Carmilla

 Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu is a guilty pleasure to read.  If I were doing a paper on the novel, I would write about the lesbos themes throughout the novel.  Unlike the other vampire novels of the time, the main antagonist is a female preying on debutants.

The vampire in this novel stalks out her victims years to decades in advance.  Or the one victim who could potentially be her companion for all eternity.  The main character is haunted in her childhood by the vision of a pretty woman’s face.

Carmilla spends more time with her victims than Dracula.  Instead of trying to learn the lay of the land, she is walking smoothly among society.  Attending balls and talking with the up and up in society.  Dracula is far more rigid, working on the edges of society.  Trying to not be seen.  But then they were different people.  Dracula was a warrior nobleman where Carmilla was a debutant.

Carmilla was published in 1872.  One of the audio programs I listened to was narrated by Simon Vance.  The Audible Originals dramatization is also a fun one to listen to as it has David Tennet playing the doctor but not the Doctor.  I listened to the David Tennet version last year in London as I walked around Cricklewood.