The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Interested in the evolution of fictional female vampires.

Most stories focus on the male vampire and his desire for power and sex. Women usually stereotyped as victims.

Even Dracula’s vampire brides, that buxom threesome, were eternally sucking, never sucked. And what’s up with him just abandoning them in the castle while he cavorts with Mina in the U.K.

But times have changed, and in modern vampire fiction, even the males have become more complex.

My question: What notable female vampires have you read? What were their special powers? Did they have any weaknesses (other than the usual vampire sun avoidance, wooden stakes)?

As portrayed, are they more evil than their male counterparts?

the only female vampire role that i can think of is Nina Hawker i believe is her name. it was the wife of John Hawker from Brom Stokers Draclua however in the book she was not turned in to a vampire only until later in a recent movie was she protrayed as a female Vampire who was a worse then her male counter part. however that is the only example that i can think of. but i am sure that there is more. the only thing is to find them.

Do you recall who wrote the book Obsidian?

What really bad stuff did she do?

Do you mean Obsidian Butterfly, if so it was Laurell K Hamilton, and as far as i'm concerned everything went downhill after narcissus in chains, Lol

The Countess Elizabeth Bathory comes to mind she would murder virgin females and bath in their blood to regain her youth..

I believe the name meant to be mentioned in the first answer was Mina Harker, not Nina Hawker. And many people believe that Adam's first wife inthe Bible, Lilith, was the original female vampire.

TwistedWhispers: Hi! I meant the book ObsidianFury mentions in his post above yours.

I haven't read the prolific Laurell Hamilton. So you think I should start with Narcissus or some other? Prefer a female vampire.

RedQueen --- the maligning of Lilith is interesting, but not the subject of this thread, unless you can show how the myth plays in modern fictional vampire stories.

More interested in hearing about modern female vampire heroines that you may have read.

check out the laurel k. hamilton books. but be sure to start with the firs tone as she grows in her powers as the books go on.

i can think of two very strong female vampires one would be lillith the very first vampire the other in fiction would be lady pandora in the ann rice books lets just say if you crossed her you did not live to tell about it

That's good to know, Othis. I stopped with Rice's vamps after Queen.

Lillith wasn't mentioned in the King James Version of the Bible...but in the Mormon version..and she never existed.As for becoming a "real life Vampire" not going to happen..they don't exist either.You can dress and act as though you are one...you can drink all the blood you choose..but you will never be a demon possessing the body of a human with fangs,super human strength...etc.

Dark Wolf: thank you for grounding us in reality, always good to have a gentle nudge on vr, but this thread is all about "fictional" vampires. Real vampires need not apply unless they read books.

Speaking of which, I think an immortal life would lead to a lot of reading.

In The Historian (which I loathed), Dracula makes an appearance and is quite the bookworn, right before he gets unspectacularly killed.

I cant recall reading any books where a female is the lead vampire. It has always been the male who is. Would be great to see a change in the way its done.

Lilitu as suggested was by speculation the first female vampire. She was the moon to Lucifers Eastern Star. As she was in part the darker half of Lucifer in the bible, Koran, and a couple of other versions, she was the first wife of Adam. Supposedly made from mud.

Lilitu was ment to be a dominant witch, mother of Cain who was declared the first vampire. No where does it ever state she was formally a vampire. But she did teach Caine the ways of the darkness. Very long story.

As for her relating to women of today, stereotyped as a vampire, her attitude and demenour are sometimes looked upon as a goddess figure. The aspect of Lilitu's attitude show through the dark attitude and attributes some "goth" women align themselves with these days.

Not speaking for everyone of course, but some I know show a certain respect for Lilitu as both a vampire and a witch.

Since she is so speculated, she is either very rarely brought up as a vampire in any histories.

As for relating to female vampires, the name Vampirella comes to mind. She was supposedly sued by Elvira for taking her image. I think Vampirella played a pretty decent modern role as being a dark half of what we percieve as vampiric.

