Carmilla, author J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century vampiric romance, has influenced generations of dark-fantasy writers from Bram Stoker to Laurel K. Hamilton, and has been adapted for the screen many times, including Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers and Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses. These days, Carmilla (and her friend, Laura) are the stars of a live-action Internet series produced in Canada by Vervegirl TV and sponsored by…tampon manufacturer Kotex. (Seriously—the press release says the 36-episode series will answer the question “Does a vampire have a period?”) The concept of this modern-day adaptation is that Laura is a student at a university, Carmilla is her new roommate (after Laura’s original roommate, Betty, mysteriously disappeared), and the four-minute episodes are vlog entries seen through Laura’s computer webcam.
If you’re a fan of the series interested in reading the source material for the series, or are a fan of vampire fiction who’s heard of the novella but never read it, then have we got a book for you! Carmilla is StarWarp Concepts’ most popular title in our Illustrated Classics line, and our edition features exclusive illustrations by Eliseu Gouveia, artist of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, Lorelei: Sects and the City, and Vengeance of the Mummy. Here’s the synopsis:
Before Edward and Bella, before Lestat and Louis, even before Dracula and Mina, there was the tale of Carmilla and Laura.
Living with her widowed father in a dreary old castle in the woods of Styria, Laura has longed to have a friend with whom she can confide; a friend to bring some excitement to her pastoral lifestyle. And then Carmilla enters her life.
Left by her mother in the care of Laura’s father, Carmilla is young, beautiful, playful—everything Laura had hoped to find in a companion. In fact, the lonely girl is so thrilled to have a new friend that she is willing to overlook the dark-haired beauty’s strange actions…which include a disturbing, growing obsession for her lovely hostess.
Carmilla, it seems, desires more than just friendship from Laura….
“The way Le Fanu blends together desire and predation is spellbinding. A true Gothic story, Carmilla is great fun.”—Gothic Beauty Magazine
“Carmilla is a must-read for any true fan of vampire fiction.”—LoveVampires.com
“Like many vampire romances, Carmilla and Laura’s love is doomed and unhealthy, but glorious.”—io9
Carmilla is on sale in print for $10.95 US; the e-book is $2.99. Visit the Carmilla product page for the sales links.
Well, this was a surprise that came in the mail the other day: a contributor copy of the anthology L’Almanach des Vampires (The Almanac of Vampires), released this month by French publishing house Riviere Blanche, a subsidiary of indie publisher Black Coat Press. How much of a surprise was it? I didn’t even know I was a contributor to the book until I received it!
Doc Con—an annual celebration of pulp-fiction hero Doc Savage—starts this Friday, October 17, and runs through Sunday. And Bob Larkin—cover artist of SWC’s Saga of Pandora Zwieback novels and legendary painter of Bantam Books’ Doc Savage novels—will be the guest of honor at this three-day event. Doc Con XVII is being held at the Comfort Suites, in Glendale, Arizona. For more information, head over to the 
Over at the news site Comics for Sinners, hot on the heels of my review of Vampirella, Vol. 2 #4 comes my review of 
And if sexy monster hunters are your thing, then you should definitely check out 
Today is the DVD and Blu-Ray release date for X-Men: Days of Future Past, the blockbuster summer film that united the casts of 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand and 2011’s X-Men: First Class, in an exciting adaptation of a classic X-story by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin. If you haven’t seen it already, wait until you meet the super-speedy Quicksilver, who practically steals the movie! (Or, if you prefer, you can wait until 2015 to purchase the Director’s Cut, which reportedly will include all of Anna Paquin’s scenes as Rogue that are missing in the theatrical version.)
Over at the news site Comics for Sinners, you can read my review of 
Teen Read Week 2014 is happening right now, October 12–18. What is it? Well, to quote the event’s Web site:
Currently, our most popular title is 
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