J. Sheridan LeFanu's "Carmilla" stands as one of the richest, most literate and most enduring stories in the history of the vampire sub-genre. Many rate it higher than Bram Stoker's "Dracula," and while that estimation is at least debatable, there is no debate that "Carmilla" has exerted a mighty influence, consciously or not, on most vampire fiction to follow in its wake, "Dracula" not excepted. Indeed, Stoker's original early chapter in his masterpiece, later published independently as "Dracula's Guest," is particularly indebted to LeFanu's earlier work. As to which is better, let each reader decide for himself--and so enjoy them both!
The story is deceptively simple. A young girl, shaken up in a carriage accident, is left by her traveling mother in the care of the narrator's father. Laura, the young woman in whose voice we are told the tale, becomes fast friends with her new acquaintance, a friendship that is put to a powerful test when a strange malady begins infesting the idyllic Styrian countryside with nightmares, fever, and death.
LeFanu's style is unhurried, intelligent, and subtle, and the result is an eminently readable tale of mystery and the macabre that holds up remarkably well to repeated perusals. Though not as famous as "Dracula," and certainly written on a much smaller scale than Stoker's epic vampire opus, "Carmilla" is the more sustained and concentrated of the two. Many have traditionally argued that the novella, or short novel, is the ideal vehicle for a horror story, allowing for plenty of characterization and plot development without pushing the story itself beyond its dramtic limits. This reviewer tends to agree, and asserts that whereas "Dracula," masterwork that it is, often flags and succumbs to the doldrums, "Carmilla" never wavers and holds interest to the bittersweet end.
Originally published in 1871, "Carmilla" was quite sensational in its day, but I know many will not judge it to have aged well. A far cry from many modern vampire tales, "Carmilla" is probably not for everyone, or even every vampire fan. The deliberate pace, old-world feel, delicate characterization, subtlety, and relative brevity of the story may be turn-offs to those who expect page after page of gory action and explicit sex from their horror. Be that as it may, discerning readers will find few indulgences better than LeFanu's "Carmilla," a gothic triumph which will endure as long as vampire tales are read.
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