Vampire Campfire

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com

Welcome back to the Campfire — our special bonus section!

In this episode, Hannah introduces Rebecca to the vampires that live at the Hotel Cortez in the fifth season of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy’s horror TV series. While Hannah is 99% sure the word “vampire” is never mentioned once during the 12 episodes, the show features not only literal undead blood-drinking immortals, but also very vampiric people and places (plus some sadistic ghosts).

Half a lifetime ago, Hannah used to force Rebecca to watch scary shows like American Horror Story so she didn’t have to be frightened alone. Today, Hannah saves Rebecca (and you) from the terror and happily recounts the crazy details and exciting allusions to the vampire media intertext. We discuss the harmony between horror and camp, our dislike of blood disease origin stories, and the contradiction of being immortalized in Hollywood. The moral of the story? Get your kids vaccinated!

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: brief discussions of sexual violence, brief mentions of suicide and an abortion

Major Spoilers:

* American Horror Story: Hotel, 2015

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Stainless by Todd Grimson, 19961

* Milkteeth by Caitlin Starling, 2026

Film

* Nosferatu, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922

* Daughters of Darkness, directed by Harry Kümel, 1971

* The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott, 1983

* Shadow of the Vampire, directed by E. Elias Merhige, 2000

* The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 and Part 2, directed by Bill Condon, 2011-2012

* Abigail, directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, 2024

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

TV

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2013

* The Vampire Lestat, 2026

* Brides of Blood, 2027– (pre-production)

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

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

To Live Forever and Never Grow Up: The Vampire Child

Women Eating: Appetite, Desire, and the Female Vampire

Are All Vampires A Leetle Gäy?

Crushing the Creation Myth: Explaining Vampires through Science

Thanksgiving Special: Romanticizing the Vampire & the Gothic Story

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah Spiegelman — without AI, ever.

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our link — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

We bid you welcome — to our build-a-vamp workshop! We’re not doctors (of human OR vampire anatomy), but in this episode we’re doing our darnedest to give you an inside look at all the systems that make a vampire tick. From the blood to the guts to the not-actually-unprecedentedly-sparkly skin, we’ll dissect the stories that give us the tropes we know and love.

We’ll be tackling burning questions like: Do vampires need to breathe? Can vampires get drunk? What does it even mean to be “undead” if you have brainwaves and a pulse? And how the f**k does Edward Cullen get an erection?

If you’re a writer of vampire fiction (or a mad scientist with a penchant for deconstructing & reconstructing the undead), this one’s for you. Because beneath the giggles and the gasps lie the deeper questions: of intertextual legacy, of symbolic potency, and of what kind of vampire story you’re trying to tell. Sometimes, the real answers aren’t anatomical, after all.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire. Let’s build a vampire.

Major Spoilers:

* The Poisoner by I.V. Ophelia, 2024-2026 (series)

* A Blood as Bright as the Moon by Andrea Morstabillini, 2025

* The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, 2025

* Milkteeth by Caitlin Starling, 2026

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Varney the Vampire: or, the Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Ryder and Thomas Pickett Prest, 1845-1847

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* “Manor” by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, 1885

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 1954

* The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, 1976-2018 (series)

* The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas, 1980

* Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin, 1982

* Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins, 1989

* The Awakening by L.J. Smith, 1991

* Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, 1992

* Covenant with the Vampire by Jeanne Kalogridis, 1995

* Stainless by Todd Grimson, 1996

* Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, 2001

* Argeneau by Lynsay Sands, 2003-2025 (series)

* Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, 2004

* Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, 2005

* Fledgling by Octavia Butler, 2005

* Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, 2005

* Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, 2007

* House of Night by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, 2007-2014 (series)

* The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, 2009-2011 (series)

* The Passage by Justin Cronin, 2010

* A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, 2011

* The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, 2020

* Crave by Tracy Wolff, 2020

* Bride by Ali Hazelwood, 2024

* Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen, 2025

* Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab, 2025

* Children of the Night: A Graphic Novel by Victoria Setain, 2026

* Aubrey Wants to Die by Pip Knight, 2026

* The Lion & the Deathless Dark by Carissa Broadbent, 2026

* Mothersucker by Kim Bohyun, translated by Archana Madhavan, 2026

Film

* Nosferatu, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922

* Vampyr, directed Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932

* Not of This Earth, directed Roger Corman, 1957

* 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

* Cronos, directed by Guillermo del Toro, 1992

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

* Interview with the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan, 1994

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

* Vampire in Brooklyn, directed by Wes Craven, 1995

* From Dusk Till Dawn, directed Robert Rodriguez, 1996

* John Carpenter’s Vampires, directed by John Carpenter, 1998

* Blade II, directed by Guillermo del Toro, 2002

* Queen of the Damned, directed by Michael Rymer, 2002

* I am Legend, directed by Francis Lawrence, 2007

* Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, 2008

* Let the Right One In, directed by Tomas Alfredson, 2008

* Jennifer’s Body, directed by Karyn Kusama, 2009

* Daybreakers, directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, 2009

* Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, directed by Paul Weitz, 2009

* The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, directed by Bill Condon, 2011

* The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, directed by Bill Condon, 2012

* Hotel Transylvania, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, 2012

* Morbius, directed by Daniel Espinosa, 2022

* Abigail, directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, 2024

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

* I Love Paris, directed by Nicky Murphy, 2026

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* Moonlight, 2007

* True Blood, 2008-2014

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* The Strain, 2014-2017

* American Horror Story: Hotel, 2015

* Van Helsing, 2016-2021

* Discovery of Witches, 2019-2022

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

* V Wars, 2019

* Vampires, 2020

* Midnight Mass, 2021

* First Kill, 2022

* Interview with the Vampire, 2022-

* Eternally Yours, 2026

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

Crushing the Creation Myth: Explaining Vampires through Science

Women Eating: Appetite, Desire, and the Female Vampire

How Many Vampires Does It Take to End the World?

The Trials and Tribulations of the Vampire’s Familiar

Are All Vampires A Leetle Gäy

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get new bonus episodes and access to the full archive!

This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah Spiegelman — without AI, ever.

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our link — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

We started this season listing all the reasons we wouldn’t want to be vampires, but there’s one big reason we would. When women are stripped of their bodily autonomy, the female vampire has the power to take it back.

This is exactly what has always made her so terrifying to patriarchy: the way she defies the norms of the chaste maiden and the good mother, the obedient wife and the objectified body. She is a subject; she possesses her own agency and appetites. She is self-centered and pursues her own desires even to the detriment of the men and children she is meant to nurture. And this is why, as much as we may admire her, she is more often than not cast as the villain.

In this episode, we explore the double standards plaguing the female vampire, trace the history of the real Countess Elizabeth Bathory and her legacy in vampire media, and unpack the grotesqueries that emerge when societal standards for the “good woman” are taken to the extreme. We’ll laugh, we’ll cry (a couple times), we’ll say Good for her!, and we’ll sit with the real life harms that occur when liberation is mistaken for an invitation.

