Carmilla / The Evil Guest (Definitive Classics Series) - Softcover

Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 069270065X ISBN 13: 9780692700655

Publisher: King's Way Press, 2016

Synopsis

This volume contains two classic horror novels by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Carmilla is the classic vampire story that is credited with inspiring Bram Stoker to write Dracula. The Evil Guest is a gothic horror tale that predates Carmilla. This is the first volume in the King's Way Press Definitive Classics Series.

About this title

About the Author

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (28 August 1814 7 February 1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the premier ghost story writer of the nineteenth century and had a seminal influence on the development of this genre in the Victorian era. Le Fanu worked in many genres but remains best known for his mystery and horror fiction. He was a meticulous craftsman, with a penchant for frequently reworking plots and ideas from his earlier writing in subsequent pieces of writing. (Many of his novels are expansions and refinements of earlier short stories). He specialised in tone and effect rather than "shock horror", often following a mystery format. Key to his style was the avoidance of overt supernatural effects: in most of his major works, the supernatural is strongly implied but a possible "natural" explanation is left (barely) open for instance, the demonic monkey in "Green Tea" could be a delusion of the story's protagonist, who is the only person to see it; in "The Familiar", Captain Barton's death seems to be of supernatural causes, but is not actually witnessed, and the ghostly owl may just be a real bird. This approach has proven important for later horror writers and also for other media (it is surely an antecedent to the film producer Val Lewton's principle of indirect horror). Though other writers have since chosen blunter approaches to supernatural fiction, Le Fanu's best tales, such as the vampire novella "Carmilla", remain some of the most chilling examples of the genre. He had enormous influence on the 20th century's most important ghost story writer, M. R. James. Although his work fell out of favour in the early part of the 20th century, towards the end of the century interest in his work increased and still remains comparatively strong.

Edition details

• Publisher: King's Way Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 069270065X
• ISBN 13: 9780692700655
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 336
• Illustrator: Chadbourne Glenn, McVey Alex, Thompson Josh