Another which comes to mind is Vampira, the others if considered as vampires would be Lilly Munster, and Morticia from the Adams Family. All very good modern representations of the female vampire.

More, such as the actress's from the series Dark Shadows, the lovable little girl from Interview with the Vampire, Maharett from Queen of the damned, Akasha which is a very good one, considering cinema and Anne Rice created her as QUEEN of the vampires.

In modern times, the female I think has a very big representation of what a vampire is supposed to mean, without the motherly draw back...More like a woman's independance and dominance with power instead of a males lust for power and elusive seductiveness as they think they may rule over all women.

Truth be told, Males were then, females are now. This may be my opinion, but the facts are in bold throughout media history.

excellent analysis, Soulshroude.

Vampirella was in comic books, right? I totally missed her.

Currently, in movies, is the only female Underworld Evolution?

Does anyone know if that was a book before it became a movie?

Savannah Russe has a series of books, The Darkwing Chronicles. It is about a female vampire, I can't remember her name, who works undercover with the Federal Government. I have read the first three books of the series and they are not to bad.

Beyond the Pale
Past Redemption
Beneath the Skin
In the Blood
Under Darkness

I forgot that the Heroins, can become a large bat, fly, has great hearing and eyesight.

It is good to know that she can kick some major butt.

How does she feed?

The anita blake books have a very powerful female vampire as a matter of fact she is the master of the city

In reply to Blood Mother's question, I believe she drank human blood from a blood bank. I don't think she liked drinking straight from the human vein, as she had killed a former lover that way.

I can't belive i missed vampirella . It was one of the few comics i liked . How about lilith from qween of the dambed

ok here is a good read if it makes sence ..

the first female vampire

nancy baker did a very good two books about an archeolgy student who becomes a vampire.she lives with a russian vampire and they split up and then get back together again.
laurell hamilton did a series about a vampire private detective whos female.
and then there is adorable geneveve duidonne.love her always.
in manga there is a few.vampire princess miyu and saya (blood tv series and movie)particulary.and morrigan in darkstalkers.

TwistedWhispers
i think that was the book when i looked it up on the internet but i can not find it here anyone know how i can get it

Pandora written by Anne Rice. She was the first vampire made by Marius if you are familiar with Anne Rice books. It is a love story in some respects.

Seems lately the female vapires that I have been reading are full of vengence. This is coming from both male and female authors. some shift into various animal forms, a few take the role of Master and abuse their sex slaves both female and male ... seems their main power it to manipulate the mind more so than physical stregnth versus their male counter parts.

PolishSiren: Curious who these authors are? The ones writing female vampires with sex slaves.

Elizabeth Bathory was for sure up there with insane blood craver, But Vampire she was NOT she never drank blood only bathed in it....

Bloodmother - here are some

"Mortal Companion" by Patrick Califia

Editor - Celia Tan - "Erotica Vampirica" – Thirty-One Tales of Supernatural Desire

"The Vampire Queen's Servant" by Joey W. Hill

"Flesh and the Devil" by Devyn Quinn

It is a bit odd...for I have not read any that come to mind...however I am in the process of writing a novel where the main character is a female vampire...

I also know of no modern day female vamps. How sexist is that?

I love the Laurell K Hamilton book if you are going for a fictional female vamp those are the books to read!

PolishSiren: Oh, thank you so much. Will see if library has; try to go that route first before adding to my own collection.

Gwendolyn: Somehow I got the impression Hamilton was writing about slayers.

Bloodmother...

the database has them... I keep sending them my list to make sure VR is updated ;) Cecelia Tan books when you look for her she is the EDITOR not always the author! and lots of short stories melded together... many like the big book of the erotica has lesbianism, threesomes, male on male, etc.

another place I've been getting my books from is LINK Here you can get them electronic or print and they have 3 ratings -

S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. E-rated titles might contain material that some readers find objectionable—in other words, almost anything goes, sexually. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry in terms of both sexual language and descriptiveness in these works of literature.

