Carmilla
Encyclopedia
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, and has been adapted many times for cinema.
the same year.
There were two original illustrators for the story, both of which appeared in the magazine but which do not appear in modern printings of the book. The two illustrators, David Henry Friston
and Michael Fitzgerald, show some inconsistencies in their depiction of the characters, and as such some confusion has arisen in identifying the pictures as part of a continuous plot.
Laura begins her tale by relating her childhood in a "picturesque and solitary" castle in the midst of an extensive forest in Styria
where she lives with her father, a wealthy English
widower, retired from the Austrian Service. When she is six years old, Laura has a vision of a beautiful visitor in her bedchamber. She later claims to have been bitten on the chest, although no wounds are found on her.
12 years later, Laura and her father are admiring the sunset in front of the castle when her father tells her of a letter he received earlier from his friend General Spielsdorf. The General was supposed to bring his niece, Bertha Rheinfeldt, to visit the two, but the niece suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. The General ambiguously concludes that he will discuss the circumstances in detail when they meet later.
Laura is saddened by the loss of a potential friend, and longs for a companion. A carriage accident outside Laura's home unexpectedly brings a girl of Laura's age into the family's care. Her name is Carmilla. Both girls instantly recognize the other from the 'dream' they both had when they were young.
Carmilla appears injured after her carriage accident, but her mysterious mother informs Laura's father that her journey is urgent and cannot be delayed. She arranges to leave her daughter with Laura and her father until she can return in three months. Before she leaves she sternly notes that her daughter will not disclose any information whatsoever about her family, past, or herself and that Carmilla is of sound mind. Laura comments that this information seems needless to say, and her father laughs it off.
Carmilla and Laura grow to be very close friends, but occasionally Carmilla's mood abruptly changes. She sometimes makes unsettling romantic advances towards Laura. Carmilla refuses to tell anything about herself or her background, despite questioning from Laura. Her secrecy isn't the only mysterious thing about her. Carmilla sleeps much of the day, and seems to sleepwalk at night. When a funeral procession passes by the two girls and Laura begins singing a hymn, Carmilla bursts out in rage and scolds Laura for singing a Christian song. When a shipment of family heirloom restored portraits arrives at the castle, Laura finds one of her ancestors, "Mircalla, Countess
Karnstein", dated 1698. The portrait resembles Carmilla exactly, down to the mole on her neck.
During Carmilla's stay, Laura has nightmares of a fiendish cat-like beast entering her room at night and biting her on the chest. The beast then takes the form of a female figure and disappears through the door without opening it. Laura's health declines and her father has a doctor examine her. He speaks privately with her father and only asks that Laura never be left unattended.
Her father then sets out with Laura in a carriage for the ruined village of Karnstein. They leave a message behind asking Carmilla and one of the governesses entreated to follow after once the perpetually late-sleeping Carmilla wakes up. En route to Karnstein, Laura and her father encounter General Spielsdorf. He tells them his own ghastly story.
Spielsdorf and his niece had met a young woman named Millarca and her enigmatic mother at a costume ball. The General's niece was immediately taken with Millarca. The mother convinced the General that she was an old friend of his and asked that Millarca be allowed to stay with them for three weeks while she attended to a secret matter of great importance.
The General's niece fell mysteriously ill and suffered exactly the same symptoms as Laura. After consulting with a priestly doctor who he had specially ordered, the General came to the realization that his niece was being visited by a vampire. He hid in a closet with a sword and waited until seeing a fiendish cat-like creature stalk around his niece's bedroom and bite her on the neck. He then leapt from his hiding place and attacked the beast, which took the form of Millarca. She fled through the locked door, unharmed. The General's niece died immediately afterward.
When they arrive at Karnstein the General asks a nearby woodsman where he can find the tomb of Mircalla Karnstein. The woodsman relates that the tomb was relocated long ago, by the hero who vanquished the vampires that haunted the region.
While the General and Laura are left alone in the ruined chapel, Carmilla appears. The General and Carmilla both fly into a rage upon seeing each other and the General attacks her with an axe. Carmilla flees and the General explains to Laura that Carmilla is also Millarca, both anagrams for the original name of the vampire Countess Mircalla Karnstein.
The party is then joined by Baron Vordenburg, the descendant of the hero who rid the area of vampires long ago. Vordenburg is an authority on vampires and has discovered that his ancestor was romantically involved with the Countess Karnstein, before she died and became one of the undead. Using his forefather's notes he locates the hidden tomb of Carmilla. An Imperial Commission is then summoned who exhume and destroy the body of the vampire on behalf of the ruling Habsburg Monarchy
, within whose domains Styria is situated.
