Carmilla, Chapter 3 summary

What happens

1. The stranger wakes, asks about her mother and Matska, and weeps on learning that her mother leaves her for three months.
2. The household discusses the carriage's disturbing occupants, and the narrator's father reveals the mother's insistence on keeping their identity and journey secret.
3. The doctor finds the guest unharmed and permits the narrator to visit her room.
4. The narrator recognizes her childhood visitor, and the stranger claims to recognize the narrator from a dream twelve years earlier.
5. They compare visions and express affection, though the narrator feels both attraction and repulsion.
6. The guest declines overnight company, explaining her habit of locking her door; the next day, both laugh about their initial fears.

In this chapter

What to notice

The guest makes their matching visions a shared source of fear. Her playful response also helps turn their unsettling recognition into intimacy.

Quick check