X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Stories designated with the letter X tend to contain difficult or controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

Enjoy!!!!

Actually in the Anita Blake book series...
A mortal defeats one of the most powerful Masters Of the City in the first book.

I think what you're saying is that some of these titles won't be found at the library.
ran across a few of the authors on myspace.

Oh... a regular library? I thought you meant the VR library... lol Depends on your library and what they choose to carry. Patrick Califia is a well known author because of his books of bringing to light the s/m scene of san franscisco, he writes many books on that and that is his only vampire book which was 2004.

Wow..I'm amazed that Sheridan LeFanu's "Carmilla" hasn't been mentioned yet. One of the first female fictional vampires. Which was made into "Vampire Lovers"aka "To Love a Vampire" by Hammer Films and featuring the lovely Ingrid Pitt as Carmilla. Highly recommended.

Blood Mother, If I am not mistaking, JR Ward is going to eventually have a female heroine in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. And there is a series of books by Lynsay Sands, the Argeneau series. She has male and females in her books. I haven't read the females version yet, but the other books entail the vampire drinking blood from blood banks.

Shining: this is super. Would really love to see those Malaysian films.

CarnelianMyst: Carmilla is one of those must reads, but when I read it as a kid, all the lesbian stuff flew right over my head.

Reread it recently, and focused more on Carmilla's mother aiding and abetting her blood lust.

My favorite is Mrs. Amsworth, a more than middle-aged likeable lady always willing to come to the aid of her neighbors.

I think the only female vampire I have heard IS Nina Harker

to me there was 2.
One I dont remember tehe name but it was in Vampire D hunter, she was the one in the coffin who rised up after feeding off a young girl braugh by her lover, a vampire.

And Countess Elizabeth Bathory, she drank blood one time to the movies and books I read, she had drank in her last remaining known days, when the cop who found her, approch she had a glass of blood in her hand, offered him a sip he refuse, then she drank one.

i have been reading a great book sereis that isnt about this vampire but she can predict the future of anyone she want
and sun doent hurt her or any vamp in in the book at all.....it make them sparkle

I have long thought that the most interesting and overlooked female vampire character to come along in a great while is Lestat's mother, Gabrielle. I found her intriguing in her longing for nature, preferring to dig a grave beneath the soil to the overdone notion of a coffin secreted away in some basement.

id love to share this that i found..

here is another one

Laurell K. Hamilton is an amazing author in my opinion. Start with Guilty Pleasures, in her Anita Blake series she describes a female vampire older than time called Marmee Noir, I hope I spelled that right. They refer to her as the mother of all darkness and the first original vampire. Anyways fascinating, all of it.

I'm kind of partial to a vampire named Cassandra in Kelley Armstrong's "Women of the Underworld" book series. Cassandra comes off as cold and callous but she isint. I'm hoping the next book she puts out will deal more with her lol.

tigerzplay - I forgot about the "mother of all darkness" she is one spooky vamp chick however hamilton seems to drag out the chactacters in her books a bit.

She also has some other interesting female vamp headliners but I cant recall at the moment what their special powers are

Joli: Do you recall which Rice vampire book she was in? I stopped after Queen. I guess Lestat turned his mom?

bloodmother this is a nice thread and shining had said some good stuff to .. i liked the movies alot..

Thank you everyone for contributing. Mixed myself a drink to savor Shining's videos.

Gabrielle first appears in The Vampire Lestat.

jeez, I don't remember her being a vamp --- wait! She abandoned Lestat to do her own thing, right? He was a bit dumbfounded, which made him seem more real. Good characterization.

Shining: Dracula's Daughter is one of my fav's and this sequence captured her lackey (Sandor?) so well:

D.D.: Long shadows in the night

Lackey: Evil Shadows

D.D: flutter of wings

Lackey: Bats

D.D: Barking of Dogs

Lackey: Wolves

Sandor is a total downer.

