Carmilla - The First Lesbian Vampire

Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' in 1897 apparently isn't the debut of 'vampire'. 'Camilla',(1871) a novella by an Irish Gothic writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is the world's first Lesbian Vampire Tale. Scholars agree that it heavily influenced 'Dracula'. The story appeared in the English literary magazine The Dark Blue between 1871-72 and later was reprinted in Le Fanu’s short story collection In a Glass Darkly, published in 1872.  The story is often anthologized and has been adapted many times in film and other media.

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Gist of the plot

A carriage accident happens outside Laura's home. The victim required care. Laura falls in love with this young girl Camilla who seems to be the same age to her. They both recognize themselves from a dream 12 years prior. 

Laura instantly fell for this beautiful and sensual Carmilla. 

"Her complexion was rich and brilliant; her features were small and beautifully formed; her eyes large, dark, and lustrous; her hair was quite wonderful, I never saw hair so magnificently thick and long when it was down about her shoulders; I have often placed my hands under it, and laughed with wonder at its weight."

There seemed to the same ardent passion towards Laura too.

"It was like the ardor of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet over-powering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips traveled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.'"

Suddenly this thrilling romance takes a dark turn. The women in the town fall ill and die. Laura falls sick too.  The villagers identify Carmilla as the vampire and so they kill her. But to take more precautions Laura 's father and a Vampire Hunter undercover opens the tomb of Carmilla and drive a stake through the heart. 

It didn't take off?

This novella seems pretty legitimate in today's world.  But the Victorian Era was an age of strict moral laws and sexual repression. That might be a valid reason why people were cautious to accept this novella even though it was enticing and attractive for Victorian upper class women. But this doesn't seem to be a bizarre idea to bring it back today. 

Post Written by -  Adap Immanuel Teron