Come vamps, and join us around the campfire.

CW: discussions of sexual violence, violence against women, rape, and body horror; brief mention of suicide. This episode is dedicated to Jane Doe.

Major Spoilers:

* Countess Dracula, directed by Peter Sasdy, 1971

* Ganja & Hess, directed by Bill Gunn, 1973

* Jennifer’s Body, directed by Karyn Kusama, 2009

* Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste, 2022

* Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda, 2022

* Milkteeth by Caitlin Starling, 2026

* Mothersucker by Kim Bohyun, translated by Archana Madhavan, 2026

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* “Wake Not the Dead” by Ernst Raupach, 1823

* “Morella” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1835

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice, 1988

* The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, 2005-2008 (series)

* The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, 2020

* House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson, 2022

* Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk, 2024

* Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen, 2025

* Hungerstone by Kat Dunn, 2025

* Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab, 2025

* Aubrey Wants to Die by Pip Knight, 2026

* Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Bram Stoker and Robyn Ahern, 2026

* Agnes, We’re Not Murderers! by Jessica Alexander, 2026

Film

* Dracula’s Daughter, directed by Lambert Hillyer, 1936

* The Vampire Lovers, directed by Roy Ward Baker, 1970

* Daughters of Darkness, directed by Harry Kümel, 1971

* Dracula, directed by Dan Curtis, 1973

* The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott, 1983

* Once Bitten, directed by Howard Storm, 1985

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

* Vampire in Brooklyn, directed by Wes Craven, 1995

* Bathory: Countess of Blood, directed by Jurag Jakubisko, 2008

* The Countess, directed by Julie Delpy, 2009

* Daybreakers, directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, 2009

* The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, directed by Bill Condon, 2012

* A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

TV

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* Dracula, 2013

* American Horror Story: Hotel, 2015

* The Vampire Lestat, 2026

Non-fiction

* Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici, 2004

* The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal, and the Making of a Monster by Shelley Puhak, 2026

Further Reading

* Monstrous B***h: A History of Terrifying Women by Eleanor Johnson, 2026

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

Are You Sure You Want to Live Forever?: The Horrors of Immortality

“Soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth”: A History of Sapphic Vampires

When Did Dracula Become a “Love Tale”?

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

An Episode of Fangs and Fate

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Check out our Pinterest @vampirecampfirepod to capture the aesthetic of this episode.

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get new bonus episodes and access to the full archive!

This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah Spiegelman — without AI, ever.

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our link — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com

Welcome back to the Campfire — our special bonus section!

In this episode, we reminisce about our time watching the 2009 vampire not-so-mega-hit Cirque Due Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant so you never have to see it. We thought it was going to be relevant to our episode on the vampire’s familiar (given the title), but oh how we were misled!

Plus: Hannah formally apologizes to Rebecca for not realizing how gay the movie was at the time of our viewing, we discuss the bizarre uncanny valley between self-aware and self-serious, and you’ll learn important life lessons lessons such as make sure to communicate with your friend when the circus comes to town, never steal a vampire’s spider, and maybe don’t touch fingertip to fingertip with an immortal who looks a little like a clown.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: brief mentions of suicide in fiction

Major Spoilers:

* Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, directed by Paul Weitz, 2009

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, 2007

* Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, 1976

* The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren O’Shaughnessy, 2000-2004 (series)

Film

* Nosferatu, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922

* Drácula, directed by George Melford, 1931

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

* The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott, 1983

* Fright Night, directed by Tom Holland, 1985

* Once Bitten, directed by Howard Storm, 1985

* Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington, 1998

* Shadow of the Vampire, directed by E. Elias Merhige, 2000

* Van Helsing, directed by Stephen Sommers, 2004

* Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, 2008

* Daybreakers, directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, 2009

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

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

* Vampire Carnival, directed by Justin Powell and David Charbonier, 2027

TV

* S5E1 “Buffy vs. Dracula,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2000

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

* American Horror Story: Hotel, 2015

Games

* Castlevania, 1986-

Non-fiction

* Blood with Recipes by Jennifer McLagan, 2019

Substack

* Dracula Daily

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

The Trials and Tribulations of the Vampire’s Familiar

Are All Vampires a Leetle Gäy?

To Live Forever and Never Grow Up: The Vampire Child

From Monster to Muppet: Making Vampires for Children

Are You Sure You Want to Live Forever?: The Horrors of Immortality

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah Spiegelman — without AI, ever.

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our link — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

If, after listening to our last episode on the horrors of immortality, you thought it might be tough to be a vampire, try being the guy or ghoul behind the undead: the vampire’s familiar. This week, we break down these hardworking henchmen into a few popular archetypes, from the classic madman to everyone’s favorite loverboy. We discuss when a Renfield isn’t a renfield, defend an underrated episode of Buffy, and get a little heated over Midnight Mass’s bible-thumping Bev, all in pursuit of the question: What would make someone give up their human life to do a vampire’s dirty work (and probably eat bugs)?

Plus, some history on where the term “familiar” came from, how it relates to and differs from the “ghoul” or “thrall,” and what Igor has to do with it.

In short, we’ll give you all the tools you need to answer the most haunting question of all: Is Jacob Black Renesmee’s familiar?

Come vamps, get to work, and join us around the campfire.

CW: discussion of suicide, pedophilia, and ableist portrayals of mental illness in fiction.

Major Spoilers:

* Dracula’s Daughter, directed by Lambert Hillyer, 1936

* Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin, 1982

* Vampire in Brooklyn, directed by Wes Craven, 1995

* S5E1 “Buffy vs. Dracula,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2000

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

* Midnight Mass, 2021

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, 1818

* “The Vampire of Vourla” by Anonymous, 1845

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

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

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, 1975

* The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith, 1991-1992 (series)

* Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton, 1993-2023 (series)

* Covenant with the Vampire by Jeanne Kalogridis, 1995

* Stainless by Todd Grimson, 1996

* Fledgling by Octavia Butler, 2005

* Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, 2004

* Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, 2007

* *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter* by Stephen Graham Jones, 2025

Film

* Nosferatu, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

* Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, 1931

* Vampyros Lesbos, directed by Jesús Franco, 1971

* Daughters of Darkness, directed by Harry Kümel, 1971

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

* Fright Night, directed by Tom Holland, 1985

* The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher, 1987

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

* Nadja, directed by Michael Almereyda, 1994

* Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington, 1998

* Van Helsing, directed by Stephen Sommers, 2004

* Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, directed by Paul Weitz, 2009

* The Twilight Saga, various directors, 2008-2012 (series)

* Fright Night, directed by Craig Gillespie, 2011

* Vamps, directed by Amy Heckerling, 2012

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

* Therapy for a Vampire, directed by David Rühm, 2014

* Dracula Untold, directed by Gary Shore, 2014

* Renfield, directed by Chris McKay, 2023

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

TV

* Dracula, 2013

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* Vampires, 2020

* Dimension 20: City Council of Darkness, 2026

Games

* Vampire the Masquerade, 1991-

Theater

* Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, written by Richard Brinsley Peake, 1823

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

To Slay or Not to Slay?

