Before Dracula, there was Carmilla—literature’s first major vampire, and she was a lesbian. Published in 1872, Le Fanu’s novella features Laura’s tortured attraction to the mysterious Carmilla.
“I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust.”
Carmilla whispers,
“You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.”
The novella predated Dracula by 25 years and established the lesbian vampire archetype. Though Dracula (born 1400s) is older in his story than Carmilla (1698) in hers.