Afterwards, Laura's father takes her on a year-long vacation to recover from the trauma and regain her health.
, critics have looked for the sources used in the writing of the text. Matthew Gibson has shown that LeFanu used Dom Augustin Calmet
's Treatise on Vampires and Revenants, translated into English in 1850 as The Phantom World, the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould
's The Book of Were-wolves (1863), and his account of Elizabeth Bathory
, Coleridge
's Christabel, and Captain Basil Hall
's Schloss
Hainfeld
; or a Winter in Lower Styria
(London and Edinburgh, 1836). Hall's account provides much of the Styrian background and in particular a model for both Carmilla and Laura in the figure of Jane Anne Cranstoun, Countess Purgstall.
s. 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:
Carmilla selected exclusively female victims, though only became emotionally involved with a few. Carmilla had nocturnal habits, but was not confined to the darkness. She had unearthly beauty and was able to change her form and to pass through solid walls. Her animal alter ego was a monstrous black cat, not a large dog as in Dracula. She did, however, sleep in a coffin.
Some critics, among them William Veeder
, suggest that Carmilla, notably in its outlandish use of narrative frames, was an important influence on Henry James
' The Turn of the Screw
.
In the earliest manuscript of Dracula, dated 8 March 1890, the castle is set in Styria, although the setting was changed to Transylvania
six days later. Stoker's posthumously published short story
"Dracula's Guest", known as the deleted first chapter to Dracula, shows a more obvious and intact debt to "Carmilla": Both stories are told in the first person
. Dracula expands on the idea of a first person account by creating a series of journal entries and logs of different persons and creating a plausible background story for them having been compiled. Stoker also indulges the air of mystery further than Le Fanu by allowing the characters to solve the enigma of the vampire along with the reader.
The descriptions of Carmilla and the character of Lucy in Dracula are similar, and have become archetypes for the appearance of the waif-like victims and seducers in vampire stories as being tall, slender, languid, and with large eyes, full lips and soft voices. Both women also sleepwalk
.
Stoker's Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
is a direct parallel to Le Fanu's vampire expert Baron Vordenburg: both characters used to investigate and catalyse actions in opposition to the vampire, and symbolically represent knowledge of the unknown and stability of mind in the onslaught of chaos and death.
Sheridan Le Fanu
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
named Carmilla. Carmilla predates Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
's Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
by 25 years, and has been adapted many times for cinema.
Publication
Carmilla was first published in the magazine The Dark Blue in 1872, and then in the author's collection of short stories, In a Glass DarklyIn a Glass Darkly
In a Glass Darkly is a collection of five short stories by Sheridan Le Fanu, first published in 1872, the year before his death. The second and third are revised versions of previously published stories, and the fourth and fifth are long enough to be called novellas.The title is taken from 1...
the same year.
There were two original illustrators for the story, both of which appeared in the magazine but which do not appear in modern printings of the book. The two illustrators, David Henry Friston
David Henry Friston
David Henry Friston was a British illustrator and figure painter in the Victorian Era. He is best remembered as the creator of the first illustrations of Sherlock Holmes in 1887, as well as his illustrations of the controversial female vampire story Carmilla...
and Michael Fitzgerald, show some inconsistencies in their depiction of the characters, and as such some confusion has arisen in identifying the pictures as part of a continuous plot.
Plot summary
The story is presented by Le Fanu as part of the casebook of Dr Hesselius, whose departures from medical orthodoxy rank him as the first occult doctor in literature. The story is narrated by Laura, one of the two main protagonists of the tale.Laura begins her tale by relating her childhood in a "picturesque and solitary" castle in the midst of an extensive forest in Styria
Styria (state)
Styria is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area it is the second largest of the nine Austrian federated states, covering 16,401 km². It borders Slovenia as well as the other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. ...
where she lives with her father, a wealthy English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
widower, retired from the Austrian Service. When she is six years old, Laura has a vision of a beautiful visitor in her bedchamber. She later claims to have been bitten on the chest, although no wounds are found on her.
12 years later, Laura and her father are admiring the sunset in front of the castle when her father tells her of a letter he received earlier from his friend General Spielsdorf. The General was supposed to bring his niece, Bertha Rheinfeldt, to visit the two, but the niece suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. The General ambiguously concludes that he will discuss the circumstances in detail when they meet later.