To Live Forever and Never Grow Up: The Vampire Child

Are You Sure You Want to Live Forever?: The Horrors of Immortality

I Vant to Suck Your… Energy

Are All Vampires A Leetle Gäy?

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Check out our Pinterest @vampirecampfirepod to capture the aesthetic of this episode.

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get new bonus episodes and access to the full archive!

This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah Spiegelman — without AI, ever.

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our link — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Season 3 of Vampire Campfire! We’re kicking things off this season by asking the biggest (vampiric) question of all: would you really want to live forever? We sure wouldn’t want to join the ranks of the undead, but there are plenty of vampires who aren’t so hot on the idea, either.

While some stories paint immortality as a dream, the horrors are always lurking just below the surface — and today we’re breaking out the shovels. What haunting fears of loneliness lie beneath the promises of eternal romance? What nightmares emerge when you consider how it would really feel to never see the sun again? And what (God forbid) do you become when the promise of everlasting life doesn’t come with a dip in the Fountain of Youth?

You don’t get to be immortal without making a deal with the devil. And these horrors don’t come with a return policy.

Come vamps and join us around the campfire.

CW: discussion of suicide, rape, and self harm in fiction

Major Spoilers:

* The Hunger directed by Tony Scott, 1983

* Cronos, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, 1992

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

* Therapy for a Vampire, directed by David Rühm, 2014

* Aubrey Wants to Die by Pip Knight, 2026

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* “The Wood Devil” by Thomas Peckett Prest, 1836

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, 1976-2018 (series)

* Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, 1978

* Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin, 1982

* Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, 1992

* Stainless by Todd Grimson, 1996

* My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due, 1997

* Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, 2004

* Fledgling by Octavia Butler, 2005

* The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, 2005-2008

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, 2010

* “Vampires in the Lemon Grove” by Karen Russell, 2013

* The Vampire Gideon’s Suicide Hotline and Halfway House for Orphaned Girls by Andrew Katz, 2018

* Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda, 2022

* *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter* by Stephen Graham Jones, 2025

* Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab, 2025

* Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, 2025

* Brokeula by Michael J. Seidlinger, 2026

* Children of the Night: A Graphic Novel by Victoria Setain, 2026

Film

* Nosferatu, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

* Blacula, directed by William Crain, 1972

* Dracula, directed by Dan Curtis, 1973

* Nosferatu the Vampyre, directed by Werner Herzog, 1979

* Once Bitten, directed by Howard Storm, 1985

* Lifeforce, directed Tobe Hooper, 1985

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

* Interview with the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan, 1994

* Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington, 1998

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Blade II, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, 2002

* 30 Days of Night, directed by David Slade, 2007

* Let the Right One In, directed by Tomas Alfredson, 2008

* Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, 2008

* Daybreakers, directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, 2009

* Vamps, directed by Amy Heckerling, 2012

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

* Wes and Kyra, directed by Kevin V. Doan, 2025

* Dracula: A Love Tale, directed by Luc Besson, 2025

TV

* Forever Knight, 1992-1996

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* True Blood, 2008-2014

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* The Originals, 2013-2018

* The Strain, 2014-2017

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

* Interview with the Vampire, 2022

Games

* Vampire the Masquerade, 1991-

Correction: Forever Knight ran for three seasons, from 1992-1996.

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

When You Get to Date Your High-School Boyfriend… Forever

To Live Forever and Never Grow Up: The Vampire Child

When Did Dracula Become a “Love Tale”?

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get new bonus episodes and access to the full archive!

This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah Spiegelman — without AI, ever.

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our link — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to a special ~un-paywalled~ episode of the Campfire! This is usually our subscribers-only section, but we wanted to make this episode available to all our subscribers as a (belated) thank-you for your support of Season 2, a teaser for the (upcoming) launch of Season 3, and a celebration of the vampire of all time.

Welcome back to the Campfire — our special bonus section!

Now that the dust has settled on AMC’s most recent season of Interview with the Vampire — retitled The Vampire Lestat — it’s time for us to step back and ask: Who exactly is Lestat de Lioncourt? And what did he do to get a whole TV series renamed after him?

In this episode, we’re digging into the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of Lestat’s history; comparing his portrayals across adaptations (including some ~musical~ precedent); and unpacking what it is about him that seems to make everyone around him fall in love (including Anne Rice).

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

P.S. This bonus episode is technically the encore of Season 2. Season 3 will be headed your way in just a few weeks!

Major Spoilers:

* The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, 1976-2018 (series)

* Interview with the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan, 1994

* Interview with the Vampire, 2022–

* The Vampire Lestat, 2026

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Glenarvon by Lady Caroline Lamb, 1816

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, 1887-1927 (series)

* Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, 1978

* Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, 2004

Film

* Queen of the Damned, directed by Michael Rymer, 2002

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

TV

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

Theater

* Lestat, 2006

* The Lost Boys, 2026

Fanfiction

* My Immortal by Tara Gilesbie, 2006

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

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

Are All Vampires a Leetle Gäy?

When Did Dracula Become a "Love Tale"?

From Egypt to Atlantis: How Vampires Explain Their Origins

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rebecca Glazer & Hannah Spiegelman — without AI, ever.

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

It’s the season 2 finale, and Vampire Campfire is headed out west to investigate stories that pit vampires against cowboys, set European undead in the American desert, and bring to life the haunting that lives on in the West’s blood-soaked soil. In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah explore how Bram Stoker ended up writing a bona fide Texan cowboy into Dracula (yes, really!) and how the Count ended up fighting Billy the Kid a half-century later. From there, they trace the vampire’s progress through the heart of the American West: slinging guns, dodging bullets, and (inexplicably) nesting in some of the sunniest states in the country.

To balance out the absurdity of these movies, they share some favorite reads like the “anti-western” The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and the Mexican folklore–inspired Vampires of El Norte, proving that while many vampire Westerns are racist, misogynistic, and fail to grasp what makes vampires truly scary, that doesn’t mean the Western Gothic can’t be used to spectacular ends. Especially in a lawless land, there’s nothing more delicious than just deserts.

Come vamps, cross the threshold of those swingin’ saloon doors, and join us around the campfire.

CW: discussion of the Native American genocide

Major Spoilers:

* The Curse of the Undead, directed by Edward Dein, 1959

* The Devil’s Mistress, directed by Orville Wanzer, 1965

* Billy the Kid vs. Dracula, directed by William Beaudine, 1966

* Near Dark, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, 1987

* Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas, 2023

* The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, 2025

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897 (check out Dracula Daily on Substack to follow the story week by week!)

