Carmilla: The Return

by Kyle Marffin

Kyle Marffin's provocative debut is a modern day retelling of J.S. Sheridan LeFanu's classic 19th century vampire novella. Gothic literature's most notorious female vampire, the seductive Countess Carmilla Karnstein, stalks an unsuspecting victim through glittery streets to the desolate northwoods, and back to her Styrian homeland, glimpsing her unwrittenhistory while replaying the events of the original with a decidedly contemporary twist.

Genres: Vampires, Horror, Fiction, LGBT

296 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1998

Reviews

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this was actually quite enjoyable. Parts of it were really good, some even quite erotic - both in the standard sexual sense, and in the way only a vampire story can be. But after about book three I found my interest wavering and the little critical voice inside my head speak up more and more. For a book where in the postscript the author urges us to read the original, and says that simply watching the Hammer film isn't enough, it still makes Carmilla physically unable to walk around during the day. That is not the case in the original (twice she is mentioned as being up if not outside at one in the afternoon, and the whole funeral scene takes place outside in the afternoon). This pretty much spoilt any attempt to read it as a proper sequel, even if you handwave the whole 'corpse substituion' explanation for the ending of the original.

[Ell S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carmilla: The Return, is the would be spin off to LeFanu's original Carmilla. Carmilla didn't die at the end of the original book and fled to the United States after spending years in Europe, both alone, and not alone. A young woman named Lauren is about to go on vacation and keeps having 'strange' run ins with a dark 'mysterious' (sort of creepy) girl. She meets an old lover, and meets an old care taker, town creep. But while on her vacation away from the busy city, she meets the same 'dark, mysterious' girl hundreds of miles away from where they had originally. She sees elements of this dark girls past and what exactly she is.

Carmilla: The Return was good for the most part. I throughly enjoyed the begging half of the book and the ending. Though that last bit was sort of dry. I throughly enjoyed Carmilla and Carmilla the wolves of Styria, and did not enjoy this book as much as either of those. Though it is still nice to see another view on my favorite 300 year old vampire in a modern day setting. I gave the book a four star rating because overall it was a nice book, though there where elements to it that I thought it would have been better without. Or parts that where not true like saying that Carmilla couldn't go outside during the day, when in the original book there are parts of the book where Carmilla is walking around in the late afternoon.

[Bill Purkayastha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's start off by saying something: I love Carmilla. I loved the book when I first read it, in my early teens. I still remember how genuinely disturbing it was. And I totally loved the character, Mircalla Gräfin von Karnstein, the titular Carmilla and female vampire.

Not being altogether happy with Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's choosing to terminate her at the end of the story, when I discovered that a sequel existed, I naturally read it. And, unfortunately, I was less than happy.

Mircalla Gräfin von Karnstein's vampirism in the original was an obvious stand in for lesbianism. There can be no doubt of that. But in this book, Carmilla, as she again calls herself, is a vampire quite separately from being a lesbian. She is a lesbian, but that has nothing to do with her vampirism. This is not in accordance with the original, where she spent her time seducing her quarry and being to all appearances in love with them.

There are other problems. Carmilla, in the original, had no problems going out in the sunlight, though she didn't enjoy it. Here, she can't tolerate sunlight like the typical 20th century vampire. She was pink cheeked in the original, Here she's as pale as snow. And for heaven's sake, if you're going to have your character speak gratuitous German, get someone with at least a basic knowledge of the language to edit your writing.

So what's it about? Carmilla managed to survive her would be murderers by substituting a peasant girl in her place, whom the locals somehow failed to recognise. She fled to France, and began feeding on wounded soldiers of the Franco Prussian War. Later, she was a brothel madam, and then somehow or other made it to Chicago in the 1990s. Which, since unlike the original Carmilla she can't go out in the daytime, is a feat.

Anyway, so she seduces and kills a girl who's the ward of a retired officer (just like in Carmilla), says officer vows to hunt her down, she seduces a girl named Lauren (like Laura in the original Carmilla), they have explicit and quite separate from their blood drinking vampire sex, there are lecherous hicks and wolves involved, and the second half of the book begins reading like bad Stephen King*. The ending is stupid beyond belief.

Could have been so much better, really. That's what's so bad about it.


*There is no good Stephen King.

[Sono Lumin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am rather surprised to have liked it. The pacing starts painfully slow, then jumps around, but OK for most of the book. The plot is more involved than I expected, though it also has some old tropes, as any book about Carmilla would.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

After seeing the original movie "Carmilla" I have to say I was and still enchanted. This book "Carmilla:Returns" is actually exactly what it says. However I'm disappointed that the book is new age and mentions things such as Ipods and what not, this book is also very enchanting and darkly written, very poetic. The ending is very sad and dark :)

[Trena D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would suggest reading it if your a Carmilla fan or just a general vampire literature fan
I'm just bummed out how it's not dark & anxiety ridden or spooky like the first one, Dracula or older vampire novels...it's just lewd & sad
all modern vampire literature is just lewd & sad...it's not allowed to be scary & dark anymore
how..sad

[Jonathan Davison]

Carmilla the return is a sequel to Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu. She leaves her home land of Styria to Chicago and the Mid West in search of a partner. It all so shows you her past exploits of 19th Century. If you like Carmilla it is worth reading.

[Jonathan Davison]

Carmilla the return is a sequel to Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu. She leaves her home land of Styria to Chicago and the Mid West in search of a partner. It all so shows you her past exploits of 19th Century. If you like Carmilla it is worth reading

[Tasula · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read about half and gave up. I just didn't like the characters or what was happening. It's a tale of a 300 yr old vamp from Europe who meets a girl who reminds her of a lost love. There are some wolves too (I like the wolves).