TRACK #61:

Vampira by Misfits

If John Zacherle is the grandaddy of Horror Hosts, then Maila Nurmi is their mother goddess.

Back in 1954, The Vampira Show was the first program to feature a spooky host introducing (and mocking) old B-movies.

Though only on the air for about a year, Vampira’s mark on horror culture can still be felt today, particularly tooling around Tumblr, where her image is ever present.

And why not? As Mr. Danzig so succinctly puts it:

Two inch nails
Micro-waist
with a pale white feline face
inclination eyebrows to there
Vampira
Mistress to the horror kid

Vampira is the embodiment of the classic horror image. Young fangirls still want to be her, and young fanboys still want to be with her. And though nothing but a few old kinescopes exist of the short-lived program, Maila Nurmi’s legacy will forever live on with the genre.

Fittingly led in by Martin Landu’s oscar-bearing Bela Lugosi, exulting Ms. Nurmi’s appealing qualities to Johnny Depp’s irritated Ed Wood.

Go try on a sweater then, Nerd-o. Me and Bela here will just sit back with some morphine and enjoy the show.