Books, Plays, and Films Based on Le Fanu's Works
Abbott, Stacey. Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death in the Modern World. Austin: University of Texas
Press, 2007.
Briefly mentions the three Hammer Karnstein trilogy of films based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla."
A documentary film about Le Fanu's "Carmilla" and its cultural and artistic significance was shown
in 2010 at a film festival in Dublin, Ireland. A website about the showing no longer exists. I have
no other information about the film.
Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey (1932)
A page on the Internet Movie Database about the Carl Theodor Dreyer film based on Le Fanu's In a
Glass Darkly.
Alfreds, Mike. Uncle Silas. Cambridge Theater Company Tour. With Anne Marie Duff, Terence
Wilton, Sam Cox, and Carolyn Johns. (1994).
Uncle Silas (1947).
A page on The Internet Movie Database on the 1947 version of Uncle Silas.
Anon. Rev. of Play of Uncle Silas by Seymour Hicks and Lawrence Irving. The Theatre 21 (Mar. 1893):
163-64.
This play was first performed at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 13 February 1893. The review mentions
an earlier play of the novel by John Douglass, performed in October 1866, during Le Fanu's
lifetime. This is the first known performance of this play. Le Fanu may have been in attendance,
but there are no surviving letters about it.
Boot, Andy. Fragments of Fear: An Illustrated History of British Horror Films. London: Creation Books,
1999.
A very detailed and comprehensive history of the British horror film. Discussions of the "Karnstein
Trilogy" of vampire films drawn form Le Fanu's "Carmilla."
Burston, Paul, and Colin Richardson. A Queer Romance: Lesbians, Gay Men, and Popular Culture. New
York: Routledge, 1995.
An essay studies two of the film versions of Le Fanu's "Carmilla," Crypt of Horror and The Vampire
Lovers.
Campton, David. Carmilla: A Gothic Thriller in Two Acts. London: G. Garnet Miller, 1973.
First performed at the Library Theatre, Scarborough on 19 June 1972 with the following cast:
Captain Field (Ray Jewers), Ivan (David Hayward), Laura (Philippa Urquhart), Madame Perrodon
(Matyelock Gibbs), Colonel Smithson (Piers Rogers), Carmilla (Jennifer Piercy), Doctor Spielsberg
(Christopher Godwin).
Carmilla: Gothic Classics. Text by Rod Lott; Illustrated by Lisa K. Weber. Eureka Productions.
A Graphic Clasics illustrated edition of "Carmilla."
Anon. Rev. of Carmilla: Gothic Classics. School Library Journal 53.9 (Sept. 2007): 222-27.
Notes that "teen Goths" will like Lott's and Weber's adaptation.
Carmilla: A Vampyre Tale. Audio Book. Read by Megan Follows. Audio Partners. Audio Books on
Cassette and CD - Audio Editions audio books on tape and CD.
Childress, Valerie. Rev. of Classic Ghost Stories. School Library Journal 40.1 (Jan. 1994): 74.
Review of sound recording.
Anon. Review of Carmilla: A Vampyre Tale. Publishers Weekly, 4 Dec. 2000, p. 32.
A favorable review of the audiobook (above) and notes that Megan Follows's reading is "flawless."
Carmilla; Game of Pleasure. (1998) A Tom Le Pine Production. Cast: Stacia Crawford, Marina Morgan,
Bootsie Cairns, Dawn Marie, Kevin Summerfield, Written and Directed by Denise Templeton and
Tom La Pine. Game of Pleasure is a video game that is a companion to the film. Available on DVD.
Anon. Review of Carmilla: A Vampyre Tale (audio tape above). Booklist 98 (Aug. 2002): 1986.
Carmilla. (1966) The Mystery and Imagination teleplay. Screenplay by Stanley Miller. Cast: Terence
Bayler, Vernon Dobtcheff, Sonia Dresdel, Roy Marsden, Laurel Mather, Jane Merrow, Aubrey
Morris, Joseph O'Conor, Natasha Pyne.