Laura is saddened by the loss of a potential friend, and longs for a companion. A carriage accident outside Laura's home unexpectedly brings a girl of Laura's age into the family's care. Her name is Carmilla. Both girls instantly recognize the other from the 'dream' they both had when they were young.
Carmilla appears injured after her carriage accident, but her mysterious mother informs Laura's father that her journey is urgent and cannot be delayed. She arranges to leave her daughter with Laura and her father until she can return in three months. Before she leaves she sternly notes that her daughter will not disclose any information whatsoever about her family, past, or herself and that Carmilla is of sound mind. Laura comments that this information seems needless to say, and her father laughs it off.
Carmilla and Laura grow to be very close friends, but occasionally Carmilla's mood abruptly changes. She sometimes makes unsettling romantic advances towards Laura. Carmilla refuses to tell anything about herself or her background, despite questioning from Laura. Her secrecy isn't the only mysterious thing about her. Carmilla sleeps much of the day, and seems to sleepwalk at night. When a funeral procession passes by the two girls and Laura begins singing a hymn, Carmilla bursts out in rage and scolds Laura for singing a Christian song. When a shipment of family heirloom restored portraits arrives at the castle, Laura finds one of her ancestors, "Mircalla, Countess
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Karnstein", dated 1698. The portrait resembles Carmilla exactly, down to the mole on her neck.
During Carmilla's stay, Laura has nightmares of a fiendish cat-like beast entering her room at night and biting her on the chest. The beast then takes the form of a female figure and disappears through the door without opening it. Laura's health declines and her father has a doctor examine her. He speaks privately with her father and only asks that Laura never be left unattended.
Her father then sets out with Laura in a carriage for the ruined village of Karnstein. They leave a message behind asking Carmilla and one of the governesses entreated to follow after once the perpetually late-sleeping Carmilla wakes up. En route to Karnstein, Laura and her father encounter General Spielsdorf. He tells them his own ghastly story.
Spielsdorf and his niece had met a young woman named Millarca and her enigmatic mother at a costume ball. The General's niece was immediately taken with Millarca. The mother convinced the General that she was an old friend of his and asked that Millarca be allowed to stay with them for three weeks while she attended to a secret matter of great importance.
When they arrive at Karnstein the General asks a nearby woodsman where he can find the tomb of Mircalla Karnstein. The woodsman relates that the tomb was relocated long ago, by the hero who vanquished the vampires that haunted the region.
While the General and Laura are left alone in the ruined chapel, Carmilla appears. The General and Carmilla both fly into a rage upon seeing each other and the General attacks her with an axe. Carmilla flees and the General explains to Laura that Carmilla is also Millarca, both anagrams for the original name of the vampire Countess Mircalla Karnstein.
The party is then joined by Baron Vordenburg, the descendant of the hero who rid the area of vampires long ago. Vordenburg is an authority on vampires and has discovered that his ancestor was romantically involved with the Countess Karnstein, before she died and became one of the undead. Using his forefather's notes he locates the hidden tomb of Carmilla. An Imperial Commission is then summoned who exhume and destroy the body of the vampire on behalf of the ruling Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, within whose domains Styria is situated.
Afterwards, Laura's father takes her on a year-long vacation to recover from the trauma and regain her health.
Sources
As with DraculaDracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
, critics have looked for the sources used in the writing of the text. Matthew Gibson has shown that LeFanu used Dom Augustin Calmet
Antoine Augustin Calmet
Antoine Augustin Calmet , French Benedictine, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne in Lorraine.He was educated at the Benedictine priory of Breuil in Commercy, and in 1688 joined the same order in the abbey of St-Mansuy at Toul, where he was admitted to profession 23 October of the following year...
's Treatise on Vampires and Revenants, translated into English in 1850 as The Phantom World, the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould
The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould was an English hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, Lew Trenchard Manor near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he had it...
's The Book of Were-wolves (1863), and his account of Elizabeth Bathory
Elizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed was a countess from the renowned Báthory family of Hungarian nobility. Although in modern times she has been labelled the most prolific serial killer in history, the number of murders has been debated...
, Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
's Christabel, and Captain Basil Hall
Basil Hall
Basil Hall, FRS was a British naval officer from Scotland, a traveller, and an author. He was the second son of Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, an eminent man of science.-Biography:...
