Carmilla: A Vampyre Tale by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I signed up for a graduate seminar course starting in the fall, perfect timing, called The Walking Undead: Zombies and Vampires in Transatlantic Cultural History, a literature course studying works other than the obvious Frankenstein and Dracula, and thank goodness for that. In anticipation of starting the new semester I asked my prof to provide me with the reading list, unfortunately he only gave me the list of authors, whose selected works we will be studying. I am pretty sure, though, that Carmilla is on the list, considering it is the story that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. My local library has an audiobook version read by Megan Follows, who plays Anne Shirley in the Sullivan Productions of Anne of Green Gables. How could I resist?
It was an even greater treat than I had hoped for. I played the file on 1.2 speed to cut down on the long pauses between scenes and it worked out quite well. I had originally planned to listen to the book while quickly running to the grocery store and then continue at a later time, but I was spellbound after 10 minutes.
It was a superbly written story with a great sense of the eerie, spooky, dark, the-beast-is-just-around-the-corner feeling that was accentuated by Follows excellent narration.
The story is told from a woman’s point of view as she recounts the events that happened to her as a teenager. The author’s skill in creating a connection between the narrator and the reader/listener that has one stop what they are doing in order to find out what will happen next, is a remarkable accomplishment. In addition, the details and descriptions given of scenes, sets, characters and sensations provide a clear picture of what is meant to be seen without appearing overwhelming.
Overall, I have to stop myself before I give anything of this great story away by accident. I do hope that this is actually the story we are going to study in my course, because, in my humble opinion, it is better than the highly popular and overly studied Dracula. It is a perfect read for a dark and rainy autumn afternoon and I would recommend it to everyone.