Carmilla. (1999) Screenplay by Jay Lind. Directed by Jay Lind and Denise Templeton. Cast: Maria
Pechukas, Dawn Marie Psaltis, Heather War, Tiffany Barron, Hugo Boteler, Colleen Van Ryn.
Carmilla. Radio Play in the cassette Nightfall: Buried Alive. dhaudio.com, 1981. Canadian
Broadcasting Production. Adapted by John Douglas and Graham Pomeroy. Dorothy Ann Haig
(Margaret), Eve Crawford (Carmilla), Douglas Campbell (Father), Maureen Fitzgerald (Madame
Perodon), Eric Haus (Doctor), Martha Henry (Dark Lady), Douglas Raine (General Spielsdorf).
Produced and Directed by Bill Howell.
Much abridged radio play of Le Fanu's novella. The acting is rather perfunctory, and the actress
who plays Margaret (Carmilla's victim) speaks so softly that it is difficult to understand her at times.
Carmilla and Green Tea. Audio book. Jimcin 1989.
Carmilla: Le couer petrifie. (1988). Television play in France. Written and Directed by Paul Planchon.
Cast: Emmanuelle Meyssignac (Carmilla), Aurelle Doazan, Roland Kieffer, Andre Pomarat, Yvette
Stahl.
Carter, Angela. The Bloody Chamber. London: Victor Gollancz, 1979.
Carter's convoluted tales invoke a variety of Gothic texts. In the signature work she alludes to
classic vampire stories, noting how the husband's first wife was named Carmilla: "My most recent
predecessor in the castle had been, it would seem, the most sophisticated" (24).
Coates, Paul. The Gorgon's Gaze: German Cinema, Expressionism, and the Image of Horror. Cambridge
University Press, 1991.
Notes the whiteness of the Vampyr and the ellipses in the cinematic language that is typical in
Dreyer's films. Regards Vampyr as a cinematic meditation on death.
Cox, A. H The Hawthorn Tree: A Song. London: Weekes, 1871.
Sheet music and lyrics based on a poem by Le Fanu.
Crawford, Gary William. "Vampyr." Encyclopedia of the Vampire. Ed. S.T. Joshi. Santa Barbara:
Greenwood, 2011.
A basic overview of Carl Theodor Dreyer's film masterpiece Vampyr, based on Le Fanu's In a Glass
Darkly.
Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge, 1993.
This excellent gender-based and psychoanalytic study discusses the film The Vampire Lovers (see the
appendix to my Greenwood bibliography) based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla." Notes that the film sets
up a dichotomy between lesbian vampirism and male heterosexuality. The stiff, awkward,
puritanical men in the film set up the main thrust of the film, in which the heterosexual men
destroy the lesbian vampire. Here the theme of the patriarchal family is set up in opposition to to
the supernatural, feminine nature of the vampire.
Daly, Fergus, and Katherine Waugh. Outliving Dracula: Le Fanu's Carmilla. (2010) 88 min.
A documentary film about Le Fanu's "Carmilla" and its influence on the arts and culture.
Dickon the Devil. Great Classic Hauntings. Read by Geraint Wyn Davies. Audio Books on Cassette
and CD - Audio Editions audio books on tape and CD.
Drum, Jean, and Dale D. My Only Great Passion: The Life and Films of Carl Th. Dreyer. Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow Press, 2000.
A fascinating critical biography of Dreyer that provides much information about the filming of
Dreyer's film Vampyr based on Le Fanu's In a Glass Darkly. Notes that the film was a departure for
Dreyer, whose previous films were realistic. He said in the film he wanted to create a subconscious
dream.
Ehrlich, Jane. "Vampyr." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara and Tom
Pendergast. Vol. 1. 4th ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.
A brief and rather opinionated critique of the film in this entry lessens its usefulness.
