The five stories in this collection by the Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu are all presented as case histories of Dr. Martin Hesselius (His conclusions are somewhat bizarre, especially in the case of Green Tea).The first story Green Tea is a chilling tale of a good man being terrorized by a horrible phantom- I don't want to give away what form this takes- who eventually urges him to self-destruction.The scene where he first sees this creature in an empty omnibus on a lonely road is extremely eerie. The Familiar again finds a man haunted by a strange little person who won't give in until he's had his revenge. Mr. Justice Harbottle tells of a corrupt judge who gets his come-uppance.The Room in the Dragon Volant is an entertaining if convoluted gothic mystery wherein a naive young man gets mixed up with evil Counts, masquerade balls and secret passageways.
The best story is undoubtedly Carmilla, which was an influence on Bram Stoker. The setting is an isolated castle in a forest in Styria, where a mysterious woman stays with a lonely girl and her father. Its a beautifully written story with a dreamy atmosphere and haunting images, like the beautiful vampire walking up the avenue of Lime trees in the early hours. I loved the descriptions of Carmilla as beautiful but underneath there's something repulsive, which to me is the definitive Vampire type. The story has quite overt lesbian suggestions, which must have been quite taboo for the time it was written.
“She used to place her pretty arms about my neck, draw me to her, and laying her cheek to mine, murmur with her lips near my ear, “Dearest, your little heart is wounded; think me not cruel because I obey the irresistible law of my strength and weakness; if your dear heart is wounded, my wild heart bleeds with yours. In the rapture of my enormous humiliation I live in your warm life, and you shall die—die, sweetly die—into mine. I cannot help it; as I draw near to you, you, in your turn, will draw near to others, and learn the rapture of that cruelty, which yet is love; so, for a while, seek to know no more of me and mine, but trust me with all your loving spirit.And when she had spoken such a rhapsody, she would press me more closely in her trembling embrace, and her lips in soft kisses gently glow upon my cheek. ”
Overall this collection is worth reading, my only criticism is the introductions and conclusions on some of the stories were a bit sleep inducing (I read late at night) but get past that and they are all classic supernatural tales.