Predating Bram Stoker's "Dracula" by twenty-five years, Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" is one of the earliest examples of vampire fiction; a Gothic novella narrated by a young girl who becomes a victim of the title character, a female vampire named Carmilla.
The plot centers on Laura, an English girl living in Austria with her father, a retired and wealthy widower. As a child, Laura had dreamed of a nocturnal visitor, a phantom-like young woman who stole into Laura's room and drew blood from her. Years later, when a carriage accident outside their home causes Laura and her father to take in the survivors of the accident - a woman and her daughter - Laura is stunned to discover that the daughter is identical to the young woman in her dreams.
As their friendship (and stirrings of romance) begins to grow between the two young women, people around Laura (and eventually Laura herself) begin to suffer from ill health. When the symptoms are recognized as those of a vampire attack, the stage is set for a showdown between Carmilla and the fearsome vampire hunter Baron Vordenburg.
Originally serialized in the literary magazine The Dark Blue from 1871-72, Le Fanu published the full novella in 1872 as part of his story fiction collection "In a Glass Darkly" and the story has since become of the most popular horror stories in literature. "Carmilla" is often cited as an inspiration for "Dracula" and many other horror classics. It is presented here in its original and unabridged format.