In contemporary terms, Le Fanu's writing would be "slow burn." He is wordy and the stories are a bit of a slog at times, especially since the horror elements tend to be more subtle and sinister. I imagine most people would pick this up to read Green Tea or Carmilla. Green Tea was interesting but took a few attempts, and Carmilla was interesting to read from the perspective of it being an early vampire story and how it might have influenced later works.

Good writing, but not a major "page turner" in my view. ( )

Old Collection Worth Reading

These old short stories are true to the Gothic horror genre. Although written over a century ago, the tales are easily understood and thoroughly enjoyable. My favorite, and the reason I bought this book, was the short story Carmilla which was inspiration for others, like Bram Stoker and his character Dracula. ( )

Reason read: TBR takedown, January 2023. Reading 1001
This is a series of short stories and novellas published in 1872. The stories are from the posthumous papers of a fictional occult detective Dr. Martin Hesslius.
1. Green Tea (green tea gives him the ability to 'see' that he is being followed by a demon (monkey).
2. The Familiar involves a sinister owl.
3. Mr. Justice Harbottle - cruel judge, doppelganger, story r/t by letters
4. Novella; The Room in the Dragan Volent; mystery involving catalepsy
5. Camilla: early vampire story.

I enjoyed the novellas much more than the short stories. ( )

This was wonderful. I enjoyed how each story has a different take on the supernatural occurrences. Some have “scientific” explanations, on the fence between hallucinations and actual spirits. One story only seems to be supernatural to advance the plot. And then, of course, Carmilla is firmly a supernatural story. Spoiler- it’s the best one in this collection. It’s a great example of suspense where the reader knows but the characters don’t. I dropped it down a star for “The Room in the Dragon Volant,” which is not as interesting, is too long and has a clunky and too sudden conclusion ( )

Arguably the first great ghost story collection in the Western canon. There is one weaker entry, The Room in the Dragon Volant which is really a gothic mystery not a ghost story, albeit a pretty good one. The chump protagonist Beckett is a classic example of being led by the dick, Victorian sensibilities aside.

Carmilla is the first great vampire story, not to mention having a strong lesbian theme that somehow sneaked right by Victorian censors. Green Tea and The Familiar, the latter a story of supernatural revenge, are still chilling after 150 years. The Familiar is somewhat weakened by Le Fanu giving away the revenge motivation in a postscript.

Harbottle is fine although its edge has been blunted by the billion similar ghost stories that have come after it. ( )