In honor of my finally getting around to reading "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu ( the novel which serves as the prototype for all female/lesbian vampires that follow), I present a depiction of the title vampiress, Carmilla, as she visits the narrator, Laura, in the night. And no, Carmilla has NOT undone the top of Laura's nightgown because I was sitting there in a drooling stupor giggling "tee-hee lesbians tee-hee". Rather, she has undone the top of the nightgown because it conforms with the text of the novel which states that Carmilla bit Laura in the chest. I'll let you work out the mechanics of that on your own.
I must say that the story certainly ranks as one of the only 2 vampire texts I've EVER actually enjoyed ( the other being Bram Stoker's masterpiece and the undisputed Holy Grail of vampire novels: "Dracula"). It's fascinating to really examine the relationship between Carmilla and Laura. In the novella it becomes quite clear that it is homosexual attraction that draws the vampiress to her victim, even though there are several key statements that are employed to suggest otherwise, which are obvious attempts at avoiding controversy on the part of the writer. Perhaps even more interesting than Carmilla's motives are Laura's feelings for her companion. At times she seems captivated by the mere memory of the vampiress, but then seems to try and cover up this longing with her next statement, leading me to question the validity of some of her words when she says she was disturbed by her companion's admiration.
Also simply captivating to me is that at one point in the tale, Carmilla shares carefully ambiguous feelings of guilt for what she was planning to do (i.e. turn Laura into a vampire). This remorse was something I wanted to portray on Carmilla's face, along with the same apprehension we all experience in proximity to the object of our desires. Despite one very strong sentence that attempts to contradict it, Carmilla's feelings for Laura seem rather genuine-- as though she wanted, to some extent, to convert Laura for the purpose of sustained existence with her.
I now leave you with one of my favorite passages which has nothing to do with the scene in the drawing itself:


In silence, slowly we walked down to the drawbridge, where the beautiful landscape opened before us.
"And so you were thinking of the night I came here?" she almost whispered. "Are you glad I came?"
"Delighted, dear Carmilla," I answered.
"And you asked for the picture you think like me, to hang in your room," she murmured with a sigh, as she drew her arm closer about my waist, and let her pretty head sink upon my shoulder.
"How romantic you are, Carmilla," I said. "Whenever you tell me your story, it will be made up chiefly of some one great romance."
She kissed me silently.
"I am sure, Carmilla, you have been in love; that there is, at this moment, an affair of the heart going on."
"I have been in love with no one, and never shall," she whispered, "unless it should be with you."
How beautiful she looked in the moonlight!
Shy and strange was the look with which she quickly hid her face in my neck and hair, with tumultuous sighs, that seemed almost to sob, and pressed in mine a hand that trembled.
Her soft cheek was glowing against mine. "Darling, darling," she murmured, "I live in you; and you would die for me, I love you so."