's Schloss
Schloss
Schloss is a German word for a building similar to a château, palace or manor house; or what in the British Isles would be known as a stately home...
Hainfeld
Hainfeld
Hainfeld is a town in the district of Lilienfeld in the Austrian state of Lower Austria....
; or a Winter in Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
(London and Edinburgh, 1836). Hall's account provides much of the Styrian background and in particular a model for both Carmilla and Laura in the figure of Jane Anne Cranstoun, Countess Purgstall.
Influence
Carmilla, the title character, is the original prototype for a legion of female and lesbian vampireLesbian vampire
Lesbian vampirism is a trope in 20th century exploitation film that has its roots in Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novella Carmilla about the predatory love of a female vampire for a young woman :...
s. Though Le Fanu portrays his vampire's sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
with the circumspection that one would expect for his time, it is evident that lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
attraction is the main dynamic between Carmilla and the narrator of the story:
Carmilla selected exclusively female victims, though only became emotionally involved with a few. Carmilla had nocturnal habits, but was not confined to the darkness. She had unearthly beauty and was able to change her form and to pass through solid walls. Her animal alter ego was a monstrous black cat, not a large dog as in Dracula. She did, however, sleep in a coffin.
Some critics, among them William Veeder
William Veeder
William Veeder is a scholar of 19th century American and British literature and a Professor Emeritus in the Department of English at the University of Chicago.-Early life:...
, suggest that Carmilla, notably in its outlandish use of narrative frames, was an important influence on Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
' The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw is a novella written by Henry James. Originally published in 1898, it is ostensibly a ghost story.Due to its ambiguous content, it became a favourite text of academics who subscribe to New Criticism. The novella has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive...
.
Bram Stoker's Dracula
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.In the earliest manuscript of Dracula, dated 8 March 1890, the castle is set in Styria, although the setting was changed to Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
six days later. Stoker's posthumously published short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"Dracula's Guest", known as the deleted first chapter to Dracula, shows a more obvious and intact debt to "Carmilla": Both stories are told in the first person
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
. Dracula expands on the idea of a first person account by creating a series of journal entries and logs of different persons and creating a plausible background story for them having been compiled. Stoker also indulges the air of mystery further than Le Fanu by allowing the characters to solve the enigma of the vampire along with the reader.
The descriptions of Carmilla and the character of Lucy in Dracula are similar, and have become archetypes for the appearance of the waif-like victims and seducers in vampire stories as being tall, slender, languid, and with large eyes, full lips and soft voices. Both women also sleepwalk
Sleepwalking
Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, is a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. Sleepwalkers arise from the slow wave sleep stage in a state of low consciousness and perform activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness...
.
Stoker's Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...
is a direct parallel to Le Fanu's vampire expert Baron Vordenburg: both characters used to investigate and catalyse actions in opposition to the vampire, and symbolically represent knowledge of the unknown and stability of mind in the onslaught of chaos and death.
Films
- Danish director Carl Dreyer loosely adapted Carmilla for his 1932 film VampyrVampyrVampyr is a 1932 horror film directed by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. The film was written by Dreyer and Christen Jul based on elements from J. Sheridan Le Fanu's collection of supernatural stories In a Glass Darkly. Vampyr was funded by Nicolas de Gunzburg who starred in the film under...
but deleted any references to lesbian sexuality. The credits of the original film say that the film is based on In A Glass Darkly. This collection contains five tales, one of which is "Carmilla". Actually the film draws its central character, Allan Gray, from Le Fanu's Dr. Hesselius; and the scene in which Gray is buried alive is drawn from "The Room in the Dragon Volant". - FrenchFrench peopleThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
director Roger VadimRoger VadimRoger Vadim was a French screenwriter, director, and producer as well as a journalist, author and actor, who launched Brigitte Bardot's career in the film And God Created Woman.-Early life:...
's Et mourir de plaisirBlood and RosesBlood and Roses is a 1960 vampire film directed by Roger Vadim based upon the novella Carmilla by Irish writer Joseph Sheridan le Fanu...
(literally And to die of pleasure, but actually shown in England as Blood and Roses, 1960) is based on Carmilla and is considered one of the greatest of the vampire genre. The Vadim film thoroughly explores the lesbian implications behind Carmilla's selection of victims, and boasts cinematography by Claude RenoirClaude RenoirClaude Renoir was a French cinematographer. He was the son of actor Pierre Renoir and nephew of director Jean Renoir. He was also the grandson of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He is the father of actress Sophie Renoir....