* Butcher’s Crossing by John Williams, 1960

* Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, 1992

Film

* The Great Train Robbery, directed by Edwin S. Porter, 1903

* House of Frankenstein, directed by Erle C. Kenton, 1944

* House of Dracula, directed by Erle C. Kenton, 1945

* The Iron Mask, directed by Joselito Rodríguez, 1960

* Ghost Town, directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna, 1963

* The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher, 1987

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

* Interview with the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan, 1994

* From Dusk Till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez, 1996

* John Carpenter’s Vampires, directed by John Carpenter, 1998

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Abigail, directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, 2024

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* Penny Dreadful, 2014-2016

Additional Reading

* Billy J. Stratton, “Of Buffalo and Men,” Hollywood Reporter, December 23, 2023

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

Why Do Vampires Love the South?

To Live Forever and Never Grow Up: The Vampire Child

From Egypt to Atlantis: How Vampires Explain Their Origins

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Check out our Pinterest @vampirecampfirepod to capture the aesthetic of this episode.

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get bonus episodes — the first one is available now!

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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

We’re headed back to Atlantis this week to continue asking: if vampires are figments of the Gothic imagination, why do so many authors insist on examining them under a microscope? If our nightmares haunt us with fears of the unknown, what exactly do we gain from the paragraphs on paragraphs of exposition that tell us exactly how those monsters came to be? In other words, have sci-fi vampires been defanged (and are they just compensating with their big, nasty teeth)?

In this episode, Hannah and Rebecca dive deep into the history of the mad scientist as brought to us by Mary Shelley and Universal Pictures, unpack the link between 20th-century B-films and the atomic bomb, and consider whether vampire-as-plague works better as a metaphor than a plot device. Hannah is traumatized by weird-ass ant brain fungus, Rebecca is scarred by having to discuss I Am Legend yet again, and they both demand to know what the hell a “nano” actually is.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Major Spoilers:

* The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886

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

* Ultraviolet, directed by Kurt Wimmer, 2006

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, 1818

* The Family of the Vourdalak by Aleksey Tolstoy, 1839

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 1954

* Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, 1992

* Argeneau by Lynsay Sands, 2003-2025 (series)

* The Passage by Justin Cronin, 2010

* V Wars: A Chronicle of the Vampire Wars edited by Jonathan Maberry, 2014

* Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis by Anne Rice, 2016

Film

* Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

* Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, 1931

* The Wolf Man, directed by George Waggner, 1941

* House of Frankenstein, directed by Erle C. Kenton, 1944

* House of Dracula, directed by Erle C. Kenton, 1945

* The Vampire, directed by Paul Landres, 1957

* Nosferatu the Vampire, directed by Werner Herzog, 1979

* Nadja, directed by Michael Almereyda, 1994

* From Dusk Till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez, 1996

* Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington, 1998

* Shadow of the Vampire, directed by E. Eilas Merhge, 2000

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Blade II, directed by Guillermo del Toro, 2002

* I Am Legend, directed by Francis Lawrence, 2007

* Daybreakers, directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, 2009

* Morbius, directed Daniel Espinosa, 2022

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

* Van Helsing, directed by Stephen Sommers, 2004

TV

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* The Strain, 2014-2017

* V Wars, 2019

* Midnight Mass, 2021

* Wednesday, 2022-2025

Additional Reading

* Catherine Pugh, “The Deathbird of Disease: Count Orlok and the Monstrous Virus,” in Nosferatu in the 21st Century, 2022

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

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

How Many Vampires Does it Take to End the World?

From Egypt to Atlantis: How Vampires Explain Their Origins

The Campfire: The Argeneaus

The Campfire: Morbius

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get bonus episodes — the first one is available now!

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com

Welcome back to the Campfire — our special bonus section! In this episode, Hannah regales Rebecca with tales from Lynsay Sands’ long-running Argeneau vampire romance series. Yes, these are the vampires from Atlantis we mentioned in our last episode, and no, learning more details does not make it make sense! They discuss nanobiotech, Stockholm syndrome, …

Vampires are creatures of folklore. So why do some writers feel the need to create their own origin stories for how the first vampires came to be? Do we really need to know, especially if it involves reptilian creatures that live in long-lost, technologically-advanced cities (no names)? Are they tying themselves in knots trying to answer a chicken–egg question nobody asked? In this episode, Rebecca, Hannah, and very special guest Jay Martin explore the gamut of vampire mythologies, from the slightly-more-sensical origins in magic and religion to those that appropriate real-world cultures and give them a vampiric spin. They encounter #1 frenemy of the pod, Lord Byron; shout out monster-f*ckers everywhere; try to unpack Anne Rice’s most questionable choices; and travel from the cradle of civilization to Virginia, USA, as fast as Damon Salvatore in a sports car.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Content warnings: mention of suicide in fiction

Major Spoilers:

* Ganja & Hess, directed by Bill Gunn, 1973

* The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice, 1988

* My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due, 1997

* Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis by Anne Rice, 2016

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas, 1980

* Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice, 1995

* Pandora by Anne Rice, 1998

* Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz, 2006

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, 2010

* Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout, 2020- (series)

* Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, 2024

* Argeneau by Lynsay Sands, 2003-2025 (series)

Poetry

* “The Bride of Corinth” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1797

* “The Giaour: Fragment of a Turkish Tale” by Lord Byron, 1813

Film

* The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott, 1983

* Vampire in Brooklyn, directed by Wes Craven, 1995

* From Dusk till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez, 1996

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Atlantis: The Lost Empire, directed Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, 2001

* Queen of the Damned, directed by Michael Rymer, 2002

* Dark Shadows, directed by Tim Burton, 2012

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, directed by Timue Bekmambetov, 2012

* Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, directed by Spike Lee, 2014

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

TV

* Dark Shadows, 1966-1971

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* True Blood, 2008-2014

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2027

* The Originals, 2013-2018

* From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, 2014-2016

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

* First Kill, 2022

* Interview with the Vampire, 2022-

* Dimension 20: City Council of Darkness, 2026

Games

* Vampire: The Masquerade, 1991

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

Schools & Rules

An Episode of Fangs & Fate

Unholy Communion: Vampires and the Church

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Check out our Pinterest @vampirecampfirepod to capture the aesthetic of this episode.

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get bonus episodes — available now!

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com

Welcome back to the Campfire — our special bonus section! In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah tell our very first Vampire Campfire guest (Hannah’s mom!) all about the extremely 2000s movie Dracula 2000. As a pretty ridiculous member of the Dracula-verse, this time-capsule film has it all: a teeny tiny computer, a massive Virgin Megastore, high-flying leeches, Judas Iscariot, questionable justifications for vampires’ fear of silver, dream-like visions, garden tools, and a neon Jesus. It was also definitely not produced by Wes Craven, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Content warning: mention of suicide in fiction

Major Spoilers:

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

Other media mentioned in this episode:

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

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Check out our Pinterest @vampirecampfirepod to capture the aesthetic of this episode.

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get bonus episodes — the first one is available now!

