The Novel Predating Bram Stoker's Dracula. A Classic Victorian vampire novella, which influenced Bram Stoker's later treatment of the vampire mythos in Dracula. The story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla, later revealed to be Mircalla, Countess Karnstein (Carmilla is an anagram of Mircalla). The character is a prototypical example of the lesbian vampire, expressing romantic desires toward the protagonist. Predating Dracula by some 26 years, Carmilla (1871) is the first and perhaps greatest of vampire stories.