Carmilla
Complete textLaura lives with her father in an isolated Styrian residence when a carriage accident brings the beautiful Carmilla into their household. Their intense friendship unfolds alongside strange dreams, unexplained illness, and troubling reports from the surrounding countryside that make the visitor increasingly difficult to understand.
Continue readingAbout Carmilla
Laura tells the events retrospectively, preserving both her attraction to Carmilla and the unease that accompanied it. The story draws tension from interrupted explanations, nocturnal visits, and the intimacy of being watched. Its framing as a collected case does not erase the narrator's emotional uncertainty about the guest she remembers.
Reading focus
Enter an intimate Gothic mystery where companionship, desire, illness, and fear develop together inside an isolated household.
This reading edition contains 27,936 words in 17 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.
Author: Sheridan Le Fanu. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.
Opening excerpt
Upon a paper attached to the Narrative which follows, Doctor Hesselius has written a rather elaborate note, which he accompanies with a reference to his Essay on the strange subject which the MS. illuminates.
Contents
All sections- PROLOGUE1 min
- I. An Early Fright8 min
- II. A Guest12 min
- III. We Compare Notes12 min
- IV. Her Habits—A Saunter17 min
- V. A Wonderful Likeness6 min
- VI. A Very Strange Agony7 min
- VII. Descending9 min
- VIII. Search6 min
- IX. The Doctor8 min
- X. Bereaved5 min
- XI. The Story7 min
- XII. A Petition8 min
- XIII. The Woodman8 min
- XIV. The Meeting8 min
- XV. Ordeal and Execution6 min
- XVI. Conclusion6 min
Reading & download help
Is this the complete Carmilla?
This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 17 sections and 27,936 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.
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A4 is designed for 210 × 297 mm paper; US Letter for 8.5 × 11 inch paper. Both contain the same complete text, selectable text and section bookmarks.
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