November Group Read Novella: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

The Group Read Novella for November is CARMILLA by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

Go grab your free copy here:

https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Horror...

Please remember to use spoiler tags when needed because even though this is a classic, we haven't all read it yet.

[Melanie]

Thanks Bark, I'm a Carmilla virgin so looking forward to this.

[Marie Helene]

Thanks Bark, I grabbed my copy 😀

[Graeme]

An excellent choice.

[Kimberly]

I'll be following along with this one. :)

[Vavita]

I really enjoyed this one and I will be happy to discuss about it.

[Jamie]

If anyone is interested, I did a blog and fancast on this story some years ago:

https://houseofgeekery.com/2013/11/14...

[Quantum]

I listened to the audiobook. Horrific.

[Chris]

I will be following this discussion. LOVED that novella. I also can recommend the Hammer Film "The Vampire Lovers" as a great film adaptation. I would read the book first because it does reproduce many key sequences.

[Lena]

This book gave me a nightmare.

[Graeme]

Lena wrote: "This book gave me a nightmare."

Yes, indeed. There is a compelling undertow in this story - it reaches deep.

I'll keep an eye on this thread.

[Kelly B]

It's been a year or two since I read this so I no longer remember the details, but I rated it 5 stars, so I guess I really liked it :-).

I do remember that it was very atmospheric.

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Heads up, I just found a free unabridged reading of Carmilla for you audiobook fans! I will likely be reading/listening as I have a lot of book commitments this month. It's 3 hours long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyhZ_...

[Melanie]

Bark wrote: "Heads up, I just found a free unabridged reading of Carmilla for you audiobook fans! I will likely be reading/listening as I have a lot of book commitments this month. It's 3 hours long.

https://w..."

It's the 1st here so I've started, this is a seriously good narrator, thanks Bark.

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Melanie wrote: "It's the 1st here so I've started, this is a seriously good narrator, thanks Bark. ."

The narrator is very good. I'm so glad you are enjoying her reading too.

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Any early thoughts?

Are you enjoying the beautifully gothic writing or thinking there's too much purple prose? I'm somewhere in the middle. It is very purple but it puts me back in time so I can't complain.

(view spoiler)[Do you think these people need to be a more suspicious of the lady in black or is it just me?! She leaves her daughter for 3 months to do whatever after the daughter has what seems to be a simple case of the vapours. I'd be very suspicious but that's me. (hide spoiler)]

[Quantum]

Bark wrote: "Any early thoughts?"

I was quite suspicious too. Le Fanu actually does a really good job of not revealing things too soon.

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Alex wrote: "I was quite suspicious too. Le Fanu actually does a really good job of not revealing things too soon."

I agree there are just enough clues to get a gist of what is sure to come.

[Chris]

I read this like two years ago and really enjoyed it. Maybe even better than Dracula. This is going to be a bit of a shocker for some, especially given the time period. This doesn't give away the plot, really, but I never expected the overt sexuality from a novel (novella) written in this time period.

[Graeme]

Bark wrote: "Any early thoughts?

Are you enjoying the beautifully gothic writing or thinking there's too much purple prose? I'm somewhere in the middle. It is very purple but it puts me back in time so I can't..."

Hi Bark, (view spoiler)[I found the characters to be over-trusting and naive, and it left me a little frustrated with them. On the flip side, it might be difficult for someone to point the finger and shout, "Vampire!" (hide spoiler)]

[Kimberly]

It's been a few years since my last re-read of this one, but I felt that the "subtle" clues were used well, and not so blatant that you would become frustrated with the characters--especially considering the time period.

[Melanie]

Finished, and absolutely loved it, thanks Bark for finding such a great narration. My review's spoiler-free.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have to admit, after reading so many vampire novels over the years and after Dracula, (view spoiler)[ I was expecting a more 'spectacular' ending. Not that the image of Carmilla lying in a coffin sloshing around with all that blood wasn't completely fucking gross, but it felt a little anti-climactic. Maybe that's mostly an expectation of modern times? I also felt like there wasn't really any closure with the protagonist, but perhaps that's just a sign of the times. Le Fanu was a male writing from a female's perspective in the mid 1800's after all. (hide spoiler)]

[Chris]

Check out the Hammer movie The Vampire Lovers if you haven't already seen it.

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Chris wrote: "I read this like two years ago and really enjoyed it. Maybe even better than Dracula. This is going to be a bit of a shocker for some, especially given the time period. This doesn't give away the p..."

I agree Chris, I was surprised by the amount of kissing and touching that was included for such an oldie!

[Chris]

Supposedly Le Fanu was cagey about it. He said since one was a vampire it didn't really count. But I bet it sold copies!

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Chris wrote: "Supposedly Le Fanu was cagey about it. He said since one was a vampire it didn't really count. But I bet it sold copies!"

I bet you are 100% correct :)

[Vavita]

Chris wrote: "Check out the Hammer movie The Vampire Lovers if you haven't already seen it."

Thanks for the tip! The movie was great!

[Chris]

Glad you liked it. I am a huge Hammer fan. I have seen most of their films several times.

[Joel]

A little late to the party, but will be starting this today. The past couple of Octobers I have been tackling classic horror/gothic books that I had yet to read: Frankenstein, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Castle of Otranto, Wieland: or, The Transformation: An American Tale, etc. But this is one I haven't gotten to yet and really looking forward to it.