. The film's lesbian eroticism was however significantly cut for its US release. - A more-or-less faithful adaptation starring Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
was produced in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1964 under the title La cripta e l'incubo (Crypt of the Vampire in English). - The BritishGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
Hammer Film ProductionsHammer Film ProductionsHammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
also produced a fairly faithful adaptation of "Carmilla" titled The Vampire LoversThe Vampire LoversThe Vampire Lovers is a 1970 British Hammer Horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, Kate O'Mara, and Jon Finch. It is based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla and is part of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy of films. The other films in...
(1970) with Ingrid PittIngrid PittIngrid Pitt was an actress best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Background:Pitt was born Ingoushka Petrov in Warsaw, Poland to a German father of Russian descent and a Polish Jewish mother. During World War II she and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp...
in the lead role and Madeline SmithMadeline SmithMadeline Smith is an English actress and comedienne. She was a model in the 1960s, and appeared in many comedy films Madeline Smith (born 2 August 1949 in Hartfield, Sussex) is an English actress and comedienne. She was a model in the 1960s, and appeared in many comedy films Madeline Smith (born 2...
as her victim/lover. It is the first installment of the Karnstein Trilogy. - In 1990, Gabrielle Beaumont created a film adaptation for a horror anthologyAnthologyAn anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
television series Nightmare Classics titled "Carmilla", which is one of the more faithful adaptations of the story, though the setting was transported to post-Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
Deep SouthDeep SouthThe Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
of the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It starred Meg Tilly as Carmilla and Ione SkyeIone SkyeIone Skye Lee is an English-born American actress, who became a teen idol after the 1989 movie Say Anything.... In 2006 VH1 placed her at number 84 in the "100 Greatest Teen Stars" list.-Early life:...
as a lonely Southern girl whom Carmilla seduces. - Carmilla is featured as the main antagonist in the 2009 movie Lesbian Vampire KillersLesbian Vampire KillersLesbian Vampire Killers is a 2009 British comedy horror film written by Stewart Williams and Paul Hupfield, produced by Steve Clark-Hall and directed by Phil Claydon.- Plot :...
, a comedy starring Paul McGannPaul McGannPaul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
and James CordenJames CordenJames Kimberley Corden is an English actor, television writer, producer and presenter. He is co-creator and star of BBC comedy shows Gavin & Stacey and Horne & Corden, and acted in the 2009 film Lesbian Vampire Killers....
. - The novel is mentioned and referenced by some of the other characters in the 2011 movie The Moth Diaries; Carmilla also seems to have inspired the main antagonist Ernessa, played by Lily ColeLily ColeLily Luahana Cole is an English model and actress. Cole's modelling career was launched by a chance encounter with Benjamin Hart in Soho, London when she was 14....
. - According to director Dennis GanselDennis GanselDennis Gansel is a film director, writer and actor from Germany.-Movie career:Gansel is best known for directing The Wave; his following project is the vampire film We Are The Night, which stars Karoline Herfurth, Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich, Anna Fischer and Max Riemelt.- Filmography :* 1999 — Das...
his film Wir Sind Die NachtWe Are the Night (film)We Are the Night is a 2010 German vampire thriller film directed by Dennis Gansel, starring Karoline Herfurth and Nina Hoss. The film deals with a young woman who gets bitten by a female vampire and drawn into her world. She falls in love with a young police officer who investigates a murder case...
is his personal take on Carmilla. During a character's vampire transformation she watches a documentary about lions, hinting towards a scene in the novella.
Radio
- The character of Dr. Hesselius is featured in a Mutual Broadcasting Network radio drama entitled "The Shadow People", an episode from The Hall of Fantasy series (1946–1947, 1949–1952, 1952, 1953). The episode casts Dr. Hesselius as an occult sleuth and aired on September 5, 1952.
- On November 20, 1981, the CBC RadioCBC RadioCBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
series NightfallNightfall (CBC)Nightfall is the title of a radio drama series produced and aired by CBC Radio from July 1980 to June 1983. While primarily a supernatural/horror series, Nightfall featured some episodes in other genres, such as science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and human drama. One episode was even adapted from...
aired an adaptation of Carmilla written by Graham Pomeroy and John Douglas.
Music
- Cradle of FilthCradle of FilthCradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...
