Hungerstone Audiobook By Kat Dunn cover art

Hungerstone

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free + $20 Audible credit

$8.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Get this deal
Offer ends on July 5, 2026 at 11:59 PT.
More purchase options

Hungerstone

By: Kat Dunn
Narrated by: Perdita Weeks
Get this deal

$8.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends July 5, 2026 at 11:59pm PT.

Buy for $19.80

Buy for $19.80

A Rolling Stone 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Year • A Town & Country Must Read Book of the Winter • A Goodreads Readers’ Most Anticipated Horror Novel of the Year • A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Book Riot Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Them 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Year • A Polygon Most Exciting Fantasy Book of the Year • A Scary Mommy 11 Most Anticipated Books of the Year

A compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the queer novella that inspired Dracula.

“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

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 to host a hunting party, 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 up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger . . .

As the day of the hunt draws closer, Lenore begins to unravel, questioning the role she has been playing all these years. Torn between regaining her husband’s affection and the cravings Carmilla has awakened, soon Lenore will uncover a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk.

Accolades & Awards

Best of 2025
Lambda Literary Award
2026
Best of 2025 Fantasy Historical Horror Lambda Literary Award Paranormal Romance Marriage Scary Heartfelt
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
Gothic Atmosphere • Feminist Retelling • Excellent Narration • Beautiful Writing • Emotional Depth • Velvet-like Voice

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant

After reading Slewfoot, I worried I’d never find another book like it. Hungerstone filled that void perfectly. It was dark, scary, and romantic with a very satisfying ending.

Hauntingly Romantic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautiful narration, exquisite prose. An excellent retelling of the early sapphic vampire novella, Carmilla.

Lenore is 10 years into a loveless, lonely marriage when she and her husband leave London to prepare a remote, crumbling estate for a hunting party. On their journey, they encounter Carmilla, seemingly injured in a carriage accident. Carmilla worms her way into Lenore’s existence, exposing the lifeless, loveless, starving space she has carved for herself in her home and relationships.

Dunn is now an instant buy for me. Perdita Weeks’ reading is flawless.

Captivating, heart wrenching tale of the smallness women force themselves into

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Like other readers I’m a huge fan of reader Perdita Weeks!

I loved how Lenore discovers what she wants and how she shut down her wants out of fear of disappointment.

The main character’s journey from confusion to clarity.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I was so addicted to this story and I have never read Carmilla… so maybe that is why it was surprising to me.

I found Lanore’s self doubt to be relatable and the mystery of her husbands murder plot, the little reveals of his insidious history, and the blossoming of her confidence to be the driving force of my addiction to this book.

I listened on audible and find myself wanting to read a hard copy just to re-live the story again!

LOVED THIS BOOK!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Dunn delivers rich detail in her retelling of Carmilla in a way that almost evokes a feminist approach within the idea that we as women often deny ourselves satiation of true appetites—limited only by the era that the story takes place in. The build-up to the final events of the book are satisfying in a “good for her” type of way; However, there are enough flashbacks to the “heroine’s” past which cut into anticipatory moments that they ultimately took me out of the moments the author was building toward. Interestingly, there’s not one mention of the term vampire which, for me, added to the intrigue crafted by Dunn’s prose.

All in all I would highly recommend this audio book to any women reading this review. It is as cathartic as it is interesting from a historical standpoint, and the narrator’s voice is both pleasant and wonderful at conveying the emotions of Dunn’s main characters.

**SPOILER BELOW**



One more small critique I must add: The afterword felt somewhat at odds with the sapphic dimension of the book’s content, and mostly addresses the negative tropes associated with lesbians rather than juxtaposing them with alternative viewpoints as Dunn does in addressing male desires versus the wants and needs of women. This is made all the more strange when in considering that Lenore ultimately chooses Carmilla and is an excellent representation of bisexual women not necessarily always ending up with a man; flying entirely in the face of their own associated stereotypes.

An intriguing, nuanced, historical reinterpretation of a wonderful classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews