About Carmilla

 This is, I think, the version of Carmilla I borrowed from the local library, back in 1990. I said "I think", because the cover was completely repaired and its image covered. All I had in my hands was a red book with the title on. And it had other stories by Le Fanu: Green Tea and The Familiar, maybe more. I read Carmilla first, then Green Tea, but gave back the book before I could read the other(s). Anyway, I blogged before about my first experience of reading Carmilla, but I wanted to mention something that I have been reminiscing about recently concerning the world's second most famous vampire.The horror in it is very restrained, slow and gradual, as the antagonist is first depicted as a beautiful, sweet and pleasant woman, even an innocent one. A bit of an ingenue, in fact. This cover shows it perfectly: the title character is walking in broad daylight, in charming woodlands. Yet there is something unsettling about this image. Terror comes from a place of beauty. Anyway, tell me what you think in the comments. I should come back to the work of Sheridan Le Fanu in future posts.