Carmilla
Nov 2008 · Cosimo, Inc.
5.0star
1 reviewreport
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112
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About this ebook
The foremost teller of scary stories in his day and a profound influence on both the novelists and filmmakers of the 20th century, Anglo-Irish author JOSEPH THOMAS SHERIDAN LE FANU (1814 1873) has, sadly, fallen out of scholarly and popular favor, and unfairly so. To this day, contemporary readers who happen across his works praise his talent for weaving a tense literary atmosphere tinged by the supernatural and bolstered by hints of ambiguous magic. Carmilla is Le Fanu 's 1872 novella also included in the collection of short fiction In a Glass Darkly of lesbian vampirism, a chilling and terrifying tale of a young girl who comes under the evil influence of a female vampire. The prototype of an entire subgenre of vampire fiction, a clear inspiration for Bram Stoker 's 1897 novel Dracula, and the source material for countless movies, this is one of the more significant yet least appreciated works of pop culture of the past two centuries.With a series of new editions of Le Fanu 's works, Cosimo is proud to reintroduce modern book lovers to the writings of the early master of suspense fiction who pioneered the concept of psychological horror.
Ratings and reviews
5.0
1 review
Zachary Musgrove
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October 24, 2019
Purely a masterpiece and a must read for people who enjoy classic tales. I had read Bram Stoker's Dracula first and had always (foolishly thought) that his was the first major vampire novel, I was sadly mistaken. I love Dracula, Stoker has been a huge inspiration for the stories I have written and soon to publish, Carmilla in my mind was a less repetitive and more enjoyable novel to read. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu did a fantastic job with the character, Carmilla in ways that actually had me feeling for her and I actually cared more for her than the protagonist, Laura. Overall, this is a wonderful book, I am very happy to have read it and I cannot recommend it enough for others to read.
About the author
The greatest author of supernatural fiction during the nineteenth century was undoubtedly J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Le Fanu was born in Dublin and, as with so many other English popular fiction authors of his time, entered the genre of fiction by way of journalism, working on such publications as the Evening Mail and the Dublin University Magazine. Le Fanu came from a middle-class background; his family was of Huguenot descent. He graduated from Trinity College and married in 1844. After his wife died in 1858, until his own death, Le Fanu was known as a recluse, creating his ghost fiction late at night in bed. Probably he began writing ghost fiction in 1838; his earliest supernatural story is often cited as being either "The Ghost and the Bone-Setter" or the "Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh," both of which were later collected in the anthology entitled The Purcell Papers (1880). Writing most effectively in the short story form, Le Fanu's tales such as "Carmilla" (a vampire story that is thought possibly to have influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula) and the problematic "Green Tea" are considered by many literary scholars to be classics of the supernatural genre. His lengthy Gothic novels, such as Uncle Silas (1864), though less highly regarded than his shorter fiction, are nonetheless wonderfully atmospheric. Le Fanu's particular brand of literary horror tends toward the refined, subtle fright rather than the graphic sensationalism of Matthew Gregory Lewis. His work influenced other prominent horror fiction authors, including M. R. James.
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