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Despite what her marketing team will tell you, Carmilla was not the sole inspiration for Dracula — but she does get the honor of being the first lesbian vampire and, along with a few mythological goddesses, has inspired a whole lineage of sapphic vampires over the last 150 years. In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah explore the extensive history of the sapphic vampire, from the uses and abuses of vampirism as a metaphor for lesbianism, to how queer audiences reclaimed exploitation films through camp, and why it always comes back to the vagina dentata and their fave girl Lilith.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Major Spoilers:

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* Dracula’s Daughter, directed by Lambert Hillyer, 1936

* Blood and Roses, directed by Roger Vadim, 1960

* Crypt of the Vampire, directed by Camillo Mastrocinque, 1964

* The Vampire Lovers, directed by Roy Ward Baker, 1970

* Daughters of Darkness, directed by Harry Kümel, 1971

* Vampyros Lesbos, directed by Jesús Franco, 1971

* The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott, 1983

* Nadja, directed by Michael Almereyda, 1994

* Jennifer’s Body, directed by Karyn Kusama, 2009

* Carmilla, directed by Emily Harris, 2019

* An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson, 2024

* Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk, 2024

* Hungerstone by Kat Dunn, 2025

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* “The Mysterious Stranger” by Karl von Wachsmann, 1844

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, 1978

* The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez, 1991

* Fledgling by Octavia Butler, 2005

* A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson, 2021

* Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste, 2022

* Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab, 2025

Film

* The Brides of Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher, 1960

* The Velvet Vampire, directed by Stephanie Rothman, 1971

* Blood for Dracula, directed by Paul Morrissey, 1974

* Alucarda, directed by Juan López Moctezuma, 1977

* Carmilla, directed by Janusz Kondratiuk, 1980

* The Mark of Lilith, directed by Bruna Fionda, Zach Mack-Nataf, and Polly Gladwin, 1986

* Vampire’s Kiss, directed by Robert Bierman, 1988

* Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennell, 2023

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* First Kill, 2022

Additional Reading

* Christopher Craft, “’Kiss Me with those Red Lips’: Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Representations no. 8 (1984)

* Dracula’s Daughters: The Female Vampire on Film, edited by Douglas Brode and Leah Deyneka, 2013

* Medieval Bodies: Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jack Hartnell, 2018

Liked this episode? You’ll also like…

* Dracula's Older Gayer Cousins

* Are All Vampires a Leetle Gäy?

* I Vant to Suck Your... Energy

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Check out our Pinterest @vampirecampfirepod to capture the aesthetic of this episode.

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get bonus episodes — the first one is available now!

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

From glowing crosses to squirt guns full of holy water, it’s hard to find a piece of modern vampire media that doesn’t at least pay homage to the “common knowledge” that vampires are anathema to all that is holy. But this may be a more recent trope than it seems, and in this episode, Rebecca and Hannah take a metaphorical walk through the churchyard to trace the early vampire literature that established our most taken-for-granted religious tropes.

They uncover the historical connection between the Catholic Church and vampirism, Hannah gets very confused thinking about Communion, and Rebecca creates a mini trivia game to test Hannah’s vampire media knowledge. Plus: the possible 19th-century inspiration for Dracula 2000, a miniseries that casts vampirism as a miracle worthy of Christ, and a YA romance written by a real-life nun.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Major Spoilers:

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Midnight Mass, created by Mike Flanagan, 2021

* The Curse He Chose by Sr. Allison Regina Gliot, 2025

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Non-fiction

* Dissertation Regarding the Vampires by Giuseppe Davanzati, 1739

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

Fiction

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* The Viy by Nikolai Gogol, 1835

* “The Curse of the Vourdalak” by Alexis Tolstoy, 1839

* Varney the Vampire: or, the Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Ryder and Thomas Pickett Prest, 1845-1847

* “The Mysterious Stranger” by Karl von Wachsmann, 1844

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* “A Kiss of Judas” by Julian Osgood Field, 1893

* ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, 1975

* Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, 1976

* The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, 1985

* Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, 1993

* Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice, 1995

* “For the Blood is the Life” by Francis Marion Crawford, 1996

* Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, 2005

* New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, 2006

* Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz, 2006

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, 2010

Film

* Nosferatu, directed by F. W. Murnau 1922

* Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher, 1958

* Ganja & Hess, directed by Bill Gunn, 1973

* ‘Salem’s Lot, directed by Tobe Hooper, 1979

* The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher, 1987

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

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Van Helsing, directed by Stephen Sommers, 2004

* Vampires vs. the Bronx, directed by Oz Rodriguez, 2020

* Morbius, directed by Daniel Espinosa, 2022

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

* Interview with the Vampire, 2022-

Additional Reading

* The Vampire: A New History by Nick Groom, 2018

* Stephen Purcell, “Not Wholly Communion,” Christianity and Literature, vol 67, no. 2 (2018)

* ldiko Limpar, “Vampirism as Apocalyptic Hypocrisy in Midnight Mass,” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, vol 31, no. 1 (2025)

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get bonus episodes — the first one is available now!

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com

Welcome back to the Campfire — our new bonus section! In this episode, Rebecca regales us with the utterly nonsensical plot of Morbius as a (formerly) passionate Marvel fan. Hannah questions the difference between “living vampires” and “dhampirs,” ponders the feeding habits of vampire bats, and gets confused about science and the mechanics of blood-draining. They come to the conclusion that the director has never encountered any animal ever in his life and touch on the important connection between vampire media and the AIDS epidemic — as well as the responsibilities writers have to consider the implications of their metaphors.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Major Spoilers:

* Morbius, directed by Daniel Espinosa, 2022

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Moving on from last week’s discussion of (spooky scary) child vampires, in this episode Rebecca and Hannah look at how and why the vampire was turned into a character for children’s consumption. They do their best “bleh bleh bleh” impressions, share their lingering childhood fears, and break down the different types of vampy scares made for the younger generation — from the “all bark, no bite,” to the real vampire villains.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* “Adventure of the Sussex Vampire” by Arthur Conan Doyle, 1924

* ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, 1975

* Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe, 1979

* The Little Vampire by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, 1979

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

* The Vampire Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner, 2009

Non-fiction

* Vampireology: The True History of the Fallen Ones by Dugald Steer and Nicky Raven, 2010

* Hanging with Vampires: A Totally Factual Field Guide to the Supernatural by Isha Fitzpatrick, 2023

Film

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

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

* The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher, 1987

* Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire, directed by Steve Boyum, 2000

* The Little Vampire, directed by Uli Edel, 2000

* Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire, directed by Scott Jeralds, 2003

* Hotel Transylvania, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, 2012

* Liar, Liar, Vampire, directed by Vince Marcelo, 2015

* The Little Vampire 3D, directed by Richard Claus and Karsten Kiilerich, 2017

* Vampires vs. the Bronx, directed by Oz Rodriguez, 2020

TV

* “Transylvania 6-500,” Merrie Melodies, 1963

* The Munsters, 1964-1966

* Sesame Street, 1969-

* “Pink Plasma,” The Pink Panther, 1975

* Little Dracula, 1991-1999

* “Vampire’s Breath,” Goosebumps, 1996

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* Vampirina, 2017-2021

* Vampirina: Teenage Vampire, 2025-

Further Reading

* “Great Cartoon Vampires In Animation History,” Vincent Alexander, 2025

Check out part one of this series: To Live Forever and Never Grow Up: The Vampire Child

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Check out our Pinterest @vampirecampfirepod to capture the aesthetic of this episode.

