Comedy, Camp, and Parody: When Vampires Make Us Laugh

Intentionally or not, vampires (and their associated tropes) are pretty good at making us laugh. What we want to know is, when are we laughing with them, and when are we laughing at them? Is our mocking mean-spirited, or does it come from a place of love?

In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah venture into the land of comedy, camp, and parody to see how these genres not only add a spin to our most familiar stories, but may lie at the very heart of the Gothic itself. They trace 18th-century satire all the way to 21st-century humorous horror, uncover some remarkably strange tropes (including glow-in-the-dark vampires?!), demand justice for definitely-not-a-dummy Jonathan Harker, explore the studio’s sound board, and pay respects to two of their favorite childhood comics.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Content warnings: discussion of misogyny, racism, homophobia, and other bigotry in fiction

Major Spoilers:

* The Fearless Vampire Killers, directed by Roman Polanski, 1967

* Love at First Bite, directed by Stan Dragoti, 1979

* Vampire in Brooklyn, directed by Wes Craven, 1995

* Dracula: Dead and Loving It, directed by Mel Brooks, 1995

* What We Do In the Shadows, 2019-2024

* Renfield, directed by Chris McKay, 2023

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, 1764

* The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, 1794

* Vampire City by Paul Féval, 1867 (trans. Brian Stableford, 2003)

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Goosebumps: Vampire’s Breath by R.L. Stine, 1996

Non-fiction

* Dissertations upon the Apparitions of Angels, Dæmons, and Ghosts, and Concerning the Vampires of Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia by Dom Augustin Calmet, 1746

Film

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

* Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, directed by Charles Barton, 1948

* Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher, 1958

* The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott, 1983

* Once Bitten, directed by Howard Storm, 1985

* The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher, 1987

* Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1992

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui, 1992

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, 2008

* The Twilight Saga: New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz, 2009

* Vampires Suck, directed by Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg, 2010

* The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, directed by David Slade, 2010

* Breaking Wind, directed by Craig Moss, 2012

* Only Lovers Left Alive, directed by Jim Jarmusch, 2013

* What We Do In the Shadows, directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, 2014

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

Stage

* Twihard: An Unauthorized Twilight Musical Parody, Otherworld Theatre, 2025

Additional Reading

* “Notes on ‘Camp,’” Susan Sontag, 1964

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

* From Monster to Muppet: Making Vampires for Children

* Romanticizing the Vampire & the Gothic Story

* The Hottest Newest Oldest Vampires: Nosferatu, Sinners, and AMC's Interview with the Vampire

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This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah Spiegelman

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