A. Willis

So I purchased the illustrated version of this book which didn't pop up on BL so I just chose a version.

So the only reason why I didn't give this book five stars is that there are some threads that never got tied up to satisfy me towards the end of the book. One of those threads was who was Carmilla's mother?

"Carmilla" was the first book to be published about the mythical vampires. And not only that, it was I believe the first book of it's time to showcase a lesbian relationship. I can't help comparing it not only to Dracula, but also Salem's Lot. Since it was written in 1872, I am not going to knock the writer for not showcasing more gore. I think my main issue is that I didn't get a sense of menace from the character of Carmilla. If anything, I felt sorry for her. In Dracula and Salem's Lot you 100 percent had no qualms (or at least I didn't) about the bad guy's meeting their end.

I would equate this book with most Gothic writing of it's time. We have mysterious strangers, darkened rooms, falling apart castles (or schloss) and a young woman who is being taken in by a new friend who only it seems wants to be as close to her as she can be.

What I did like though is that you can see all of the parts that would later on be taken up by writers like Bram Stoker and Stephen King. I don't know why the vampire has been taken up again and again by modern horror writers. Maybe it's because it's scary to think of something that looks human but most decidedly is not. Or maybe it's because most vampires seem to do their destroying when we are at our most vulnerable when we are sleeping.
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