Carmilla [by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu] [read by Elizabeth Kett]

Laura and her father live a quiet life in their remote castle in the dense forest of Styria.  It is a solitary existence for young Laura, who has no companionship except for her governess and the occasional visits of neighbouring gentry.  Into this lonely life comes the mysterious house guest, Carmilla. Slowly Laura falls under Carmilla’s spell.  Whilst she is both attracted and repulsed by Carmilla, she seems unable to find the energy to resist her. A spate of sudden wasting deaths afflict the peasants in the countryside around the castle and Laura herself falls ill.  Will they manage to work out the cause of her illness in time or will she just be the latest victim of the vampire Carmilla?

Carmilla has elements of traditional Gothic fiction as well as drawing on Irish folklore too. Carmilla has something of the Irish banshee about her.  The banshee is a spirit who haunts a family and foretells or announces the deaths of family members. Like the banshee, she is attracted to Laura’s family and is her distant ancestress.

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. Carmilla first published in 1872 predates fellow Irish writer Bram Stoker's Dracula by over twenty years and had a strong influence on Stoker's famous novel.

Elizabeth Kett has a lovely voice and a subtly expressive reading style. The sheer beauty of her voice allows the story to flow into your mind as if on a gentle breeze.

link to the free audiobook
Carmilla [by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu] [read by Elizabeth Kett]