Ellis, Hanson. Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film. Duke University Press, 1999.
Has a low opinion of filmed based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla," particularly the films by Hammer in
what has become known as "the Karnstein Trilogy."
Evans, William Gareth. Within the Glass Darkly. Guildford: Grosvenor House, 2010.
A spin-off novel dealing with Le Fanu's character Carmilla in nineteenth century Paris. The book
will be reviewed in Le Fanu Studies.
The Flying Dragon. (1966) The Mystery and Imagination television play. Directed by Bill Bain.
Screenplay by John Bowen. Based on Le Fanu's "The Room in the Dragon Volant." Cast Ann Bell,
John Bryans, David Buck, Mark Burns, John Franklyn-Robbins, John Moffatt, Aubrey Morris, John
Phillips, Derek Smith.
Freeland, Cynthia A. The Naked and the Undead: Evil and the Appeal of Horror. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press, 2000.
Discusses the few female vampires in film, but notes Ingrid Pitt's portayal of "Carmilla" in the film
The Vampire Lovers.
Great Ghost Stories. Audio Book Contractors 1984.
Green Tea. Audiobook of Le Fanu's story. Audiobooks for Free.
Green Tea and Squire Toby's Will. Audio Book Contractors, 2001.
Audio editions of the short stories.
Hallenbeck, Bruce G. The Hammer Vampire. London: Hemlock Books, 2010.
Entertaining account of the Hammer "Karnstein trilogy," the vampire films Hammer made based on
Le Fanu's "Carmilla." Shows how the films were beset by difficulties but managed to be
ground-breaking in forging "the lesbian vampire film."
Hearn, Marcus, and Alan Barnes. The Hammer Story. London: Titan Books, 2007.
Photographs and commentary on what is now called, "the Karntein trilogy," the three films drawn
from Le Fanu's "Carmilla."
Hogan, David J. Dark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland,
1986.
Discusses the lesbianism implicit in "Carmilla," noting that Carmilla feels some remorse, and horror
at her own existence as an evil creature. Discusses the three Hammer films of the Karnstein trilogy:
The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, and Twins of Evil. Also brings into the discussion the French
film by Roger Vadim, Blood and Roses. Regards Carmilla as both a victim and a victimizer.
Holte, James Craig. Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press, 1997.
Huckvale, David. Touchstones of Gothic Horror: A Film Geneology of Eleven Motifs and Images. Jefferson,
NC: McFarland, 2010.
An interesting study of the British horror film that devotes several paragraphs to the Hammer films
based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla" and Charles Frank's 1947 film of Uncle Silas. Notes that the films are,
for the most part, faithful to the Le Fanu originals.
Hughes, William. Lust for a Vampire. London: Sphere, 1971.
A novelization of the Hammer Films sequel to The Vampire Lovers. This novelization was released in
conjunction with the 1971 film drawn from Le Fanu's Carmilla.
Hutchings, Peter. "Vampires." In his Historical Dictionary of Horror Cinema. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow
Press, 2008.
Brief mentions of Dreyer's Vampyr and the Hammer Karnstein trilogy of horror films based on Le
Fanu's "Carmilla."
In a Glass Darkly. Performed by Green Pajamas. Musical CD: Rock Music. Urbana: Hidden Agenda
Records, 2001.
Johnson, Tom, and Deborah Del Vecchio. Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. Jefferson,
North Carolina: McFarland, 1996.
The three Hammer Film Productions based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla" are discussed: The Vampire
Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, and Twins of Evil.
Jones, Stephen and John Ross. Carmilla: The Erotic Horror Classic of Female Vampirism. Newbury Park,
CA: Aircel Comics, 1991.
A comic book rendering of the Le Fanu original.
Kelly, Tim. Say Uncle, Uncle Silas! or, Trapped in a House of Fiends. New York and London: Samuel
French, 1991.
A stage adaptation of Le Fanu's Uncle Silas for a high school audience.
