Sheridan Le Fanu himself summarizes the historical backgrounds of vampire phenomenon in Carmilla: "You have heard, no doubt, of the appalling superstition that prevails in Upper and Lower Styria, in Moravia, Silesia, in Turkish Servia, in Poland, even in Russia; the superstition, so we must call it, of the Vampire. If human testimony, taken with every care and solemnity, judicially presented before commissions innumerable, each consisting of many members, all chosen for integrity and intelligence, and constituting reports other class of cases, is worth anything, it is difficult to deny, or even to doubt the existence of such a phenomenon as the Vampire.".
Erroneously, Le Fanu failed to mention that there is only one verified case among these superstitious phenomena from Russia to Ireland. Unfortunately, even this case turned out to be a mistake6. The original concept of a blood-sucking demon seems to have been first discovered by Homer in Odyssey when Odysseus found out that the demons need blood to restore their vitality. Furthermore, there is certainly nothing erotic about this act. However, there were various works dealing with vampires and including erotic aspects and, fortunately, superstition as a serious topic constitutes a minor aspect for writers of the occult. .
The vampire began to appear in English literature after 1800 and it achieved its first real literary importance with the publication of Sheridan Le Fanu's novelette, Carmilla, in 1872. This work of occult is seen as the direct forerunner of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) with which it shares the reputation of being the most famous work of the occult. Unfortunately, Carmilla as well as Dracula are the most frequently and shamelessly plagiarized works of fiction ever written.8 Although Carmilla was published 25 years earlier than Stoker's work, Dracula is financially incomparably the most successful story of occult ever written and has never been out of print since it was published.
Homosexuality on Television: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow With the continuing trends and presence of gay characters, it seems as though Hollywood is headed in the right direction. ... (Freydkin) The WB's "Dawson's Creek- and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer- soon followed, making supporting characters gay and lesbian. ...