Carmilla

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873) is a prominent writer of the Victorian era, often referred to as the Irish Wilkie Collins and the Irish Edgar Allan Poe, a creator of gothic stories and novels that have captivated generations of readers. "Carmilla" is one of Le Fanu's most famous mystical novellas, which anticipated the appearance of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" by a quarter of a century and has been adapted numerous times. The story unfolds in a secluded castle where a wealthy English widower lives with his daughter Laura. The calm flow of their lives is disrupted when, by chance, a young lady appears in the castle, and Laura unexpectedly recognizes her as the woman who had visited her in a nightmarish dream during her childhood… The tale "A Room in the Hotel 'Flying Dragon'", also included in this edition, is linked to "Carmilla" through the figure of Dr. Hesselius, one of the first "occult detectives" in literary history, who investigates extraordinary occurrences that sometimes have a supernatural nature. The mysterious case described in the story is "borrowed" from his practice.