, a popular British extreme metalExtreme metalExtreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
band, has produced an album called Dusk... and Her Embrace inspired by "Carmilla", and have also recorded an instrumental track titled "Carmilla's Masque". The lyric: "Portrait of the Dead Countess" in the track "A Gothic Romance" could be in reference to the portrait found in the novel of the Countess Mircalla. There is also a track on the accompanying EP Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein titled "Queen Of Winter Throned" which contains the lyrics: "Iniquitous/I share Carmilla's mask/A gaunt mephitic voyeur/On the black side of the glass". Lead singer Dani FilthDani FilthDani Filth is the lyricist, vocalist and founding member of the metal band Cradle of Filth.-Personal life:...
has often cited Sheridan Le FanuSheridan Le FanuJoseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
as an inspiration to his lyrics. - Theatres des VampiresTheatres des VampiresTheatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band with strong black metal influences, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics.-History and background:In 1994, Alessandro Nunziati form Theatres des Vampires....
, an Italian extreme gothic metal band has produced a video single called "Carmilla" for its album Moonlight WaltzMoonlight WaltzMoonlight Waltz is the ninth studio album by the Italian extreme gothic metal band Theatres des Vampires. A music video for the song "Carmilla" was filmed on August 28 and 29, directed by David Bracci, who worked on most of Dario Argento's films in the past decade, and has also directed the "Lilith... - Prior to her first record deal, British singer-songwriter Kate BushKate BushKate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
recorded at least thirty officially-unreleased but much-bootlegBootleg recordingA bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
ged demos of original material, circa 1972. One of these, "Surrender into the Roses" (also known as "Carmilla" and "Coming Up") was inspired by the tale. - Two WitchesTwo WitchesTwo Witches is a Gothic rock band from Finland, formed in 1987. As several other late 80's bands , Two Witches started basing main part of their apparences and lyrics to the vampire imagenery...
, a Finnish Gothic rockGothic rockGothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
band, created a song in the early 1990s called "Mircalla", inspired by the novel. - A chamber operaChamber operaChamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
version of Carmilla appeared in 1970 (Carmilla: A Vampire Tale, music by Ben Johnston, script by Wilford Leach). Seated on a sofa, Laura and Carmilla recount the story retrospectively in song. - Carmilla, a musical theater adaptation by Allan Jaffe and Deborah Atherton circa 1995.
- The 1980s band LaHostLaHostLaHost was a British progressive rock band of the 1980s.-Career:The band was formed by Sean Godfrey and Stephen J Bennett of the 1980s Norwich progressive band Airbridge. Godfrey and Bennett were joined by Fudge Smith , Mark Spencer , David Valentine-Haggart and Jaff .The band's first gig was at...
's track on the 1985 EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
compilation album 'Fire in Harmony' was 'Blood and Roses' - the lyrics of which are loosely based on the Roger CormanRoger CormanRoger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
film version of Carmilla. - The songs "A Very Strange Agony" and "To Die Only Once" of the Spanish symphonic metalSymphonic metalSymphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
band Döxa were inspired by "Carmilla". - Briton Rites first album, For Mircalla was inspired by the short story.
Books
- The novel Carmilla: The Return, written in 1999 by Kyle Marffin, begins in 19th century AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
but follows Carmilla's life into 1990s MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. - A vampire named Baron Karnstein appears in Anno Dracula by Kim NewmanKim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
. Carmilla herself is mentioned several times as a former (until her death at the hands of vampire hunters) friend of the book's vampire heroine Geneviève. Some short stories set in the Anno Dracula universe have also included Carmilla. - The story of Carmilla is illustrated using old antique etchings by Tiffini Elektra X in the book In This House: A Collection of Altered Art Imagery and Collage Techniques.
- The story "Carmilla" was included in Pam Keesey's collection of lesbian vampire stories, Daughters of Darkness (1993).
Comics
- In 1991, Aircel Comics published a six-issue black and white miniseries of Carmilla by Steven Jones and John RossJohn Ross (artist)-Biography:Ross started working for Panini Comics in 1996, working on titles such as Masked Rider, Action Man and Spectacular Spider-Man...
