Carmilla, the title character, is the original prototype for a legion of female and lesbian vampires.

Though Le Fanu portrays his vampire's sexuality with the circumspection that one would expect for his time, it is evident that lesbian attraction is the main dynamic between Carmilla and the narrator of the story:

* Danish director Carl Dreyer loosely adapted Carmilla for his 1932 film Vampyr but deleted any references to lesbian sexuality.

* The story " Carmilla " was included in Pam Keesey's collection of lesbian vampire stories, Daughters of Darkness ( 1993 ).

:*" Carmilla ", a compelling tale of a lesbian vampire, set in central Europe.

Later influential works include the penny dreadful Varney the Vampire ( 1847 ); Sheridan Le Fanu's tale of a lesbian vampire, Carmilla ( 1872 ) and the masterpiece of the genre: Bram Stoker's Dracula ( 1897 ).

Fascinating erotic fixations are evident in Sheridan le Fanu's classic novella Carmilla ( 1872 ) which features a female vampire with lesbian inclinations who seduces the heroine Laura whilst draining her of her vital fluids.

Illustration by D. H. Friston that accompanied the first publication of lesbian vampire novella Carmilla in The Dark Blue magazine in 1872

Illustration by D. H. Friston that accompanied the first publication of lesbian vampire novella Carmilla in The Dark Blue magazine in 1872

Early works that contained LGBT themes and showed the gay characters to be morally impure include the first lesbian vampire story " Carmilla " ( 1872 ) by Sheridan Le Fanu and The Picture of Dorian Gray ( 1890 ) by Oscar Wilde, which shocked contemporary readers with its sensuality and overtly homosexual characters.

Vampires in particular have been described as obvious erotic metaphors and as a result, numerous vampire films since the 1970s strongly imply or explicitly show lesbianism, following the inspiration of lesbian vampire story Carmilla.

Illustration by D. H. Friston that accompanied the first publication of lesbian vampire novella Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu in The Dark Blue magazine in 1872.

A distinct sub-genre of vampire films, ultimately inspired by Le Fanu's Carmilla explored the topic of the lesbian vampire.

* Blood and Roses ( 1960 ) by Roger Vadim-the first of the lesbian vampire genre, based on Le Fanu's Carmilla.

* The Vampire Lovers ( 1970 ), based on the story Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu and featuring Ingrid Pitt as a lesbian vampire.

A distinct sub-genre of vampire films, ultimately inspired by Le Fanu's Carmilla explored the topic of the lesbian vampire.

First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla.

Carmilla flees and the General explains to Laura that Carmilla is also Millarca, both anagrams for the original name of the vampire Countess Mircalla Karnstein.

Although Carmilla is a lesser known and far shorter Gothic vampire story than the generally-considered master work of that genre, Dracula, the latter is heavily influenced by Le Fanu's short story.

The descriptions of Carmilla and the character of Lucy in Dracula are similar, and have become archetypes for the appearance of the waif-like victims and seducers in vampire stories as being tall, slender, languid, and with large eyes, full lips and soft voices.

* French director Roger Vadim's Et mourir de plaisir ( literally And to die of pleasure, but actually shown in England as Blood and Roses, 1960 ) is based on Carmilla and is considered one of the greatest of the vampire genre.

Carmilla herself is mentioned several times as a former ( until her death at the hands of vampire hunters ) friend of the book's vampire heroine Geneviève.

* In the first story arc of Dynamite Entertainment's revamp of Vampirella, a villainous vampire named Le Fanu inhabits the basement of a Seattle nightclub named Carmilla.

She goes by the name of Laura, and Integra asks her if she is the vampire Carmilla.

* In Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Carmilla is a villain and patron of the vampire Meier Link.

* In six of the Castlevania games ; Circle of the Moon, Rondo of Blood, its PSP remake Dracula X Chronicles, Simon's Quest, Judgment, and Lords of Shadow ; there is a female vampire named Carmilla ( also spelled Camilla in Circle of the Moon ).

Le Fanu's short story collection In a Glass Darkly ( 1872 ) includes the superlative vampire tale Carmilla, which provided fresh blood for that particular strand of the Gothic and influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula ( 1897 ).

Though other writers have since chosen less subtle techniques, Le Fanu's best tales, such as the vampire novella " Carmilla ", remain some of the most powerful in the genre.

More disturbing, however, is the hero Spalatro's necrophiliac passion for an undead blood-drinking beauty, who seems to be a predecessor of Le Fanu's later female vampire Carmilla.

His best-known works, still widely read today, are: The seductive vampire Carmilla attacks the sleeping Bertha Rheinfeldt.

Artwork based on Sheridan le Fanu's Carmilla, one of the earliest influential works of vampire literature. Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires.

This led to her appearing in the work of Edgar Allan Poe, and as the vampire, notably in Carmilla and Brides of Dracula.

Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.

Her name is Carmilla.

Carmilla appears injured after her carriage accident, but her mysterious mother informs Laura's father that her journey is urgent and cannot be delayed.

Before she leaves she sternly notes that her daughter will not disclose any information whatsoever about her family, past, or herself and that Carmilla is of sound mind.

This collection contains five tales, one of which is " Carmilla ".

* In 1990, Gabrielle Beaumont created a film adaptation for a horror anthology television series Nightmare Classics titled " Carmilla ", which is one of the more faithful adaptations of the story, though the setting was transported to post-Civil War Deep South of the United States.

* Carmilla is featured as the main antagonist in the 2009 movie Lesbian Vampire Killers, a comedy starring Paul McGann and James Corden.

* The novel is mentioned and referenced by some of the other characters in the 2011 movie The Moth Diaries ; Carmilla also seems to have inspired the main antagonist Ernessa, played by Lily Cole.

* According to director Dennis Gansel his film Wir Sind Die Nacht is his personal take on Carmilla.

* The story of Carmilla is illustrated using old antique etchings by Tiffini Elektra X in the book In This House: A Collection of Altered Art Imagery and Collage Techniques.

* There is a Japanese lesbians ' magazine named after Carmilla, as Carmilla " draws hetero women into the world of love between women ".