From Gothic fiction author Kat Dunn comes a new retelling of Carmilla that is equal parts haunting and thrilling. Hungerstone (Zando, February 18 2025) is one of the best new releases of 2025.
Set in mid-nineteenth-century England, Lenore has been married to her husband Henry for a decade. A steel magnate and social climber, their marriage has benefitted from Lenore’s upper-class status and her intricate knowledge of the social circles Henry hopes to be a part of as a steel magnate, where the industrial revolution promises wealth—but not status—in society. But now, ten years in, Lenore is keenly aware that their marriage has begun to sour. When Henry takes them to his acquired country estate, Hungerstone, on the British moorlands to host a hunting party, a sudden carriage accident brings a mysterious and enigmatic woman into their lives.
Carmilla seems to have appeared out of nowhere and exhibits all kinds of strange behaviours, such as being weak during the day but vibrant at night. Lenore is haunted by her failing marriage, her husband’s secrets, and her growing feelings for Carmilla. All the while, local girls in the village begin to sicken and exhibit strange, ravenous behaviours.
I completely loved this book—it gave me everything I wanted and more from a truly neo-Victorian Carmilla retelling. Hungerstone updates the original novel and the titular vampire for a contemporary lesbian-feminist revisioning of the plot while featuring all of the Gothic strangeness that makes Carmilla excellent.
To me, Hungerstone is driven by the atmospheric writing and Lenore’s character. We spend so much time in Lenore’s head, speculating about the secrets of Hungerstone alongside her, and Dunn’s work at pacing the novel effectively reads like the most well-crafted thriller. And yet, the novel is also situated in a number of essential nineteenth-century contexts: Henry’s steelworks and the consequences of industrialisation for the working class, Lenore’s role as housewife and house manager, and the intricacies of social graces in this period. The novel has the well-researched character of the best historical fiction, coupled with the thrilling and seductive Gothic elements of your favourite vampire novels.
One of the best parts of this novel is that Dunn makes no attempts to truly “know” Carmilla, as other retellings have done in the past. She remains just as mysterious and enigmatic as she has always been—her motives unclear but still grounded in desire/lust/chaos/hunger, all directed at Lenore. And yet, just as in the end of Le Fanu’s novel, Lenore is forever changed by Carmilla’s influence; the Victorian housewife will never be the same when Carmilla shows her how to take what she hungers for.
I highly recommend Hungerstone for lovers of Gothic and/or historical fiction!
Please add Hungerstone to your TBR on Goodreads and follow Kat Dunn on Instagram.
Content Warnings: violence, death, workplace injury.
Rachel Friars received her doctorate in English Literature Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada in 2024. Her current research centers on neo-Victorianism and lesbian literature and history. Her work has been published with journals such as Studies in the Novel, The Journal of Neo-Victorian Studies, Queer Studies in Media and Popular Culture, and The Palgrave Handbook of neo-Victorianism.
You can find Rachel on X @RachelMFriars or on Goodreads @Rachel Friars.