Kinnes, Sally. "The One to Watch." The Sunday Times (5 March 2000).
Discusses the BBC film adaptation of Le Fanu's The Wyvern Mystery. Notes that Le Fanu "was the
Stephen King of his day."
Kinsey, Wayne. Hammer Films: The Elstree Studio Years. Sheffield, England: Tomahawk Press, 2007.
A fascinating and detailed commentary on the Hammer Films "Karnstein trilogy"--films based on
Le Fanu's "Carmilla." Discusses changes in the shooting scripts and the cutting of the films to
please British censors.
Knight, Amarantha. The Darker Passions: Carmilla. Cambridge, MA: Circlet, 2004.
A cheap spin-off novel drawn from Le Fanu's "Carmilla" that tends toward pornography.
Lampolski, Mikhail. The Memory of Tiresias: Intertextuality and Film. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1998.
Discusses Carl Theodore Dreyer's adaptation of Le Fanu's In a Glass Darkly, Vampyr (1931).
Lott, Rod, and Lisa K. Weber. "Carmilla." Gothic Classics. Ed. Tom Pomplun. Mount Horeb, WI:
Eureka Productions, 2007.
A cartoon adaptation of Le Fanu's story. The adaptation by Rod Lott retains most of the major
scenes of the novel, but Lisa K. Weber's cartoons are unintentionally funny.
Magistrale, Tony. Abject Terrors: Surveying the Modern and Postmodern Horror Film. New York: Peter
Lang, 2005.
Discusses the lesbian vampire film, such as The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil in which the
vampiric relationship of two women emerged in the films of the 1960's and 1970's drawn from their
precursor in Le Fanu's "Carmilla." Notes that these films also reflect the women's liberation
movements of the time, threatening male authority.
Marffin, Kyle. Carmilla: The Return. Darien, Illinois: Design Image Group, 1998.
A sequel to Le Fanu's "Carmilla."
Martin, Nina K. "Et Mourir de Plaisir (Blood and Roses). Quarterly Review of Film and Video 27.5 (Oct.
2010): 429-31.
An essay on the 1960 film by Roger Vadim based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla." Provides information on
the making of the film.
McKay, Sinclair. A Thing of Unspeakable Horror: The History of Hammer Films. London: Aurum Press,
2007.
A rather superficial and light-hearted history of Hammer Films that mentions at many points the
films based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla."
Meikle, Denis. A History of Horrors: The Rise and Fall of the House of Hammer. 2nd. ed. Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow Press, 2009.
A detailed history of Britain's Hammer Film Production and provides much information about the
filming of the three films of the "Karnstein trilogy," adaptations and expansions of Le Fanu's
"Carmilla."
Miller, Ron. Mystery! A Celebration Stalking Public Television's Greatest Sleuths. New York: Bay Books,
1991.
Discusses the British Broadcasting Corporations adaptation of Le Fanu's Uncle Silas, The Dark Angel.
Milne, Tom. The Cinema of Carl Dreyer. New York: A.S. Barnes, 1971.
An excellent analysis of Dreyer's Vampyr based on Le Fanu's In a Glass Darkly that praises it as being
a superb achievement for Dreyer, since the film is often dismissed as a failure. Follows the film
closely, noting that most of the actors were amateurs. Even so, the film has a certain coherence that
echoes the mysticism of the Le Fanu original.
El Misterioso tio Sylas. (1947) Argentina. Director: Carlos Schlieper. Screenplay: Jorge Jantus. Cast:
Homero Carpena, Cesar Fiaschi, Ricardo Galache, Elisa Galve, Norma Gimenez, Marga Landova.
An adaptation of Uncle Silas.
Newman, Kim. Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s. London: Bloomsbury, 2011.
Discusses the film as separate from Le Fanu's "Carmilla," considering it on its own terms. Notes the
stiff, masculine hierarchy of the film that destroys the bisexual vampire Carmilla. Relates the old,
decaying mansion of Uncle Silas to the film, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Pirie David. A New Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008.
