This volume contains two classic horror novels by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Carmilla is the classic vampire story that is credited with inspiring Bram Stoker to write Dracula. The Evil Guest is a gothic horror tale that predates Carmilla. This is the first volume in the King's Way Press Definitive Classics Series.

Approximately 54,000 words. When fate draws together the lives of two young women, their mutual attraction quickly flourishes into a bond which threatens the boundaries of social etiquette in 1860's Styria. As their relationship continues to develop further, they remain oblivious to the growing horror which surrounds them, as throughout the province other young women begin dying in mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, others are falling victim to the apparently random attacks of a rampaging pack of wolves. When, finally the truth is revealed, the scene is set for a battle between two ancient...

Although Carmilla is a lesser known and far shorter Gothic vampire story than the generally-considered master work of that genre, Dracula, the latter is heavily influenced by Le Fanu's novella. In the earliest manuscript of Dracula, dated 8 March 1890, the castle is set in Styria, although the setting was changed to Transylvania six days later. As with Dracula, critics have looked for the sources used in the writing of the text. Matthew Gibson proposes that Le Fanu used Dom Augustin Calmet's Dissertations sur les apparitions des anges, des demons et des esprits, et sur les revenants et...

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer best known for gothic and mystery novels. Le Fanu's gothic novella Carmilla follows the life of a young woman named Laura. Laura befriends the mysterious Carmilla.