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.

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.

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:

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.

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

* 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.

* 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.

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.

* 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.

* Carmilla ( a lesbian vampire ) is the leading character of most of the Italian comics by Francesca Paolucci ( published in Italy by EF Edizioni ).

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 ).

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

14: Gothic Classics ( 2007 ) contains an adaptation of Carmilla, illustrated by Lisa K. Weber and adapted by Rod Lott.

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 ).

* In Glass Mask ( episode 29 of the anime and volume 17 of the manga ), Ayumi Himekawa played Carmilla in a stage adaptation of the novella.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1816 poem " Christabel " and the novella Carmilla ( 1872 ) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu both present lesbianism associated with vampirism.

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.

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

She starred as " Carmilla / Mircalla " in The Vampire Lovers ( 1970 ), based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's novella Carmilla, and played the title role in Countess Dracula ( 1971 ), based on the legends around Countess Elizabeth Báthory.

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.

It is based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla and is part of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy of films, the other films being Lust for a Vampire ( 1971 ) and Twins of Evil ( 1972 ).

Carmilla predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years, and has been adapted many times for cinema. Illustration from The Dark Blue by D. H. Friston, 1872

When a funeral procession passes by the two girls and Laura begins singing a hymn, Carmilla bursts out in rage and scolds Laura for singing a Christian song.

Funeral, illustration by Michael Fitzgerald for Carmilla in The Dark Blue, January 1872

* On November 20, 1981, the CBC Radio series Nightfall aired an adaptation of Carmilla written by Graham Pomeroy and John Douglas.

* Cradle of Filth, a popular British extreme metal band, has produced an album called Dusk ... and Her Embrace inspired by " Carmilla ", and have also recorded an instrumental track titled " Carmilla's Masque ".

One of these, " Surrender into the Roses " ( also known as " Carmilla " and " Coming Up ") was inspired by the tale.

* A chamber opera version of Carmilla appeared in 1970 ( Carmilla: A Vampire Tale, music by Ben Johnston, script by Wilford Leach ).

* Carmilla, a musical theater adaptation by Allan Jaffe and Deborah Atherton circa 1995.

* The songs " A Very Strange Agony " and " To Die Only Once " of the Spanish symphonic metal band Döxa were inspired by " Carmilla ".

* The novel Carmilla: The Return, written in 1999 by Kyle Marffin, begins in 19th century Austria but follows Carmilla's life into 1990s Michigan.

* In 1991, Aircel Comics published a six-issue black and white miniseries of Carmilla by Steven Jones and John Ross.