Reader discussion: Carmilla

Public reader discussion about Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.

Dracula is actually very good

By cloudy_plate1974

I kept putting off reading Dracula for years because every time it came up, it was either people saying it was a letdown or people talking about how Stoker’s writing got treated like it was bad back in the day. I finally finished it a few days ago and honestly, I just wanted to put my thoughts out there in case it helps someone avoid the same unnecessary delay. The vibe Stoker creates is straight up great. Like, every location felt really grounded and you could picture it. Yeah, you’ve got the usual vampire/Transylvania stuff, but the London parts, the shipping vessel scenes, and those cold rural stretches in Transylvania all hit extra hard too. The characters felt pretty solid, even if they’re a little stiff at times. Still, they’re more interesting than a lot of stuff American authors were putting out way later, so I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would. I didn’t end up disliking any of them, which I guess is rare? I know some books use characters just to serve a purpose, but this one didn’t feel like it was missing anything. And yeah, Dracula’s the villain, but he’s also just hard not to get pulled into. I was kind of like… not even rooting for anyone, just constantly tense and waiting for the next thing. What really surprised me was how tangled and layered the story is. I assumed the early chapters (Jonathan in Transylvania) were basically the whole book, but then it kept going in a way I didn’t expect. Watching Jonathan, Lucy, Mina, Arthur, Van Helsing, Renfield, etc. overlap and feed into each other was genuinely impressive. The plot itself feels carefully put together, too. There are diary entries and notes that lay out possible outcomes or backup plans that don’t always work out, which made it feel less like one straight line and more like a bunch of choices piling up. I do get why people call it boring, though. If you go in expecting nonstop action, you’re probably going to be annoyed. It’s more of a slow burn, and a lot of the scary stuff is hinted at instead of fully spelled out. The realizations are basically the point. Also it’s like 125 years old, so the pacing isn’t going to match modern books no matter what. Anyway, I’m curious—did you think it was underwhelming, or did you end up joining the Dracula fan club?

Mysterious women who cannot be forgotten

By cosmos_peastone

I’ve always really liked that kind of character—she’s always a woman, and there’s just something intense about her presence. I feel like I can’t help but remember how she looks and moves, even after the story’s over. There’s usually this mix of awe and mystery, and it’s honestly kind of hard not to get pulled in. I also grew up without a mother, so I’m guessing that’s part of why I end up loving these kinds of women characters. If anyone has recommendations, I’d really appreciate it!

Started a Sapphic Horror Book Club!

By dustyhare

Just kicked off our first Sapphic Horror Book Club and everyone’s really hyped. Each month whoever’s up will either choose a book or pull one from a random pile, but the goal is that it actually has solid wlw vibes. I’ve grabbed a bunch of recs from other places, but I’m trying to double-check some of them, since I don’t want stuff that’s basically like, “the main character’s friend is queer” and that’s it (or it’s barely mentioned). If anyone’s read any of these, could you let me know whether they’re genuinely heavy on the lady/gay themes? The titles I’m looking at are: - Carmilla (Sheridan Le Fanu) - Monstrilio (Gerardo Samano Cordova) - Chlorine (Jade Song) - My Darling Dreadful Thing (Johanna Van Veen) - House of Hunger (Alexis Henderson) - The Drowning Girl (Caitlin R Kiernan) - Sister, Maiden, Monster (Lucy Snyder) - Queen of Teeth (Hailey Piper) - A Dowry of Blood (S.T. Gibson) - The Red Tree (Caitlin R Kiernan) - Luminous Dead (Caitlin Starling) - The Unworthy (Augustine Bazterrica) - The Eyes Are the Best Part (Monika Kim) And if you’ve got other recommendations that fit the same vibe, I’d love those too. Thanks!

"Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu.

By Poem_Icy218

This is a really good book. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but it’s kind of a Romantic/Gothic story about Laura, an heiress living in this isolated country, and then Carmilla shows up out of nowhere as this really unusual guest.

Carmilla - Discussion 2 (Ch 5-9)

By goose-wind

Hi everyone! Here’s the second discussion for Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu. We’re doing chapters 5-9 today. I’ve got a few questions below, but obviously feel free to add your own thoughts / questions too. The next discussion is set for Oct 13 for Ch 10-End. You can find the full schedule here. If you want to talk about later parts before then, please use the marginalia. --- Summary Chapter 5 A picture cleaner shows up at the schloss and brings up a portrait of Countess Mircalla Karnstein from 1698, who looks exactly like Carmilla (and the name is basically an anagram). Laura’s name finally gets revealed too! She really likes the portrait and wants it in her room. Carmilla and Laura go for a walk and Carmilla says she loves her again. Carmilla gets a little sick for a moment, but then seems fine again pretty quickly. Chapter 6 Laura’s father asks Carmilla if she’s heard from her mother, and she says no. Carmilla says maybe she should leave, but Laura’s father tells her to stay. Later Laura walks Carmilla to her room, and Carmilla tells her about going to a ball for the first time and being wounded in the chest and “almost murdered” in bed. She calls it a weird kind of love that would have cost her life. That night Laura dreams about a dirty black animal attacking her in bed, and then she feels a sharp pain like two big needles going into her breast. She wakes up screaming and sees someone by her bed, and the figure slowly leaves the room through the locked door. When Laura checks, the door is still locked. Chapter 7 Laura tells Madame and Mademoiselle what happened, and they say the long lime tree path behind Carmilla’s window is haunted and people have seen the same woman figure walking there. Carmilla comes downstairs and says she dreamed about something black coming near her bed and then waking up to a dark figure by the fireplace. The figure went away after she used her charm. Laura tells her what she saw, and Carmilla says she should use her charm too. Over the next few nights Laura gets weaker and weaker, with this heavy tired feeling. She starts thinking about death, and weirdly it doesn’t really bother her. She also has these strange dreams where she hears voices and feels touches that turn into choking. She’s getting pale and her eyes are changing, and for some reason she won’t say she’s sick or tell anyone what’s going on. One night she dreams she hears “Your mother warns you to beware of the assassin” and sees Carmilla at the foot of her bed covered in blood. She wakes everyone up because she thinks something happened to Carmilla, but Carmilla isn’t in her room. Chapter 8 Laura, Madame, Mademoiselle and the servants search everywhere for Carmilla, but she’s nowhere. She comes back the next day at one in the afternoon and doesn’t seem to remember anything from the night before except waking up in the dressing room instead of her bed. Laura’s father decides Carmilla must have been sleepwalking, since she used to do that as a kid. Chapter 9 Laura’s father is worried about her, so he calls a doctor. The doctor hears her symptoms and looks pretty serious about it. He talks with Laura’s father, but they don’t tell Laura what’s going on. They send for Madame and tell her to stay with Laura all the time. Laura’s father says he’s going to Karnstein and asks Laura and Madame to come with him, with Carmilla and Mademoiselle to follow later. Then they run into the General on the way, and that’s where it stops.

Just had a book spoiled by a footnote and I’m honestly livid

By AcarusBrisk

I’m only on page 26 and there’s already a footnote that brings up some small detail and basically throws doubt on the main character’s guilt, even to the point of wondering if they should’ve been executed. And yeah, besides spoiling things, that kind of interpretation is gonna mess with how I read the rest. Like come on. I know it’s a classic and some people read it for “scholarly” reasons, but it’s not like nobody’s reading it for what happens. Plus there weren’t any earlier footnotes warning that it was gonna turn into this. If the book weren’t just around 100 pages, I’d probably stop. Two thumbs down to whoever wrote the introduction and the footnotes.