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Oh, yes! Carmilla is so beguiling, and yet shudderingly creepy when she says things such as "I live in your warm life, and you shall die--sweetly die--into mine."

Interestingly, Carmilla precedes Dracula and Dracula was influenced by themes in Carmilla.

Why haven't I read this??? I must!

I have a question: what about Carmilla’s mother who abandons her twice in the course of the novel never to be heard of again?

Sheri wrote: "Why haven't I read this??? I must!"

Hey there! It's been nearly ten years(!!) now since I read Carmilla, and frankly I don't much recall the character of the mother anymore... but I've been wanting to revisit and I'm sure I'll be aware of this on this next read!

The mothers abandonment is a ploy to allow Carmilla to gain easy entry into a home. With that said, there’s a story unvisited there.

An aspiring writer may take the opportunity to build upon the story of Carmilla to tell the mother’s tale, and shed light on what transpires after she abandons or better yet places Carmilla at the home of her next victim.

Thanks for providing this info, Michael. And it's a reminder that I'm still long, long overdue to revisit this again...

One of my favorite grade school vampire novels featured a side character that I think was supposed to be this Carmilla. It was by Nancy Garden, who is better known for having written one of the first lesbian YA books, Annie on My Mind. I should reread it and see what subtext I failed to pick up!

The only essay I came close to a first in at uni and actually impressed a professor. The year I realised I wasn't straight but deeply buried it for 4 more but says a lot I think ha.

Kylie wrote: "The only essay I came close to a first in at uni and actually impressed a professor. The year I realised I wasn't straight but deeply buried it for 4 more but says a lot I think ha."

Straightness is over-rated and so are grades. ;)

As a literature student I can tell... Carmilla is way better than Dracula in many aspects: easier to read, more entertaining, the atmosphere and mood are better set, and most important, at least for me: it is way more ground-breaking than Dracula (also it is several years older than Dracula). I really like vamp literature and I enjoy Carmilla way more.

Are you familiar with Nyx Press? They're small, but "queer+Gothic" seems to be their brand.

Thanks Mir. 😊

well if that isn't the most pedantic thing I have read

Michael wrote: "...An aspiring writer may take the opportunity to build upon the story of Carmilla to tell the mother’s tale, and shed light on what transpires after she abandons or better yet places Carmilla at the home of her next victim..."

Yes. And I did so: DRACULA: HIS WOMEN: The Legend of Dracula, Book II

I will always indulge in a good sapphic vampire read. I find it impressive how this novel captures the modern yearning and confusion of sapphic love and of homoerotic female friendships. What was intended as a cautionary tale has ironically acted as a means of inspiration instead. What I loved most was the presentation of Carmilla’s “appetite� for Laura in the sense of their shared love, but also quite literally, as she was draining her blood. Carmilla is alluring, compelling, and beautiful by nature. She used charming words to seduce her prey. But her relationship with Laura was a more pure and innocent representation of love. She expresses this: “I live in you; and you would die for me, i love you so�. The consistent motifs of life and death and subtle foreshadowing to Carmilla’s monstrous background made the novel spectacular. I will always love this allegorical way of capturing desire. The paradoxes that Laura felt of love and disgust reinforced the vampiric undertones, the monstrous pleasure she feels when her lover is around. I definitely recommend this book if you want to start getting into classics or if you just love vampires and gothic lit!!

Nice book