This revised and expanded edition of Pirie's classic study devotes three pages to the "Karnstein
trilogy," the three Hammer Film Productions derived from Le Fanu's "Carmilla." Comments
mainly on the dealings of Hammer with the British censors, and devotes no real extended
commentary to the films themselves. Places the films in the short-lived "sex vampire film."
Prawer, S.S. Caligari's Children: The Film as Tale of Terror. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980
An excellent chapter on Dreyer's film Vampyr and Le Fanu's original In a Glass Darkly upon which it
is based. Prawer says that Dreyer "is inviting us to compare, inviting us to see what happens when
the creative imagination of an original film-maker is stirred by a literary work into activity that
results in a new--and truly cinematic--creation."
Rigby, Jonathan. English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema. London: Reynolds and Hearn, 2000.
The book devotes three pages to The Vampire Lovers, the Hammer production of Le Fanu's
"Carmilla." Notes that plot of the film is similar to the original, and remarks that the film was very
financially successful. Also discusses Twins of Evil, the third film that features the vampire
Carmilla, and shows how much of surprise it was at the time after the dispiriting second film in the
Karnstein trilogy, Lust for a Vampire.
Rigby, Jonathan. Studies in Terror: Landmarks of Horror Cinema. Cambridge: Signum Books, 2011.
Offers a two page discussion of Dreyer's Vampyr and a paragraph to Baker's The Vampire Lovers.
Notes negative reviews of Vampyr on its first appearance.
Robertson, Hugh S. Celtic Hymn to the Outgoing of the Boats. London: J.Curwen, 1917.
Based on Le Fanu poem.
Rollason, Jane, reteller. Carmilla. Penguin Active Reading CD and book, 2011.
A retelling of Le Fanu's "Carmilla" for children. There is an interactive CD recording with the book.
The child reads along and listens to the CD. Very interesting.
Rose, James. Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema Since 1970. London: Auteur, 2009.
The chapter on the Hammer Film Production of Le Fanu's "Carmilla," The Vampire Lovers,
compares the film to the original throughout the chapter. Regards Tudor Gates's screenplay as
close to the Le Fanu original.
Rosenblum, T.M. "Adult Audio for Fall." Publishers Weekly 247.32 (7 Aug. 2000): 40-41.
Favorable review of the Megan Follows audiobook of "Carmilla."
Rotello, M. "Listen Up Awards 2000." Publishers Weekly 248.1 (1 Jan. 2001): 40-41.
Good review of Follows audiobook.
Rudkin, David. Vampyr. London: British Film Institute, 2005.
A revisionist study of Carl Theodor Dreyer's famous 1931 horror film based on Le Fanu's In a Glass
Darkly. See the appendix to my Greenwood Le Fanu bibliography.
Schalken the Painter. (1979). British Broadcasting Corporation. "Omnibus" series. Director: Leslie
Megahey. With Jeremy Clyde, Maurice Denham, and Charles Gray.
Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to Interview with the Vampire. 3rd.
ed. New York: Limelight, 1997.
This revision of the ground-breaking study of the vampire film discusses all of the major films
based on "Carmilla." There are penetrating insights into all of the films from Carl Theoodor
Dreyer's Vampyr to Gabrielle Beaumont's Carmilla. A very important book discussing in varying
ways the eroticism of Le Fanu's vampire.
Skal, David J. The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror. Rev. ed. New York: Faber and Faber,
2001.
Discusses the implied lesbian sequence in Dracula's Daughter and relates it to Le Fanu's "Carmilla."
The Sleep of Death. Also known as The Inn of the Flying Dragon. (1981). Sweden. Director: Calvin
Floyd. Screenplay: Calvin Floyd, Yvonne Floyd. Cast: Per Oscarsson. Patrick Magee, Marilu Tolo,
Barry Cassins, Curt Jurgens, Brendan Price, Niall Toibin.
