The Mysterious Stranger by "Anonymous" but really Karl Adolf von Wachsmann

 

 

The Mysterious Stranger

by Anonymous

but actually Karl Adolf von Wachsmann

When a knight and his family crosses paths with a MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, his daughter begins to fall gravely ill.

I read this story earlier in the year when I was doing my research into CARMILLA. One Youtuber stressed that THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER clearly influenced the story of Carmilla. To add to the vampire intrigue, the mystery if who wrote this had recently been solved. I'll start with that. The story called THE STRANGER , written in German by Karl Adolf von Wachmann had been published in 1844. It had thereafter had an unauthorized translation (approx 1854) into English but credit had been attributed to anonymous. Oddly enough, it took nearly two centuries for someone to make the connection and give proper credit.

 

A German family traveled to the Carpathian Mountains to take claim over their estates. En route they were besieged by a pack of wolves. The wolves were warded off by some MYSTERIOUS STRANGER outside of the ruins of some old castle. Some time afterwards the family tracked down that stranger and extended an open invitation into their estate. Gazing at the beautiful and fiery Franziska, the stranger accepted. After his first appearance at their home, Franziska's health began to decline mysteriously, all the while having nightmares of the stranger appearing in her room from a mist and biting her on her neck. After some time a visit from a family friend figured out what was happening and took Franziska to destroy her unknown mortal foe.  

This story is really quite good and fascinating. You don't like Franziska very much, but not so much that you want to see her succumb to her illness. Of course, it's no illness at all. The mysterious stranger was a vampire and they foolishly invited him into their home, allowing him full access. Indeed, this story does have some of the key elements that you will later see in Carmilla. We can start with a chance encounter with a stranger who gets invited into their home who turns out to be a vampire trying to seduce and devour the fair daughter. Another interesting item to note. This is the first vampire story that takes place in the Carpathian Mountains!

 

So I found this to be much closer to what I was looking for in terms of influences for Carmilla. Of course it's not the same, but you can see some elements in there. This story is also very rewarding to read. It's another pre-Nosferatu story, so the vampire is very different in what he can and cannot do. This story is in the public domain so you can find it to read for free with a brief google search. I recommend it and say it's worth the time to look up and read.