[Melanie]

Joel wrote: "A little late to the party, but will be starting this today. The past couple of Octobers I have been tackling classic horror/gothic books that I had yet to read: Frankenstein, The Yellow Wallpaper,..."

Hope you enjoy it Joel.

[Joel]

Melanie wrote: "Hope you enjoy it Joel."

Halfway through and so far so good. Fine atmosphere, and while it seems obvious where the story is headed, it is believable that the narrator would be oblivious

[Suki]

I love this story-- Le Fanu's lush prose drew me right in; the descriptions and atmosphere are fantastic.

[Lena]

Was anyone else surprised by the vampire origin story here? I had never heard it before and was surprised no one, especially in the 90s, used it.

Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Graeme]

All in all, a spooky read and a revelation for the time in which it was published.

My review is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Joel]

Yeah, I really enjoyed this one too. This was a great idea for a group read topic, both financially (can't beat free!) and for convenience (I have little to no access to an English language library.) It is also nice to tackle older stuff like this, like when we did The Willows a year or two ago. I think Polidori's The Vampyre would be great for a future group read as another pre-Dracula vamp tale.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I like the novella, but I have to admit I love the reviews more, Jamie, Melanie, Lena and Graeme!

: )

[Lena]

Thanks April!

[Graeme]

Thanks April.

[Melanie]

Thank you April

[Jamesboggie]

I just started tonight. I have read Dracula several times. I am eager to see how Carmilla compares.

[Jamesboggie]

I finished today. My feelings are mixed. I felt that Laura's portion of the story was a slow series of strange events. However, General Spielsdorf's story had a real sense of tension and growing suspense.

It definitely includes many of the familiar tropes of vampire stories. I wonder how many were new when it was written.

[Melanie]

I loved how it didn't feel like it was written 150 years ago, it felt like a modern story written with an intentionally older voice/style.

[Hectaizani]

This one is an oldie but goodie. I've read it before but it's been years. I was really impressed with how the author threw in so much sexuality back in such repressed times. I love that his excuse was something like (view spoiler)[vampires aren't human so they don't have sexuality so there aren't really any lesbian themes at all (hide spoiler)] and his audience bought it. The plot twist at the end wasn't all that much of a plot twist but that's only because I've consumed so much vampire fiction that I can see one coming a mile away. I bet it was pretty shocking back in 1872.

[J.]

Hectaizani wrote: "This one is an oldie but goodie. I've read it before but it's been years. I was really impressed with how the author threw in so much sexuality back in such repressed times. I love that his excuse ..."

(view spoiler)[Wouldn't it still be necrophilia or bestiality? (hide spoiler)]

[Joseph]

I think reading lesbianism the way we think of it into this is going way beyond what the context supports. Carmilla's over affectionate behavior toward Laura makes much more sense when we see her as a predator grooming her prey, the way a cat plays with the mouse it's about to eat.

[Suki]

Joseph wrote: "I think reading lesbianism the way we think of it into this is going way beyond what the context supports. Carmilla's over affectionate behavior toward Laura makes much more sense when we see her a..."

I like the predator grooming her prey image, and also it was completely socially acceptable at that time for girls and women to be physically affectionate with one another without any sexual overtones. When I lived in China, my female friends would always hold hands or link arms when we went out, and it didn't mean anything except that we were happy to be out together. I think they would have been horrified if it were taken as a sexual overture.

[Randy]

Joseph and Suki, I think you both raise valid points, but as I recall there is an element of sensuality in the interplay between Carmilla and Laura.

That said, lesbianism may have appeared more in adaptations of the story. It's certainly implicit in the movie Dracula's Daughter and much more overtly suggested in movies like The Vampire Lovers. That latter, as I recall, surprised me by being reasonably faithful to the source story.
RM

[Chris]

You could be right, certainly. But just for my take, considering the time and place where this was written, those Victorians were a really repressed and odd bunch and I can picture them enjoying the titillation while at the same time saying it was a predator/prey relationship to make it more socially acceptable. Check out Polidori's Vampyre and there is a sexual (heterosexual) overtone to that one--and the main character is based on Lord Byron who certainly had a reputation.

Frank sexuality wasn't new. The Monk was very salacious for the time, as was mainstream literature like Fielding's Tom Jones, Volaire's Candide, the Miller's Tale of Chaucer, or Boccaccio's Decameron (any story told by Doneo).

Just my two cents. I tend to think that the writers wrote to sell and anything that would help sell the novel was fair game--which could be denied later--Of course I did not mean it that way! You have a dirty mind, dear sir! LOL

[Randy]

There was a fair amount of erotic fiction during the Victorian era, too. Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure predated that era, but that gives an idea of what became popular.

And as you say, writers write to sell. There are stories about what the s.f. writers used to do to circumvent censors, and 1930-40s film makers often looked for creative ways to get around the Hayes Office.

So, really, any of these readings could be argued as valid; the ingredients are in the text.

RM

[Chris]

I really love Hammer films and The Vampire Lovers is a really good one, and especially interesting after reading Carmilla--who now in my mind's eye is Ingrid Pitt.