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get bonus episodes — the first one is available now!

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Immortality isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be — especially if you end up trapped in the body of an immortal pre-teen. In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah discuss when the promise of eternal youth turns into the horror of never-ending childhood, what it would feel like to be a grown woman trapped in the body of a little girl, the logistics of sourcing blood when you look like a doll (it may or may not work in your favor), and the relationship between maturity and memory. Be warned, these kid vampires are not for kids.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: pedophilia, sexual assault, and child abuse in fiction

Major Spoilers:

* Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, 1976

* Interview with the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan 1994

* Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, 2004

* Fledgling by Octavia Butler, 2005

* Let the Right One In, directed by Tomas Alfredson, 2008

* Interview with the Vampire, 2022-

* Abigail, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, 2024

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* “Morella” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1835

* The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, 1985

* Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, 1993

* Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, 2008

Film

* Dracula’s Daughter, directed by Lambert Hillyer, 1936

* The Twilight Saga, 2008-2012

* Let Me In, directed by Matt Reeves, 2010

* Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023

* Weapons, directed by Zach Cregger, 2025

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* True Blood, 2008-2014

Additional Reading

* Dracula’s Daughters, edited by Douglas Brode and Leah Deyneka, 2013

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

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Welcome to the Campfire — our new bonus section! In this episode, Hannah regales Rebecca with all the steamy and silly details of the 2024 romantasy novel Forged in Blood. They discuss “why-choose” romance, Hannah’s unwritten book about a hummingbird shifter, vampires who like period blood, and why so many vampires’ girlfriends love Wuthering Heights. Hannah’s most repeated line is: “Doesn’t make sense, but yes.”

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: discussing “5 chili-pepper spice” romance, including blood play

Major Spoilers:

* Broken Bloodlines Series by Sadie Kincaid

* Forged in Blood, 2024

* Promised in Blood, 2025

* Bound in Blood, 2026

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

While Dracula may not be a love tale (as we discussed last episode), there is genre of literature that wraps up vampires and romance in a pretty sexy ribbon. We’re talking about Romantasy! Today, Hannah and Rebecca explore how the “vampire boyfriend” has matured into the “adult vampire lover,” hearken back to the ancient origin of fated mates, talk blood bonds and born vampires, and consider whether the enemies-to-lovers trope is actually a convincing plot device. Plus, Hannah drops a shocking surprise on Rebecca that may or may not involve werewolves.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: murder, explicit mentions of sex

Major Spoilers:

* The Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout, 2020

* Blood Orange by Karina Halle, 2022

* The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, 2022

* Quicksilver by Callie Hart, 2024

* Bride by Ali Hazelwood, 2024

* We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark, 2025

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, 1847

* Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, 1847

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Dark Descent by Christine Feehan, 2003

* Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, 2007

* The Vampire Diaries: The Return by L.J. Smith, 2009-2011 (series)

* A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, 2015

* Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout, 2020- (series)

* Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent, 2023

* The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent, 2023

* A Bargain So Bloody by Vasilisa Drake, 2025

* Hot for Slayer by Ali Hazelwood, 2025

Film

* The Twilight Saga, 2008-2012

* Hotel Transylvania, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky 2012

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* Game of Thrones, 2011-2019

* Heated Rivalry, 2025

Fairy Tales

* “Bluebeard,” Charles Perrault, 1697

* “Beauty and the Beast,” Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, 1740

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Consider becoming a paid member of our Substack to get bonus episodes — the first one drops next week!

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

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A new year brings us a new season of Vampire Campfire along with a new Dracula adaption! This take on the tale is explicitly romantic, which begs the question: when did Bram Stoker’s 19th century classic turn into a love story? Rebecca and Hannah dig into the family tree of Dracula adaptions to unpack the layers on layers of intertext, question if they themselves are the crazy ones, discuss why writers made these changes, and rant about CGI gargoyles.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: sexual assault, pedophilia, suicide

Major Spoilers:

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Blacula, directed by William Crain, 1972

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

* Dracula Untold, directed by Gary Shore, 2014

* Dracula: A Love Tale, directed by Luc Besson, 2025

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 1954

* Blood Orange by Karina Halle, 2022

Film

* Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

* Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher, 1958

* Dracula, directed by Dan Curtis, 1974

* Nosferatu the Vampyre, directed by Werner Herzog, 1979

* Dracula, directed by John Badham, 1979

TV

* Dark Shadows, 1966-1971

* Dracula, 2013

Theater

* Dracula by Hamilton Dean, 1924

* Dracula by John Balderston, 1927

* Dracula by Hamilton Dean and John Balderston, 1977

Non-fiction

* In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires by Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally, 1972

Additional Reading

* Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage and Screen by David J. Skal, 1990

Want more vampire content in all your feeds?

Check out our Pinterest to capture the aesthetic of this episode.

Follow us @vampirecampfirepod on Instagram and TikTok for podcast updates & vampire memes.

Find us on Letterboxd and Goodreads for a peek at what we’re consuming next.

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back for a special bonus episode! Rebecca and Hannah take a break from cooking a Gothic Victorian feast for their family’s Thanksgiving to climb onto their soapbox about recent adaptions of classic novels, parse the various definitions of Gothic (and how much it has to do with “vibes”), get to the bottom of the Victorian obsession with the occult, and put out call for any choreographers who want to collab on a Carmilla ballet. Plus, they discuss the menu for their feast in mouthwatering detail.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, 1764

* Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, 1818

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, 1847

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, 1959

* The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, 1985

* Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, 2005

* House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson, 2022

* Forged in Blood by Sadie Kincaid, 2024

* Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis, 2025

Film

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

* Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennell, 2023

* Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

* ‘Salem’s Lot, directed by Gary Dauberman, 2024

* Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, 2025

* Dracula, directed by Luc Besson, 2025

* “Wuthering Heights”, directed by Emerald Fennell, 2026

TV

* “The Ghost of Suite 613,” The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, 2005

* Interview with the Vampire, 2022-

Visual Art

* The Artist’s Despair Before the Grandeur of Ancient Ruins, Henry Fuseli, 1778

* The Nightmare, Henry Fuseli, 1781

* Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, Caspar David Friedrich, 1818

Ballet

* Giselle, American Ballet Theatre, 2025

* Dracula, Colorado Ballet, 2025

Additional Reading

* Isabella Beeton, Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book, 1861

* Alessandra Pino and Ella Buchan, A Gothic Cookbook: Hauntingly Delicious Recipes Inspired by 13 Classic Tales, 2024

* Sarah Perry, “The Draw of the Gothic,” Paris Review (2018)

* Hephzibah Anderson, “Why we are living in ‘Gothic times,’” BBC (2021)

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

To understand the aesthetic of this episode, follow us on Pinterest, @vampirecampfirepod

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Say hello to the vampire slayer, the hunter, the hero! Or are they the villain? Rebecca and Hannah chew on the big questions: Who has the right to slay? Where do they get their mad skills? And isn’t killing vampires murder? They discuss their favorite (and least favorite) hunters, break down the five main slayer archetypes, and sing a little Corey Hart.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire — for the final episode of Season 1!

