The Wacky World of Webisodes: Carmilla

In the wake of adaptations of literary classics such as Pride and Prejudice (The Lizzie Bennett Diaries) and Much Ado about Nothing (Nothing Much to Do), the Gothic novella Carmilla has recently been resurrected and serialised as a vlog-style YouTube webseries. Written by Jordan Hall, and created by Jordan Hall and Smokebomb Entertainment, it is well worth a watch.

Any fans of the original work, written by J. Sheridan le Fanu, are bound to enjoy this adaptation, which achieves the same eeriness and thrilling tension. It isn’t necessary, however, to have read the novella to enjoy Carmilla the series. Hall has updated and modernised the plot of Sheridan le Fanu’s work almost beyond the point of recognition. The protagonist is still a young woman named Laura (Elise Bauman), whose life is changed by the entrance of the mysterious lesbian vampire, Carmilla (Natasha Negovanlis). The similarities grind to a halt around about here.

In this adaptation, Laura attends Silas University, and is vlogging from her dorm-room about her life for a journalism assignment. When her room-mate, Betty (Grace Glowicki), goes missing without any concern from the university staff, and is replaced by Carmilla, Laura begins to uncover a chain of disappearances of women on campus. Something suspicious is clearly going on, and Laura becomes determined to uncover it, with the help of her floor’s official Don, Perry (Annie Briggs); her floor’s unofficial ‘Truth-Speaker’, LaFontaine (Kaitlyn Alexander); and her English lit TA and crush, Danny (Sharon Belle). At the centre of it all, as the title suggests, is Carmilla.

Along with its fellow webseries and Sheridan le Fanu’s novella, Carmilla the series is quite noticeably influenced by a host of other sources. Comparisons with Veronica Mars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, are popular, and are even alluded to within the script. The clichés of the vampire fiction genre, such as love triangles and tragic doomed-relationship backstories, also feature heavily, but the writing is very tongue-in-cheek about this – at one point, Laura is even shown reading Twilight on-screen.

Nevertheless, Carmilla has an originality and freshness all of its own. Perhaps one contributing factor to this is that the series has little time for male characters. Carmilla has obviously been written by a woman, with other women in mind. The lead parts – four women and one non-binary person (LaFontaine, who by the end of the current series is referred to as ‘they’, rather than ‘he’ or ‘she’) – are complex, strong, and exceedingly likeable. The inclusion of a non-binary character at all is heartening, as non-binary people are so seldom represented in mass media. Above all, Laura is a wonderful protagonist. Her enthusiasm and moral convictions make her immediately loveable. Furthermore, as a university student struggling with coursework and relationships, her worries are very easy to relate to.

Carmilla has an originality and freshness all of its own.

As with any low-budget webseries, there are certain aspects of Carmilla which are far from perfect. Towards the start of the series, the framing of shots can be a little haphazard, particularly in scenes shared between Elise Bauman and Sharon Belle, who are 5’2 and 6’2 respectively. Moreover, the acting occasionally falls towards the melodramatic, and at times pieces of dialogue are tripped over or are difficult to hear.

That said, some of the cast’s performances are truly outstanding. Elise Bauman proves herself to be incredibly versatile, presenting a believable range of emotions, and even managing to pull off a tricky scene in which Laura is possessed. Sharon Belle, too, is evidently familiar with the adage that ‘acting is reacting’; even when in the background of a scene, she does not for a moment let her role lapse.

Carmilla has just finished its first run of thirty-six episodes, ending on a cliff-hanger, with recent confirmation that it will be back for a second season. This, combined with a following of almost 58,000 subscribers, and sponsorship from U by Kotex, means its future looks promising. After all, there is still plenty of ground to be covered. As Laura says, Silas University is home to “mystery after mystery”.