A Vampire Book
Carmilla is rightly considered one of the two most famous and popular vampire books – the other being Bram Stoker's Dracula (which Carmilla significantly influenced).
Laura is nineteen and lives with her father in a castle in Styria. Her father tries to be a mother to her as well, since hers died very early on, so Laura experiences a childhood and adolescence full of love and luxury. She longs for a relationship and to make love with a man, but for an unmarried girl of her social standing in the 19th century, this is not really possible, so she satisfies her need for affection in the arms of her female friends. However, one of them, Bertha, the niece and ward of her father's friend General Spielsdorf, suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances just as she is about to visit Laura. At that moment, under equally strange circumstances, the beautiful Carmilla appears, seeming to be a more than adequate replacement for her deceased friend. Carmilla's mother asks Laura's father to take care of Carmilla for a while until she returns from an urgent and dangerous journey. At Laura's insistence, her father agrees, and Laura, completely enchanted by Carmilla's unusual beauty and her strange charisma, enjoys both lovemaking and tender friendship with the mysterious visitor.
Less pleasant are the oddities of Carmilla's behaviour and, above all, her frequent emotional outbursts towards Laura, which embarrass her, although she does not resist her touches in the slightest… Moreover, after some time, she begins to be plagued by symptoms of a strange illness and also by terrible dreams, all too similar to a nightmare from her early childhood. Laura no longer has the strength to resist Carmilla, who seems to be sucking all the life out of her. Cases of people experiencing something similar are also multiplying in the vicinity, but unlike her, they soon die. Just when it seems that a similar fate awaits the unfortunate Laura, General Spielsdorf appears on the scene to, with the help of his mysterious friend Baron Vordenburg, exact revenge on the monster that killed his niece Bertha.
His search for her leads him to the ruins of Karnstein castle, where, one autumn evening, he meets not only Laura and her father, but also Carmilla.
How will their encounter end? Is Carmilla's resemblance to the long-dead Mircalla, Countess of Karnstein, and to Bertha's friend Millarca purely coincidental? Will Laura manage to escape the clutches of a deadly love? And what must be done to lift the curse of those who cannot rest in peace from the land? You will find the answer in the thrilling conclusion of the novella by the Irish classic Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, translated and retold in a modern spirit by Josef “Pepson” Snětivý.
