, and are funny and poke fun at Le Fanu and interpretations of the novel. The prologue to this edition is what makes it extraordinarily worth it, to me. In the prologue, Machado goes over previously academic research that have highlighted the real people Le Fanu (and Stoker) based their novels on, specifically the real women who had a real relationship as evidenced by their letters and the real effects that had on their lives, especially on the woman that Laura is based on. To me, this prologue beautifully added necessary additional context about these women and their lives that Le Fanu has immortalized as a sort of warning against lesbianism, though their letters are obviously more explicitly romantic than Carmilla is. Also, I think the additions is solely worth it for the artwork found throughout the pages. Robert Kraiza did an amazing job at capturing scenes and making this classic come to life.

You may be wondering, why the five stars with all the criticisms of Le Fanu's abilities as a writer? I think more people need to be aware of, and read this impactful early vampire work that has specifically shaped how lesbians are represented through vampirism. Depicting "the other" is a deep part of vampire media, which warns the public of the immigrant, the erotic, and the seduction of queer people among other things. Yes, it is in part a way to villainize us, but as a lesbian is it not true that we are an other, that we feel like our love is monstrous? Laura's conflicting emotional state because of Carmilla's monstrous seduction is familiar to queer people, who have felt ill and wrong for being gay. Part of what I enjoy with vampire media is the exploration of morality and desire, and what the vampire represents for the main character. Lesbian desire being represented this way touched something within me, and I urge all vampire enjoyers and queer people to read this edition of Carmilla. Additionally, it is refreshing to read a vampire book that is focused on women and the relationships they share, after reading so much man-focused vampire books. Queer women were some of the earliest representations of vampires in literature, and it is disappointing how absent we are in certain vampire media.

In a time where lesbians are being reminded of our monstrosity in a heteronormative world, books like Carmilla allow us to revel in and struggle with this monstrosity. I hope in the future, further adaptations of this work can explore these themes more deeply, with more care, and with more love. Yes, I plan to read St Gibson's adaptation, after I read Dracula :).

This book must've blown minds in 19th century Ireland. I can see why it's a literary classic. I loved it a lot even if the characters are a bit one dimensional. It's more about the atmosphere, the looming threat of death. We know what's happening to Laura, but she hasn't the faintest idea since she's so innocent. Spoilers:

Carmilla's death was a bit of a let down. I thought we were building to something more shocking but her death was over so quickly and unceremoniously.

Gothic fiction, homoerotic undertones, the unspeakable spoopy vibes. Honestly it has everything to make for a good story and I had a good time. Could use less of the General character and more of the MC using her 2 braincells for something other than waxing poetic about how hot Carmilla is (or maybe more of it?!?), but great nonetheless.

As a bi vampire lover, I liked this book and found it interesting to see the resemblance and differences to more modern adaptations of the vampire myths. 

I also liked how Carmilla's and Laura's queerness was not directly demonised and found it very progressive for its age in comparison to other classics.

It was, as one of the first influential vampire stories, predictable but nevertheless an enjoyable read.

Did I get that right though? That Carmilla was actually remotely related to Laura? The thing I actually did not expect and threw me off a bit oof