A beautiful edition of this cult classic female vampire story, which predated and greatly influenced Dracula

'I have been in love with no one, and never shall,' she whispered, 'unless it should be with you.'

A lonely castle, deep in the Styrian forest - here Laura leads a solitary life, with only her elderly father for company, until a moonlit night brings an unexpected guest to the schloss. At first Laura is glad to finally have a female companion of her own age, but her new friend's strange habits and eerie nocturnal wanderings quickly become unsettling, and soon a ghastly truth is revealed.

Suffused with gothic horror and sexual tension, Carmilla predated Dracula by 26 years, has inspired generations of writers and is the foundation of the lesbian vampire myth.

Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish writer of gothic tales, mystery novels and ghost stories, most famous for his novel Uncle Silas. Carmilla was first published in 1872 and has served as an inspiration countless books, from Bram Stooker's Dracula and Henry James' The Turn of the Screw to Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, and a slew of films such as Hammer Horror's Karnstein Trilogy.