The Execution of the Vampire
The formal destruction of the vampire Carmilla—revealed as the long-dead Mircalla, Countess Karnstein—constitutes the decisive resolution of the supernatural crisis that has haunted the narrative. Conducted under the authority of an Imperial Commission and witnessed by a panel of officials, physicians, and the bereaved General Spielsdorf, the execution follows a prescribed legal and ritual procedure. The scene, described by Laura from the official report, provides the story's climactic confrontation with the monstrous, transforming the intimate horror of Carmilla's seductive predation into a public, juridical act of purification that finally lifts the vampire's scourge from the land.
The Opening of the Grave and the Signs of Vampirism
The next day after the confrontation in the ruined chapel, the formal proceedings commence in the Chapel of Karnstein. The grave of the Countess Mircalla is opened, and in the face now disclosed to view, both General Spielsdorf and Laura's father recognize their perfidious and beautiful guest. Though a hundred and fifty years have passed since her funeral, the features are tinted with the warmth of life; her eyes are open, and no cadaverous smell exhales from the coffin. The two medical men present—one officially appointed, the other representing the promoter of the inquiry—attest to the marvelous fact that there is a faint but appreciable respiration and a corresponding action of the heart. The limbs are perfectly flexible, the flesh elastic, and the leaden coffin floats with blood in which, to a depth of seven inches, the body lies immersed. These are all the admitted signs and proofs of vampirism, confirming the diagnosis that Doctor Spielsberg had earlier made in his letter regarding Laura's own symptoms.
The Ritual of Destruction
In accordance with ancient practice, the body is raised from the grave. A sharp stake is driven through the heart of the vampire, who at the moment utters a piercing shriek in all respects such as might escape from a living person in the last agony. Then the head is struck off, and a torrent of blood flows from the severed neck. The body and head are next placed on a pile of wood and reduced to ashes, which are thrown upon the river and borne away. The territory has never since been plagued by the visits of a vampire. Laura's father possesses a copy of the report of the Imperial Commission, with the signatures of all who were present at these proceedings attached in verification of the statement; it is from this official paper that Laura summarizes her account of this last shocking scene.
Aftermath and Narrative Significance
The execution brings a definitive end to the immediate threat, and Laura's nightly sufferings cease with Carmilla's disappearance. Yet the horror does not fully recede from Laura's life. Years after her deliverance, the unspeakable horror continues to make her days and nights dreadful and solitude insupportably terrific. The image of Carmilla returns to memory with ambiguous alternations—sometimes the playful, languid, beautiful girl; sometimes the writhing fiend seen in the ruined church. The formal, legalistic nature of the execution—conducted by commission, witnessed by officials, and recorded in an official report—stands in stark contrast to the intimate, seductive, and ambiguous nature of Carmilla's predation. It represents the triumph of institutional, masculine authority over the feminine, preternatural threat that had infiltrated the domestic sphere of the schloss. The destruction of the vampire also fulfills General Spielsdorf's vow to devote his remaining days to tracking and extinguishing the monster who murdered his beloved ward, Bertha Rheinfeldt, and completes the arc of vengeance he had declared upon first learning the true nature of her illness.
