Hungerstone
“Hungerstone is a delicious tribute to the inherent horrors of womanhood and the desperate and exquisite vulgarity of desire. This is everything I dream of in a novel.”
- Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth
The seductive reimagining of a Gothic classic—a repressed wife encounters a mysterious woman who awakens her desire in the “lesbian vampire novel we need.” (Them)
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NPR Best Book of the Year • Goodreads Choice Award Finalist • Book Riot Best Book of the Year
ISBN
9781638932161
Language
English
Page count
302
Edition
Hardcover
Sale date
February 18, 2025
Dimensions
6 x 9
About the Book
It’s the height of the Industrial Revolution, and ten years into Lenore’s marriage to steel magnate Henry, their relationship has soured. When Henry’s ambitions take them from London to the remote British moorlands, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into their lives. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night. Carmilla, who stirs something deep within Lenore.
Soon, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger, and Lenore begins to unravel. Torn between regaining her husband’s affection and the cravings Carmilla has awakened, Lenore must confront a darkness that will place her at risk.
This immersive reworking of Carmilla, the queer novella that inspired Dracula, delivers a richly atmospheric look at feminine rage and the desires that feed our hunger.
“I didn’t like this, I LOVED it.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid
Reviews
“Before the very gay Dracula was ever conceived, there was the much gayer Carmilla—a queer-coded novella of female desire and insatiable hunger. Kat Dunn has taken that original inspiration and made it much stranger (and hotter), as we follow the journey of an unhappy aristocratic wife slowly coming to embrace her unholy appetites, under the guidance of an extremely sexy vampire/chaos queen. *fans self*”
“The lesbian vampire novel we need.”
“A rich and daring reimagining that brings the beating heart of Carmilla to life again. Hungerstone is a delicious tribute to the inherent horrors of womanhood and the desperate and exquisite vulgarity of desire. This is everything I dream of in a novel.”
“Kat Dunn’s Hungerstone is an atmospheric, blood-drenched, feminist twist on classic vampire tropes, a sapphic delight and industrial horror story.”
“If you’re as frustrated with the patriarchy as I am, then you need a real, honest ‘good for her’ read this Women’s History Month to help you let out all of your rage. I can’t think of anything more appropriate than a historical horror retelling of the classic vampire tale Carmilla. It’s everything you love about the original, but, like, even queerer. Which we love. Put it on your TBR this month. You won’t regret it.”
“Extraordinary…. A dark, sensuous, gothic story of female appetite, ravenous desire and insatiable rage. A blood-drenched, glittering, jewel of a novel.”
“Gives Carmilla a bold, feminist retelling.”
“[E]viscerating, pleasurable, and inviting; a masterclass of first person present.”
“A moody and triumphant retelling of Carmilla . . . A meditation on womanhood, corporate greed, and queer desire . . . Revitalizes Le Fanu’s classic tale without losing any of its appeal.”
“An intoxicating and vivid take on the gothic novel. Sensual and vicious, Lenore’s devastating story of self-discovery, betrayal and power feels like one for the ages.”
“Exactly what we need to cure our collective Nosferatu hangover.”
“Utterly captivating. A fabulous Gothic feast of a novel which is so gripping I genuinely struggled to put it down. This book has everything—a compulsive plot, fascinating characters, and a world so dark and atmospheric it makes the real one look drab. A book that will upend your expectations of the genre and leave you wanting more.”
“This queer, feminist reimagining of Carmilla has all the makings of a great vampire story.”
“A dream of a Gothic. Combines all the best of Carmilla and would make Edgar Allan Poe jealous. Reading Kat Dunn is like finding treasure.”
“A chilling, homoerotic tale of a young woman haunted and hunted by a female vampire.”
“Kat Dunn repaints the classic story of Carmilla in the boldest, bloodiest colors. Hungerstone is decadent, brilliant, triumphant and I devoured it.”
“As is the case with all good vampire stories, the push and pull between fear and desire . . . is palpable from its very first pages.”
“Hungerstone writhes ‘like a box of live snakes,’ with the exquisite torment of need. A fever dream of female desire. Kat Dunn brings vital style and a dangerous pulse to queer gothic fiction in this infectious, utterly gorgeous tale of awakening.”
“I’m tired of brooding men . . . give me lesbian vampires.”
“A sumptuous delight, Hungerstone combines gothic thrills with a feminist exploration of what it means to become estranged from our desires, and what it might mean if we let ourselves be whole. I feasted on it.”
“Hungerstone triangulates feminine rage, desire, and craving for a particularly delicious take on the source material.”
“Deliciously dark and atmospheric, Hungerstone throbs with the taste of the forbidden. This is a novel that asks what might happen when we reach for those places inside ourselves previously kept under lock and key. Dunn’s Carmilla is as alive and alluring today as Le Fanu’s was in 1872.”
“Kat Dunn’s Hungerstone is a Carmilla retelling— historical, feminist, and decidedly thirsty”