Review: Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

“You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.”

Release Date: 1872

Genre(s): Classics, gothic

Pages: 108

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Synopsis

After a carriage crashes in front of their home, Laura and her father agree to take in Carmilla, the passenger. Laura appreciates the company from someone her age until Carmilla becomes increasingly volatile. Soon Laura becomes increasingly ill, and her and her father set out to find out more about the mysterious guest in their home.

Review

After finding out that Carmilla was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, I knew I had to pick up this classic. It’s been an interest of mine to read more gothic novels and classic gothic novels, and I’d love to get a feel for the history and impacts of these books as well. Carmilla seemed like a good next step.

Before picking up Carmilla, I also did some research on this novel. Not only was this book the inspiration for Dracula, but it also contained early references to discussions of homosexuality within this genre of literature. I was looking forward to the exploration of themes like these, especially as I’ve been reading more about the Victorian era itself and the rise of challenging cultural norms in literature. Sadly, I think my expectations were a little bit too high due to my prior reading about the book itself.

Looking at Carmilla from the lens of its own era, I absolutely see what this book inspired and the themes that come from it. These were the aspects I enjoyed reading and analyzing the most. Something similar I mentioned in my review for Dracula is exploring the reader’s discovery of vampirism from the lens of a society that’s much more aware of this supernatural entity. This of course means having to see more through the characters’ lens to really feel those unknowns, but I really enjoyed these parts regardless.

Carmilla is obviously a much shorter book, so I shouldn’t have expected too much in terms of the depth of this novel. However, I think I’ve been spoiled by so many other short stories and novellas lately that I expected so much more in very few pages. I do have an expectation for more descriptive scenery and drawn-out stories with books like these. And again, there’s only so much that I could expect within ~110 pages, but I feel like both of these things were lacking a bit. In retrospect, I think the plot itself was a bit more simple as the book was primarily focused on themes more than anything. While I am glad that the book focused on what it did, I wish there was a balance of other story devices as well.

Something that Carmilla has definitely done for me is further drive my interest in gothic literature and its history. The way I’m looking at this book now is more about its impact than the story itself, but I do wish a 500-page Carmilla existed. After some time I’d like to pick up this book again – and perhaps my opinions will change! But for now I’ll say that, while I see what its inspired and did enjoy it, that I found myself wanting more.