Le Fanu's work of Gothic horror and mystery is considered an important early entry in the genre of vampire fiction. However, even this classic title was proceeded by John William Polidori's The Vampyre, which was published in 1816. Le Fanu's Carmilla still stands out for its female protagonist and sapphic undertones.
The Classic - Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
In 1872, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu wrote a story that would later inspire the creation of the world’s most famous vampire, Dracula. This story is Carmilla. Written 26 years before Bram Stoker created Dracula, Carmilla is considered one of the first vampire novels. It helped establish many of the elements of lore that we associate with vampires today.
The story begins when Laura is 6 and has a terrible dream about a beautiful woman visiting her room at night. Her father dismisses her dream at the time. However, 12 years later, Carmilla’s carriage crashes near her home, and Laura recognizes her from her dream. The two grow close, but Laura can’t help but admit that Carmilla is odd, sleeping all day, waking all night, and adverse to prayers. What’s more, strange things happen to young women in the village and, soon, to Laura.
One of the critical elements of Carmilla is the relationship between Carmilla and Laura. It's romantic and physical, allowing this tale to explore themes of sapphic relationships. This relationship paved the way for Jewelle Gomez’s The Gilda Stories, considered a groundbreaking novel for queer black women.
Carmilla
by Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan
Carmilla (1872) is a novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Published 26 years before Bram Stoker's Dracula, Le Fanu's work of Gothic fiction and mystery is considered an important early entry in the genre of vampire novels.
Recorded in the casebook of Dr. Hesselius, a medical professional with a detective's sensibility, is the story of Laura, a teenager bearing a strange secret. Raised in a castle by her father, a widower who recently concluded his career in service to the Austrian Empire, Laura has been haunted since her youth, when she was visited at night by a beautiful, spectral woman. Now 18, she awaits the visit of Bertha Rheinfelt, a niece of her father's friend.
When Bertha dies mysteriously, however, and when a girl named Carmilla is brought to the castle under strange circumstances, Laura fears that the past has come full circle. But she soon overcomes her mournful state, growing close with Carmilla. But the girl's behavior soon proves unsettling. Carmilla is prone to sleepwalking, sleeps through the day, declines to participate in prayers, and makes romantic overtures to Laura. She begins to be haunted by strange and violent dreams, waking one night to discover Carmilla at the foot of her bed, and bite marks along her neck. Her father intervenes, taking her to a local village. On the way, they meet Bertha's uncle, who shares the chilling details of her fate. It becomes clear that Carmilla, whoever she is, is far from the innocent young girl she claims to be.
Our Modern Companion - The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
This modern vampire novel begins in 1850s Louisiana. Gilda escapes slavery and starts working at a local brothel. Soon she finds herself initiated into eternal life by two women by sharing their blood. The rest of the story follows Gilda as she spends the next hundred years living, loving, and enjoying her true freedom while trying to find a place to call home.
The Gilda Stories
by Gomez, Jewelle
*Recommended by Reese Witherspoon's Book Club!
*Voted One of Book Riot's Most Influential Queer Books & Horror Novels of All Time!
Before Buffy, before Twilight, before Octavia Butler's Fledgling, there was The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez's sexy vampire novel.
This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who "shares the blood" by two women there, Gilda spends the next 200 years searching for a place to call home. An instant lesbian classic when it was first published in 1991, The Gilda Stories has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of blackness, radical ecology, re-definitions of family, and yes, the erotic potential of the vampire story.
“The Gilda Stories is groundbreaking not just for the wild lives it portrays, but for how it portrays them--communally, unapologetically, roaming fiercely over space and time.”– Emma Donoghue, author of Room