Listened to the thrilling dramatisation of Le Fanu’s ‘Carmilla’ on Radio 4 Extra tonight by candlelight whilst the wind howled outside and I contemplated my pile of marking. Love the ending of this story and the trope of the portrait and the masked ball and the wonderful illustrations to the first edition. I recommend the Valancourt Books version that has these, together with a lively introduction and splendid appendices….after listening I reached it down off the shelf again and turned to the final passage:
‘To this hour the image of Carmilla returns to memory with ambiguous alternations – sometimes the playful, languid, beautiful girl; sometimes the writhing fiend I saw in the ruined church; and often from a reverie have I started, fancying I heard the light step of Carmilla at the drawing room door'(p.85).
ambiguous alternations….yes…love this story!