What was the name of the Cushing film?

Ah, for the good ole days when all you needed was a jewel laden crucifix and a silver flask of holy water.

So much more complicated now. You have to know karate and how to use a computer. And I'm thinking twice about my blood donations to the Red Cross.

Now I feel like Skittles did...Cannot believe I left out Carmilla. As well as the Toreador Primogen of the Kindred: The Embraced series. Carmilla did a cameo on the show as well.

There's also the female vampire Ivy in the Kim Harrison books, she's written as one of the most powerful in cinncinnati (sp?) where the books are set. Harrison is of a similar style to Hamilton, but personally I find her heroine, Rachel Morgan, a lot more likeable than Anita Blake (I'm gonna get lynched for that!).

.

MademoiselleKira you are 100% wrong Elizabeth never once drank blood she bit people she tourtured she killed shes bathed in it YES but never Drank not sure what books ur reading!!

Not everything in the movies is the truth

I am afraid you are both wrong...Bathory used an Iron Maiden to drain the women and or young ladies she personally chose, mostly her help. As the Iron Maidens spike were set at certain angles as not to mix bodily fluids, the spikes avoided these areas...The blood was drained out by the holes in the front into several bowls, which in turn were poured into the tub where Bathory bathed.

It was rumoured the Iron Maiden was contructed just above the tub, but I personally do not see how this is possible as it would take more than one individual to both erect this contraption and lift the ladies into it, as well as to shut the door and lock it.

She apparently did something the first time around to one of her help that made her helps blood drip onto her flesh which was covered in wrinkles which made her believe the blood made her younger.

As her help was apparently a virgin, she believed it was virgins blood that caused the agelessness appearance of her skin. thus all the unfortunate killings.

Long story short, here is a link to back up these assumptions. As documented with research.

Blood Countess

This is yet another story I tell on the Haunted History Vampire Tours of New Orleans. None promotional, just stating a point.

Bathory was one sick Countess, but I think she should be the poster child for people seeking the fountain of youth rather than as a vampire.

barbara hambly wrote two very good vampire books.one is a murder mystery and the other is a spy story.there is a few femal vampires in it.anthea farren was the best character amongst the female vampires,and quite a nice personality.

The only female vampires in books I've read about, are those in Anne Rice's 'The Vampire Chronicles' and those in the 'Twilight' series.

I am in total agreement with RedQueen, Lilith would be first.

Vampirella was also made into a movieand released in 1996 I believe. There were several female vampires in Kindred the Embraced and at least one of them was in a position of power. In the series Forever Knight There was a female vampire that ran a vampire bar/haven. There are a lot of female vampires in Anne Rice's series. In the currently running T.V. series Moonlight the vampire that created Mick St.John, Coralene is a female. In American Vampire two of the main vampires are women. There was also female vampires in The Breed. In UltraViolet the main character Violet is a female vampire. Red Blooded American Girl is about a woman that becomes a vampire. From what I have seen a lot of the female vampires are portrayed as vengeful or callous towards men because of the way they were treated in life. Oh I almost forgot Lauren Hutton in Once Bitten and Lilly Munster from the Munsters. Some do bring a feminine side to vampires, but it is still generally the males that are stronger. Just remembered another Satanico Pandemonium in From Dusk Till Dawn was the leader of the vampire haven.

Very nice rundown Wolfie...I still very much disagree about Lilitu, she was no vampire...She was the first "witch". As her and Samael were in cahoots.

If anyone can take a crack at the first female vampire...Without saying Lilitu, have a go.

apart from the Anne Rice female vampires, there is only one other I have read about and that is Belle Morte. she is from the Anita Blake series and evil as hell.

The first in fiction was Carmilla she predates Dracula.

There was one I read about and I think the woman was named Vivian. It was part of a series but I really can't recall the name.
There's the new seies by Nora Roberts that has Lilith as the head evil vampiress

I know of a few others but they don't come to mind at the moment.

