Carmilla / Caramelle 1864

Before there was Dracula or Nosferatu or Edward Cullen, there was Carmilla.

Carmilla was as sinister as any monster of the night, enchantingly charming to her prey, and unabashedly sapphic. In this classic vampire story, Carmilla, Joseph Le Fanu Sheridan serves the sensual and spooky packaged into the experience of girlhood.

But acclaimed author Jewelle Gomez asks, what if Carmilla and her progeny were not monsters? In Caramelle 1864, Gomez offers readers a chance to explore this question when a vampire arrives at a way station on the Underground Railroad not to stalk her prey but to seek sanctuary. Inspired by a glimpse of affection in Carmilla, Gomez intertwines the haunting legacy of American slavery with gothic horror and the resilience of Black women in this powerful addition to the universe of The Gilda Stories

Framed deftly by Gomez in a thoughtful foreword, these two texts engage all the modern vampire discourse with its iteration 150 years ago.

“As in the past we still hold our freedom and our pleasure in our own strong hands. Hands made even stronger when holding on to the hands of others.” —Jewelle Gomez

***

This is the first book in the new series Aunt Lute Colloquy, a publishing space dedicated to fostering feminist conversations across literary generations.