Rating: 
Summary: If you like Vampires you will like this
Review: I like Rice, Stroker, Daniels, Le Fanu, and now I can add Kyle Marffin. A must read for readers of the undead.
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Summary: Carmilla - The Return
Review: I think it is safe to say I did not enjoy this book. It was an abomination to the original by J. Sheridan Lefanu. The plot was in most places nonexistent, it seemed more like page after page of bad porn. There were serious plot gaps in the beginning which would in reality cause the 'return' to not even be possible. A major disappointment, I strongly warn against buying this book.
Rating:
Summary: the best vampire novel in a long time.
Review: i'm very critical of vampire books when i read them. very few strike me the way this one did. i read the first chapter, and then read it again. i kept thinking that if the rest of the book was as good as this chapter i'd have a new Bible. it was.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Read
Review: I've heard this book was nominated for some kind of horror award. I'm just surprised it didn't win. The basic plot of LeFanu's original novella is echoed throughout, but in a very modern way. Every time the author lulls you into a dreamy, sensual mood, the book startles you with some unexpected and entirely frightening shocker. If only the Hammer films had followed Marffin's path. Why doesn't someone make a flick of this novel? All in all, a terrific read.
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Summary: Kyle Marffin's CARMILLA - THE RETURN
Review: Kyle Marffin's provocative debut is a modern day retelling of J. S. Sheridan LeFanu's classic 19th century vampire novella CARMILLA. Gothic literature's most notorious female vampire, the seductive Countess Carmilla Karnstein, returns in this new novel, stalking an unsuspecting female victim through the glittery nightime streets of downtown Chicago, to the desolate midwestern northwoods and all the way back to her ancient Styrian homeland, glimpsing her unwritten history while replaying the events of the original with a decidedly contemporary twist. This a chilling vampire tale, rooted in the classic vampire tradition, with a generous dose of eroticism.
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Summary: About Kyle Marffin's Carmilla: The Return
Review: Many horror critics and essayists consider Joseph Sheridan LeFanu's 1872 novella, "Carmilla" (which first appearred in the collection "In A Glass Darkly") to be the preeminent literary female vampire character creation, and thus it's only fitting that this most notorious lady of the night be updated for modern readers in the manner of the many books written "en hommage" to Stoker's Dracula, the real and imagined Byron/Polidori connections to the roots of vampire literature, and even history's infamous real-life "vampire", the Countess Elizabeth Bathory...all of whom have been revived and revitalized in numerous novels over the past few years. Kyle Marffin's debut novel creates it's own backstory for the cunning Countess of Karnstein, whose roots were only hinted at in LeFanu's original. And just as in the Gothic classic, an unsettling sensual quality surrounds the seductive vampiress, starting with her predelicition for preying on her own gender. Fans of traditional vampires -- with fangs, glowing eyes, pale skin, a fear of the sun and all the other folkloric trappings -- won't be disappointed. And fans of revisionist vampire tales will be pleased by Carmilla's struggle to fit in with the bewildering pace of the modern world.
Rating: 
Summary: A very compelling story
Review: Mr. Marffin could have profited from the hand of a tougher editor, and from perhaps not following Le Fanu's original plotline so closely, but with those comments out of the way, I must say I found his telling of this tale completely satisfying. In fact, I hated to see it end. I hope to see Carmilla again.
Rating:
Summary: Superb- Better Than the Original
Review: Suppose Carmilla didn't die as in LeFanu's clasic short story? Suppose she survived and has been around some 300 years. In Carmilla the Return, everyone's favorite lesbian vampire survives and murders the girl who stays with her uncle, the Colonel. The Colonel investigates the death of his sister's child as Carmilla seduces a Chicago department store worker. She follows her on her vacation to Michigan's upper peninsula where the girl, Laurn, has rekindled an old relationship with Steve Michaels. In time, Carmilla takes precandence over Steve, Lauren becomes a vampire, and the two move back to Carmilla's home in Austria. Can Steve, the Colonel, and Lauren's father intervene? Read and find out!This book was a real page turner. As a fan of the original and Karstein Trilogy from Hammer Studios based on it, I approached this book with skepticism. Howver, the writer manages to pull off Carmilla in a modern setting brilliantly. You can grow to like Carmilla and don't feel sympathy for her victims. Lauren's vampirism is interesting, and leads to the conclusion. If you're a fan of the original, pick this up.
Rating:
Summary: Leave the classics alone!
Review: The problem with this novel is one of characterization. Carmilla is not particularly interesting, and comes off as a run-of-the-mill movie vampire out on conquest. She is somewhat juvenile and one-dimensional. The protagonist is even worse, amost like a castmember of "friends." Horror novels need to be scary. They need moments of dread, tension, and angst. Carmilla: The Return simply fails to create a spooky atmosphere, and instead degenerates into late-night soft-porn. Even the sex is poorly handled. Please read the original Carmilla by LeFanu -an infinitely better book.
Rating: 
Summary: Cover better than the book
Review: The problem with this novel is one of characterization. Carmilla is not particularly interesting, and comes off as a run-of-the-mill movie vampire out on conquest. She is somewhat juvenile and one-dimensional. The protagonist is even worse, amost like a castmember of "friends." Horror novels need to be scary. They need moments of dread, tension, and angst. Carmilla: The Return simply fails to create a spooky atmosphere, and instead degenerates into late-night soft-porn. Even the sex is poorly handled. Please read the original Carmilla by LeFanu -an infinitely better book.
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