Review: New Carmilla!

A wildly successful web series, not one but two recent films, a musical in the works–little wonder Audible decided to produce a new audio version of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu‘s last work (and the ancestor of all lesbian vampires since). Carmilla was offered as a free download for Halloween, not a reading of the book…

David Campton’s “Carmilla”

Several play versions of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu‘s classic novella exist, from the Wildclaw Theater‘s grand guignol adaptation to recent musical in development and even one penned by yours truly.  There’s one particular version that has seen several different productions in the United Kingdom since its premiere in the 1970s–that of David Campton (who also wrote…

Carmilla Musical on Its Way?

A few weeks ago, a staged reading of a new musical took place for one afternoon only.  Based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu‘s gothic classic of vampires and sapphic love, Carmilla was penned by the same man who also wrote a three character musical based on Marie Antoinette.  I had the good fortune to interview…

Angels of Darkness (aka Styria)

Beginning March 1, 2015 the motion picture Styria aka Curse of Styria aka Angels of Darkness will begin airing on Showtime Cable. This most recent major film adaptation of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s gothic classic Carmilla has been in the works for several years and vampires.com has been covering it for nearly as long! We even…

Carmilla Web Series

This is turning into something of a Golden Age for fans of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu‘s vampire masterpiece Carmilla. Really! The last film adaptation was in 1990, but now not one but two new film versions are on the film festival circuit right now. Live theatre versions have popped up in Chicago and Los Angeles and…

LeFanu at 200!

August 28, 1814 saw the birth of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, an Irish Protestant writer who (like Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and George Bernard Shaw) became a popular author in England as well as abroad. He, however, became best known for an enigmatic vampire tale which in effected created a subgenre–Carmilla, the first lesbian vampire. While…

Review: The Unwanted

Until the recent Curse of Styria, it had been literally decades since a major film adaptation of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s gothic classic Carmilla. Now, yet another film version is making the rounds of film festivals. For what it is worth, I recommend both! The Unwanted may be the least literal of the two. Or not.…

New Carmilla On The Way

Yet another live version of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s classic is on its way to the boards! We’ve covered other stage productions of Carmilla in the past, including that of Chicago’s Wildclaw Theatre and even a Canadian high school‘s version. Now another struggles its way to the stage in front of a live audience. The venue…

Sneak Peak: Styria

We’ve covered the upcoming motion picture Styria for over a year. This marks the first major film adaptation of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s Carmilla since 1989 (the Nightmare Classics version)! This week I was invited to a private screening of the current edit of the film. A few things remained unfinished. One or two scenes haven’t…

Review: The Annotated Carmilla

When I was asked to review this book, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I confess that I haven’t read many annotated books, since my preference is to simply experience the story for myself and move on rather than to analyze and deconstruct. However, my other reservation came from the fact that Joseph Sheridan…