#95 in Horror
Carmilla
- 88
- Pages
- about 1.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
This Gothic novella came a quarter of a century before “Dracula” and already holds most of what the vampire story would become. The erotic charge between the heroine and the vampire pursuing her was daring for 1872. It is short and moody, and some readers find that the period language adds to the atmosphere. What shocked then now works mainly as mood.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Carmilla is an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. A foundational work of English-language vampire literature, it predated Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 25 years. First published as a serial in The Dark Blue from 1871–72, the novella subsequently appeared in Le Fanu’s short story collection In a Glass Darkly in 1872. Set in 19th-century Styria, it is the story of a young woman who is pursued by the vampire Carmilla. Since its initial publication, Carmilla has often been regarded as one of the most influential vampire stories of all time; its title character is the literary prototype for the female and lesbian vampires in fiction.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.6 across 844 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 85% of the weight and the score stays at 7.6 — the Horror average of 7.5 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.8 | 65 | 8% |
| Hardcover | 7.6 | 779 | 92% |
Frequently asked
How long is Carmilla?
It has 88 pages — shorter than 98% of the ranked books in Horror.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Horror — with scores between 6.7 and 8.0, closest to this book.