A film based on Le Fanu's "The Room in the Dragon Volant."
Spenser, Harry Joseph. "Uncle Silas. A play in three acts and a prologue." 1931.
Typescript owned by The British Library.
Stanford, Charles Villiers. Phaudrig Crohoore: An Irish Ballad for Chorus and Orchestra. London:
Boosey, 1896.
Music and lyrics based on Le Fanu. See Jeremy Dibble, Charles Villiers Stanford: Man and Musician
(Oxford University Press, 2003) for information about Stanford's music based on Le Fanu's poem.
Swaab, Peter. "Un Film Vampirise: Dreyer's Vampyr." Film Quarterly 62.4 (Summer 2009): 56-62.
Review of separate DVD releases of Carl Theodor's film Vampyr, based on Le Fanu's In a Glass
Darkly.
Tudor, Andrew. Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 1989.
A page is devoted to the three Hammer films based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla." Notes the blatant
sexuality, lesbianism, and blood and gore of the films and relates it to the many vampire films of
the 1970's.
Uncle Silas, broadcast as part of the Mystery and Imagination series (4th November 1968). Thames
Television, UK (an influential commercial broadcaster that no longer exists). Black and white; 50
mins; mounted on video tape (telecine transfer to film). Producer Reginald Collin; adaptation by
Stanley Miller; director Alan Cooke.
A highly mannered but sometimes chilling adaptation in which the director stresses the
melodramatic elements of the story. Mdm. La Rougierre played as a demented hag and the actors
sometimes speak directly to camera. Dated, but highly literate script, with slow pace typical of
'armchair theatre' productions of the time. Not currently available on DVD/VHS but copies in
various collections in UK.
Uncle Silas. Audio Book. Assembled Stories, 2006.
An audio cassette of the novel. Also available as CD. Narrated by Peter Joyce.
Uncle Silas. Audio Book. Audio Book Contractors, 1994. (Classic Books on Cassette).
An audio edition of the novel.
Vampyr DVD The Criterion Collection, 2008.
A restored print of the film is the basis for this package, that provides a supplementary DVD with
commentary and an interview with Dreyer, the director. Also provides a book with the screenplay
of Vampyr and a reprinting of Le Fanu's "Carmilla." In addition, a pamphlet prints an interview
with Baron Nicolas de Gunzberg, the financier for the film and the principal actor in the film.
The Wyvern Mystery. British Broadcasting Corporation. Screenplay: David Pirie. Producer: Ruth
Baumgarten. Director: Alex Pillai. Executive Producers: Gareth Neame and Jane Tranter. Starring
Derek Jacobi, Jack Davenport, Aisling O'Sullivan, and Naomi Watts.
A very well done adaption of Le Fanu's novel that makes up for the deficiencies of the original.
Beautifully photographed and well-acted film.
The Wyvern Mystery. Read by Flo Gibson. (Classic Books on Cassettes Collection). Audio Book
Contractors, 2001.
An audio edition of the novel.
Webber, Christopher. Green Tea. London: Couthurst Press, 1999.
A one-act play based on the story.
Woog, Adam. Vampires in the Movies. San Diego, CA: Reference Point Press, 2011.
A clearly written, simple, basic history of vampires in the cinema written for young teens by a
writer of children's books.
Worland, Rick. The Horror Film: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
Regard's Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyr as an art film very different from the Hollywood horror
films of its day.
Zimmerman, Bonnie. "Daughters of Darkness: The Lesbian Vampire on Film." The Dread of
Difference: Gender and the Horror Film. Ed. Barry Keith Grant. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996.
Focusing primarily on Harry Kumel's lesbian vampire film, Daughters of Darkness, Le Fanu's
"Carmilla" is considered as the source for a number of films, most notably the 1970's Hammer films
based on Le Fanu, The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, and Twins of Evil.