Wolvie: Ah, Satanico Pandemonium played by Selma Hayek? Delicious vampire. Bit of an extrovert.

Thanks for the rundown, good ones.

the only thing that comes to mind for me is the anita blake series by laurell k hamilton anita is not a vamp yet but is a very strong person and fights off the vamp after her heart for a while b4 finally coming to love him too if you havent read them yet it is well worth the read :) empowering they are

Yes that was Selma Hayek she could bite me anytime

When most people think about Underworld they think about Selene, but one of the elders was a female also. I also forgot to mention Rayne from BloodRayne although she is only half vampire. There's also The daughter of the elder vampire in Blade 2. Oh another I just remembered the lead role in Innocent Blood. She only killed criminals and treated them like food "never play with the food".

I still like SWynona Ryder in Bram Strokers dracula."Take me away from all of this death."

Well in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, it tells that Mina Harker became a vampiress, even after Dracula was killed. Also lets not forget Ann Rice's characters of Akasha, Maharet, and Jessie. Then you have many other vampire female characters who have broken the mold outside of the vampire bride theme that Bram Stoker started.

Try Laurell K. Hamilton, Christine Feehan, Amanda Ashley, Mandy M. Moore, and Michelle M. Poe, and Maggie Shayne for instance. They have all written about non-traditional females in the vampire role.

Oh, forgot to mention, that their powers varied as well. Some can heal, some can shift their shape into animals and some got incredibly strong. Others were able to control weather and the elements. Especially in the Christine Feehan Dark Series. Most of these females are on the side of good and light, but others are just as evil as their male counterparts.

I don't think being a female has any hold on whether they are a good vampire or evil. I think it is the character themselves.

I'm always first reminded of Grace Jones in Vamp. Sexual, powerful and a little eccentric but very cool for the time (80's) and it being a bit of a campy comedy.

Watched The Last Sect on cable last night, a 2006 female dominated vampire movie.

Synopsis:
Putting a decidedly modern twist on the vampire genre, this entertaining gore-fest has hot female vamps using internet dating sites as their own personal delivery services--as a reporter working on an innocent lifestyle story discovers to her horror. Meanwhile, these dangerous bad dates are being tracked by a fierce descendant of Van Helsing himself. Talesin writes in excruciating detail re. all the plot holes here:
Taliesin Blog

Bloodmother note: These aren’t just female vamps, they’re humorless sapphic vamps. Before you get too excited, you should know that all the lesbian scenes are portrayed as dreams — dreams with a lot of . . . talk. Much like lesbian pornography. This is why the geek god created fast forward.

Oh, and the sister of the master vampire in the movie: Fright Night 2.

I know Carmilla was the first fictional vampire, sired by Caine before the cataclysm, she was a second generation...But unfortunatly this is still fiction.

ShadowKnight, sounds like you're thinking of Alice Cullen in the Twilight series.

Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer all have strong female vampire characters. Most of them personable characters alth Rosalie could be considered a vengeful vampire, somewhat, but that is becuase her turning (which is how they phrase it in the book) was truely a tragic one. Then again, I have yet to read about a happy experience in this subject.

Laurell K Hamilton is great but I don't think they ever say Anita Blake is "officially" a vampire.

This is making me need to check out these other things that have female vampire characters or people.

Me, too, NocnaMora.

Please everybody, consider posting here your opinion of the female vampire: new powers, take on their vampirism, how they treat humans.

Really curious whether the trend is toward sexual relations with humans or other vamps.

The modern female characters seem to leave their options open more and be split fairly evenly between human and vampire and other kin not to far behind. While their male counter parts actually seem to lean more towards human. I think that has to do with the trend of male vampires that wish to be human again where as the females are content to be vampires. I think that may be because vampire females have more power and control over their lives than human females tend to,

good point, wolvie. Makes sense to me.