Major Spoilers:

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, 2020

* House of Crimson Hearts by Ruby Roe, 2024

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 1954

* The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, 1985

* Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins, 1989

* Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton, 1993-2023 (series)

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, 2010

* Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff, 2021

* Forged in Blood by Sadie Kincaid, 2024

* Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, 2024

* Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab, 2025

Film

* Vampire Hunter D, directed by Toyoo Asahida, 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

* Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington, 1998

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, directed by Toyoo Ashida, 2000

* Blade II, directed by Guillermo del Toro, 2002

* Van Helsing, directed by Stephen Sommers, 2004

* Daybreakers, directed by Peter Spierig, 2009

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, 2012

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

* Vampires vs. the Bronx, directed by Oz Rodriguez, 2020

* Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennel, 2023

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers **2024

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

TV

* Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* Dracula, 2013

* The Strain, 2014-2017

* Castlevania, 2017-2021

* What We Do the Shadows, 2019-2024

* Legacies, 2018-2022

* First Kill, 2022

* Vampirina: Teenage Vampire, 2025

Comics

* Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures, 2006-2008

* Tomb of Dracula #10, July 1973

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

To understand the aesthetic of this episode, follow us on Pinterest, @vampirecampfirepod

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

What makes a vampire story apocalyptic? What makes an apocalypse story vampiric? And why don’t more vampire stories end with the end of the world? In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah do some vampire math, face their wor(mie)st fears, nail down the difference between zombies and vampires, and rant about haunted houses. Would you survive the vampire apocalypse? Be warned, there might be ancient viruses, antique furniture, human blood farms, and lots and lots of tiny worms.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Content warning: brief mention of suicide in fiction, worms

Major Spoilers:

* I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 1954

* ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, 1975

* Salem’s Lot, directed by Tobe Hopper, 1979

* Blade II, directed by Guillermo del Toro, 2002

* I Am Legend, directed by Francis Lawrence, 2007

* Daybreakers, directed by Peter Spierig, 2009

* The Strain, 2014-2017

* V Wars, 2019

* ‘Salem’s Lot, directed by Gary Dauberman, 2024

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, 1959

* Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, 1992

* The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, 2009

Film

* The Last Man on Earth, directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, 1964

* Night of the Living Dead, directed by George A. Romero, 1968

* The Omega Man, directed by Boris Sagal, 1971

* Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington, 1998

* Shadow of the Vampire, directed by E.Elias Merhige, 2000

* Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* True Blood, 2008-2014

* Castlevania, 2017-2021

* Midnight Mass, directed by Mike Flanagan, 2021

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

To understand the aesthetic of this episode, follow us on Pinterest, @vampirecampfirepod

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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

What happens when a vampire, a werewolf, and witch walk into a bar? Turns out, they either fight, fall in love, or work together to defeat evil! In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah look into why we so often see vampire stories that include werewolves and witches, discuss how they add to (and take away from) the vampires’ plotlines and powers, and uncover the lore that brought them together in the first place.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Content warning: brief mention of suicide in fiction

Major Spoilers:

* The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman, directed by León Klimovsky, 1971

* Underworld, directed by Len Wiseman, 2003

* Van Helsing, directed by Stephen Sommers, 2004

* Bride by Ali Hazelwood, 2024

* Forged in Blood by Sadie Kincaid, 2024

* Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis, 2025

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Poetry

* “Thalaba the Destroyer” by Robert Southey, 1801

* “The Giaour: Fragment of a Turkish Tale” by Lord Byron, 1813

Fiction

* The Golden Ass by Apuleius, late 2nd century

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* The Viy by Nikolai Gogol, 1835

* The Family of the Vourdalak by Aleksey Tolstoy, 1839

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, 2001-2013 (series)

* Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, 2005

* A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, 2011

* Lightfall by Ed Crocker, 2025

Film

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

* Werewolf of London, directed by Stuart Walker, 1935

* The Wolf Man, directed by George Waggner, 1941

* Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, directed by Roy William Neill, 1943

* House of Frankenstein, directed by Erle C. Kenton, 1944

* House of Dracula, directed by Erle C. Kenton, 1945

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

* The Monster Squad, directed by Fred Dekker, 1987

* From Dusk to Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez, 1996

* Vampire Academy, directed by Mark Waters, 2014

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* True Blood, 2008-2014

* Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* Being Human, 2011-2014

* The Originals, 2013-2017

* Legacies, 2018-2022

* A Discovery of Witches, 2018-2022

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

Comics

* “A Little Stranger!” Haunt of Fear #14, 1952

* “Enter: Werewolf by Night,” The Tomb of Dracula #18, 1973

* “Death of a Monster!” Werewolf by Night #15, 1973

Games

* Vampire: The Masquerade, 1991

* Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 1992

Additional Reading

* David Walter Leinweber, “Witchcraft and Lamiae in ‘The Golden Ass,’” Folklore, 105 (1994)

* Francis Butler, ”Russian ‘vurdalak’ ‘vampire’ and Related Forms in Slavic,” Journal of Slavic Linguistics 13, no. 2 (2005)

* Brian Cooper, ”The Word ‘Vampire’: Its Slavonic Form and Origin,” Journal of Slavic Linguistics 13, no. 2 (2005)

* Tudor Balinisteanu, ”Romanian Folklore and Literary Representations of Vampires,” Folklore 127, no. 2 (2016)

* Agnes Hollyhock, Vampires: A Handbook of History & Lore of the Undead, 2024

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

To understand the aesthetic of this episode, follow us on Pinterest, @vampirecampfirepod

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Have you ever met a vampire? There’s a good chance you have — they might just have consumed energy rather than blood. In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah talk metaphorical vampires, from the earliest cinematic vamps to modern men who dance naked to early 2000’s disco-pop (iykyk). They argue that certain human characters are as vampiric as your favorite bloodsucking undead, discuss how classic vampire tropes like “crossing the threshold” show up in metaphor, and name-drop lots (and lots) of bodily fluids.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: mention of suicide, brief mention of sexual assault, discussion of body (dental) horror

Major spoilers:

* Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, 1862

* A Fool There Was, directed by Frank Powell, 1915

* The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood, 1993

* House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson, 2022

* Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennel, 2023

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Poetry

* “The Vampire” by Rudyard Kipling, 1897

Fiction

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* “Good Lady Ducayne” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, 1896

