This is a good book. Sapphic Dracula with a plug-and-play "mystery" as to who the vampire is. I think a brain-damaged pastor's child who had never heard of a vampire, let alone a lesbian, could figure everything out in terms of the romance and "twist". The leadup to the twist is amazing- I love dark romanticism and gothic fiction and Sheridan Le Fanu writes the genre perfectly. Every word is perfectly chosen and each character described in a way that'd make Edgar Allan Poe cream his jeans. However, the two chapters of the General monologuing was so boring, I just skimmed some paragraphs. There's a lot of boring admin that goes into dark romanticism, so I get that. I still reserve the right to hate it, lol.

I'd like to dedicate a few words to this edition, and the asides and clarifications by lesbian author and essayist, Carmen Maria Machado. Her comments and history add another layer to the novel that I don't know if I would get without them. Her 21st-century adaptation of homoerotic 19th-century vampires (who am I kidding, they're legit gay) makes Carmilla a fully-rounded, time-transcending work of queer art. 

It's still boring as all shit, though, sorry gals.