Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is a classic, Gothic novella "and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years." (Wikipedia) 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Dracula by Bram Stoker two years ago. So when I learned about Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu being the precursor to Dracula, I wanted to read it.

I read Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu last month as another book to get me into the Halloween mood. Carmilla is a quick read at approximately 106 pages for the ebook edition I read... And although I'm glad that I finally read Carmilla, I didn't think it was all that great.The storyline was slow and rather boring.

Below is the plot summary for Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu from Amazon:

Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu first published in 1872. It tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla. Carmilla predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years. Although Carmilla is a lesser known and far shorter Gothic vampire story than the generally-considered master work of that genre, Dracula, the latter is heavily influenced by Le Fanu's short story.

Carmilla, the title character, is the original prototype for a legion of female and lesbian vampires. Though Le Fanu portrays his vampire's sexuality with the circumspection that one would expect for his time, it is evident that lesbian attraction is the main dynamic between Carmilla and the narrator of the story.

I am giving Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!