Carmilla

Carmilla is a Gothic horror novella by the Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu. It was first published as a serial in the magazine The Dark Blue in 1871 and 1872, which makes it one of the earliest vampire stories in English. It is narrated by a young woman who is preyed upon by a female vampire who calls herself Carmilla.

The story is set in a remote part of the Austrian empire. The narrator is drawn to Carmilla rather than repelled by her, and the attraction is written as romantic as well as predatory. The novella never treats the relationship as an antagonistic trait, and its attitude towards it is subtle rather than explicit.

The character became one of the models for the literary female vampire, and the story was a direct influence on later vampire fiction, including the work that defined the tradition in English. It is a short work, published in chapters.

Le Fanu wrote it in the last decade of his life, and it is one of his most reprinted stories.