Is bisexuality part of the empowerment for women? Or not part of the plot?

As far as female vampire , if your looking for a different character there is the undead series by MaryJanice Davidson. I don't really like it but the character is a far cry from the normal female vampire role. Yasmine Galenorn,is supposed to be coming out with a book about a female vamp.

Bisexuality to a point at least may be a need since if the vampire wants to go unnoticed it would be easier to seduce the food.

Moonlight: vampire chicklit is a popular genre on its own. Read Undead and Unwed. Cute. Tried to read another, but it didn't hold my attention. There are many others.

Marta Acosta has written Happy Hour at Casa Dracula and Midnight Brunch, both of which I enjoyed. Her vamps appear to have a genetic condition requiring blood which they satisfy with animal blood. Her prose is fresh and witty, the plot thin but okay for the genre, and the heroine lusty (she's not a vampire, but accidently got some blood from one of the "blooddrinkers.") How she got the blood ties in with FelixFelix's thread on pheromones because the guy was unremarkeable (except to her).

Wolvie: Not sure what you mean. Are you saying bisexuality would make it easier to feed (more options), or would attract too much notice?

Doug Mahnke (Author), Joe Kelly i think they wrote it

Lilth was talked about in more than just the morman book she was discused in the lost books of ADam and Eve and several others as for the king james version of the bible there are a lot of things not in there that are in other versions of the bible example in the book of genisus in the king james version it does not say let us create man in our image but it does in other copies of the bible( and yes I have several different versions of the bible)

The TV series Angel AND Moonlight... both lead characters were/are victims of WOMEN :D

There are a few feminine characters that could anytime beat Ruthven and Dracula:

- Carmilla... in fact Mircalla (lol) from "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- Clarimonde from "La Morte Amoureuse" by Gautier(I guess you all missed this gorgeous vampire lady!!!)
- Countess Dolingen and Lucy Westenra from "Dracula" by Stoker
(you again missed those two ladies ;))
- Erzsebet Bathory from "The Blood Countess" 1996 by Andrei Codrescu(a really strange and powerful character, different from all you`ve read before- the book was writen in US and the author is her descendant I think)
- Sheba from the volume(!) "L`Iris de Perse" 1993 by Daniel Walther you won`t find this in english though, only in french (pity for you :P)

As about really deadly ladies from the movies, I like Isabelle Adjani in Lucy Harker from Herzog`s "Nosferatu" 1979(you should see that cause it`s filmed in Transilvania).Great actress, unfortunately you don`t know anything about her, cause she`s french.

For a psy female victim you must see Isabelle in "Possession" (1981).Sam Neil is great there too and the movie it`s in english :P


Mrs Amwoth and Gabrielle are nice too, but you have said about them before this I think.

I read about a vampire woman named Lilith in a Nora Roberts Trio. She was evil to the core and her only weakness was a little vampire boy that she created. It was kinda sick actually, she treated him like a lover and a son. Eww. But anyway evil bitch vampire and she was a helluva lot worse than the male vamps in that book.

Lagniappe: So true, and Drusilla sired the very hot Spike.

Dragonrouge: Good list. Haven't see Clarimonde in any of my collections. Will try to locate. And I adore Isabelle Adjani.

Hate that Lilith so maligned by the prolific Roberts, but that's a good example of taking a popular misconception and running with it. She got three books out of that?

And Darla sired Angel :)

Forget about Vampire brides. I'd rather be a Vampire player! LOL.

Forget about Vampire brides. I'd rather be a Vampire player! LOL.

other then the few that i have seen on the tele, i really havent seen or noticed to many others.

BloodMother, yes it would give the vampire more feeding options and by seducing the food it makes the feeding easier to conceal, as killing would not always be needed. With a seductive feeding it makes it more likely it will be done in private. With out seduction it is more like that it will be a violent public attack and the need for killing the food. For a female vampire bisexuality is more socially acceptable than for a male vampire.

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