. It was based on the story by Sheridan Le Fanu and billed as "The Erotic Horror Classic of Female Vampirism". The first issue was printed in February 1991. The first three issues were an adaptation of the original story, while the latter three were a sequel set in the 1930s. - Carmilla. Nuestra Señora de los Vampiros is a black and white one-shot published in 1999 by Spanish comic publisher Dude Comics based on the story by Sheridan Le Fanu, but with a modern twist. In present day, Carmilla saves a girl named Laura from being rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d and later gives her Le Fanu's book to read to explain her past. Laura finally becomes Carmilla's companion. Based on a script by Roy ThomasRoy ThomasRoy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
, the comic had two artists with radically different graphic styles: Rafa Fonteriz draw the present day part, while Isaac M. del Rivero draw the part based on Le Fanu's book. - Graphic Classics, vol. 14: Gothic Classics (2007) contains an adaptation of Carmilla, illustrated by Lisa K. Weber and adapted by Rod Lott.
- The webcomicWebcomicWebcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
Romanian Gothique features a vampire countess named "Camilla", who is also a lesbian. - Carmilla (a lesbian vampire) is the leading character of most of the Italian comics by Francesca Paolucci (published in Italy by EF Edizioni).
- In the first story arc of Dynamite Entertainment's revamp of VampirellaVampirellaVampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and costume designer Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 . Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostess, in...
, a villainous vampire named Le Fanu inhabits the basement of a Seattle nightclub named Carmilla.
Anime
- In the anime HellsingHellsingis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It first premiered in Young King Ours in 1997 and ended in September 2008. The individual chapters are collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Shōnen Gahosha. As of March 2009 all chapters have been released in 10 volumes in...
, a succubusSuccubusIn folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
who claims to be the sister of Integra HellsingIntegra Hellsing, more commonly, Integra Hellsing, is one of the main characters from the anime and manga series Hellsing. In both the TV series and OVA series, her Japanese voice is provided by Yoshiko Sakakibara and Kaori Mizuhashi , while her English voice in both is done by Victoria Harwood and Tricia Dickson...
makes an appearance. She goes by the name of Laura, and Integra asks her if she is the vampire Carmilla. When AlucardAlucard (Hellsing)is a fictional characterin the Hellsing manga and anime series created by Kouta Hirano. A powerful vampire, Alucard works with the Hellsing Organization against other vampires and evil forces. He fights with ferocity and often extreme cruelty, rarely killing until his target has been disabled and...
confronts her, she takes on a catlike appearance before she attacks him. In the end, Alucard kills her with only one bullet, in a matter of one second.
- In Glass MaskGlass Maskis a shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Suzue Miuchi, serialised in Hana to Yume from January 1976, and collected in 46 tankōbon volumes as of June 24, 2011. The story has also been adapted into anime and a live action television series. As of 2006, the collected volumes had 50 million...
(episode 29 of the anime and volume 17 of the manga), Ayumi Himekawa played Carmilla in a stage adaptation of the novella.
Video games
- In the video game Lunar KnightsLunar KnightsLunar Knights, known in Japan as and abbreviated Boktai DS, is a science-fantasy game and is the fourth title in the Boktai series of games developed by Kojima Productions, announced at E3 2006. It begins a new story arc, and follows new protagonists and hence has also been marked as the beginning...
, a character named Sheridan has a maid named Carmilla. The banker in the game is also named Laura. - In six of the CastlevaniaCastlevaniaCastlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
games; Circle of the MoonCastlevania: Circle of the MoonCastlevania: Circle of the Moon, known simply as Castlevania in the PAL region and as in Japan, is a video game created by Konami only for the Game Boy Advance...
, Rondo of BloodCastlevania: Rondo of BloodCastlevania: Rondo of Blood, known in Japan as is a platform video game developed by Konami for the PC Engine. The tenth installment of the Castlevania video game series and a 2D side-scroller, it acts as a middleground between the earlier, typically linear Castlevania games and the later...
, its PSPPlayStation PortableThe is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
remake Dracula X Chronicles, Simon's QuestCastlevania II: Simon's QuestCastlevania II: Simon's Quest, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure role-playing platform game produced by Konami. It was originally released for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan 1987 and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1988. It is the second Castlevania...
, JudgmentCastlevania JudgmentInitial reaction to the announcement that the game would be a fighting game was received by some with shock and skepticism. IGN's initial viewing of the pre-E3 build of the game made their reviewers conclude the game had promise...
, and Lords of Shadow; there is a female vampire named Camilla.
See also
- Homosexuality in speculative fiction
Other sources
- Marffin, Kyle (1998). Carmilla: The Return. Design Image Group. ISBN 1-891946-02-1
- Repossessing the body: transgressive desire in "Carmilla" and Dracula - vampire story retold with masculine themes added