{"product_id":"carmilla-and-other-pleasing-terrors","title":"Carmilla And Other Pleasing Terrors","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSelected and Introduced by Dr Stephen Carver.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Sometimes it was as if warm lips kissed me, and longer and longer and more lovingly as they reached my throat, but there the caress fixed itself. My heart beat faster, my breathing rose and fell rapidly and full drawn; a sobbing, that rose into a sense of strangulation, supervened, and turned into a dreadful convulsion, in which my senses left me and I became unconscious…’ \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore \u003cem\u003eDracula\u003c\/em\u003e there was \u003cem\u003eCarmilla\u003c\/em\u003e, the queen of the sapphic vampires, created by the Irish author J.S. Le Fanu. \u003cem\u003eCarmilla\u003c\/em\u003e (1872) is a landmark in vampire fiction, the character portrayed in numerous horror films, most notably Hammer’s \u003cem\u003eThe Vampire Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e. The similarities between \u003cem\u003eCarmilla \u003c\/em\u003eand Bram Stoker’s \u003cem\u003eDracula\u003c\/em\u003e (1897) are striking, with Le Fanu’s Baron Vordenburg anticipating Stoker’s Van Helsing, while \u003cem\u003eCarmilla\u003c\/em\u003e is another undead sexually magnetic aristocrat posing as a descendant of herself. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLe Fanu was a Victorian master of gothic, mystery, and supernatural fiction, and the father of the modern ghost story. As M.R. James wrote of him, ‘I do not think that there are better ghost stories anywhere than the best of Le Fanu’s.’ This collection brings together Le Fanu’s greatest short stories, full of horror, intrigue, Irish folklore, and gallows humour, all building towards his masterpiece, \u003cem\u003eCarmilla\u003c\/em\u003e, the chilling tale of a beautiful girl who came to stay… There are also explanatory notes, original publication details, suggested reading, an original introduction, and an essay on Le Fanu by his admirer and natural heir, M.R. James.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eContents:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Ghost and The Bone Setter\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Drunkard’s Dream\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePassage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStrange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJim Sulivan’s Adventures in the Great Snow\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGhost Stories of Chapelizod\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn Account of Some Strange Disturbances in an Old House in Aungier Street\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUltor de Lacy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn Authentic Narrative of a Haunted House\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGhost Stories of the Tiled House\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy Aunt Margaret’s Adventure\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWicked Captain Walshawe, of Wauling\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSquire Toby’s Will\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Child that went with the Fairies\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe White Cat of Drumgunniol\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStories of Lough Guir\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Vision of Tom Chuff\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMadam Crowl’s Ghost\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLaura Silver Bell\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSir Dominick’s Bargain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDickon the Devil\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGreen Tea\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Familiar\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMr. Justice Harbottle\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCarmilla\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAPPENDIX I: Memoir of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu by Alfred Perceval Graves\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAPPENDIX II: Prologue and Epilogue to Madam Crowl’s Ghost by M.R. James\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490095440245,"sku":"9781840229714","price":4.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781840229714.jpg?v=1786441989","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/carmilla-and-other-pleasing-terrors","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}