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* “Luella Miller” by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, 1902

* Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas, 2023

Film

* Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931

* Nosferatu the Vampyre, directed by Werner Herzog, 1979

* The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed Anthony Minghella, 1999

TV

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

Additional Reading

* Sarah Sceats, “Oral Sex: Vampiric Transgression and the Writing of Angela Carter,” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 20, no. 1 (2001)

* Dracula’s Daughters: The Female Vampire on Film, edited by Douglas Brode and Leah Deyneka, 2013

* Charles Bramesco, Vampire Movies, 2018

* Christopher Frayling, Vampire Cinema: The First 100 Years, 2022

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Have you ever wondered why the hell so many vampires are Confederate soldiers? Or why so many of your favorite vampire stories are set among the mists and mosses of New Orleans? In this episode, Rebecca and Hannah weed through the blood-soaked history of the Southern Gothic; examine the vampire books, movies, and TV shows that take place in and around the southern United States; and reveal what they tell us about U.S. history, culture, and myth-making (and what they have to say about one another).

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Content warning: discussion of anti-Black racist ideologies (e.g., white supremacy, slavery, Lost Cause narrative), brief mention of suicide in fiction

Major spoilers:

* Dracula 2000, directed Patrick Lussier, 2000

* Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, 1976

* Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin, 1982

* The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, 2001-2013 (series)

* Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer, 2007

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, 2010

* The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, 2020

Film

* Gone with the Wind, directed by Victor Fleming, 1939

* Son of Dracula, directed by Robert Siodmak, 1943

* Interview with the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan 1994

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

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, 2012

* Vampires vs. the Bronx, directed by Oz Rodriguez, 2020

TV

* True Blood, 2008-2014

* Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* The Originals, 2013-2018

* First Kill, 2022

* AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, 2022

Additional Viewing

* “Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires?,” Princess Weekes, YouTube, 2022

* “’First Kill’ & the Lesbian Vampire,” Verity Ritchie (@verilybitchie), YouTube, 2022

Additional Reading

* Stephen D. Arata, “The Occidental Tourist: ‘Dracula’ and the Anxiety of Reverse Colonization,” Victorian Studies 33, no. 4 (1990)

* Mark Helmsing, “Grotesque Stories, Desolate Voices: Encountering Histories and Geographies of Violence in Southern Gothic’s Haunted Mansions,” Counterpoints 434 (2014)

* Tricia M. Kress, “‘Why Do They All Have Powers?’ De/Constructing Southern ‘Otherness’ in ‘True Blood,’” Counterpoints 434 (2014)

* Mark Vicars, “Subaltern Desires: Queer (in) Southern Story Lines: Looking at Movies and Queering of/in the South,” Counterpoints 434 (2014)

* Lorna Piatti-Farnell, “‘The Blood Never Stops Flowing and the Party Never Ends’: The Originals and the Afterlife of New Orleans as a Vampire City” M/C Journal 20, no. 5 (2017)

* Marita Woywod Crandle, New Orleans Vampires: History and Legend, 2020

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

To celebrate back-to-school season, Rebecca and Hannah enter the world of dark academia and vampire institutions of learning. Focusing on four books, Blue Bloods, Marked, Vampire Academy, and Immortal Dark, they discuss why vampires attend school, what rules keep them in check, and how they break free from expectations. Have you ever wished you could learn magic at a gothic campus with dusty libraries, thick fog, and many cups of coffee?

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: mentions of self-harm in fiction at the end of the episode

Major spoilers:

* Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz, 2006

* Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, 2007

* Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, 2007

* Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, 2024

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Fiction

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* The Secret History by Donna Tartt, 1992

* Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, 1997-2007 (series)

* Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, 2005

* Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, 2007-2010 (series)

* House of Night by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, 2007-2014 (series)

* Crave by Tracy Wolff, 2020

* An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson, 2024

Film

* Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington, 1998

* Vampire Academy, directed by Mark Waters, 2014

* The Twilight Saga, various directors, 2008-2012

TV

* Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* Legacies, 2018-2022

* Vampire Academy, 2022

Additional Listening

* “Episode 1.1: An Introduction to Dark Academia,” The Dark Academicals, Jan 25, 2022

Additional Reading

* My Immortal by Tara Gilesbie, 2006

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

To understand the aesthetic of this episode, follow us on Pinterest @vampirecampfirepod

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

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Rebecca and Hannah chew on the question: Are all vampires are a little gay? We discuss the background of Bram Stoker’s Dracula; consider food, appetite, and eroticism; and critique the connection between vampire media and the AIDS epidemic. Rebecca rants about the infuriating homophobia in Vampire Academy, Hannah gets excited about the many vampiric scenes in Saltburn, and it’s determined that for vampires, sex and feeding are one and the same.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

Major Spoilers:

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

* Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, 2007-2010 (series)

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Poetry

* “The Vampyre” by John Stagg, 1810

Fiction

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* Varney the Vampire: or, the Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Ryder and Thomas Pickett Prest, 1845-1847

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* “Manor” by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, 1885

* “Good Lady Ducayne” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, 1896

* I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 1954

* ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, 1975

* Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, 1976

* Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, 1978

* The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez, 1991

* The Awakening by L.J. Smith, 1991

* The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate, 1998

* The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, 2001-2013 (series)

* A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands, 2005

* Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, 2005

* Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, 2005

* Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste, 2022

* Forged in Blood by Sadie Kincaid, 2024

* Bride by Ali Hazelwood, 2024

TV

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003

* True Blood, 2008-2014

* Vampire Diaries, 2009-2017

* Interview with the Vampire, 2022-Current

* What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024

Film

* Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1922

* Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher, 1958

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

* Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington, 1998

* Interview with the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan, 1994

* The Twilight Saga, 2008-2012

* Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennel, 2023

* Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, 2024

* Dracula, directed by Luc Besson, 2025

Additional Reading

* Bram Stoker, “The Censorship of Fiction,” 1908

* Bram Stoker, Lady Athlyne, 1908 (for Stoker’s views on bisexuality)

* Christopher Craft, “Kiss Me With Those Red Lips: Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Representations, no. 8 (1984)

* Talia Schaffer, “‘A Wilde Desire Took Me’: The Homoerotic History of Dracula,” ELH 61, no. 2 (1994)

* Sarah Sceats, “Oral Sex: Vampiric Transgression and the Writing of Angela Carter,” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 20, no. 1 (2001)

* Janai Subramanian and Jorie Legerwey, “Food, Sex, Love, and Bodies in ‘Eat Pray Love’ and ‘Black Swan,’” Studies in Popular Culture 36, no. 1 (2013)

* Harry Benshoff, “Monster and the Homosexual,” The Monster Theory Reader, 2020

Don't miss part one of this series: Dracula's Older Gayer Cousins

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe

Count Dracula wasn’t the first literary vampire, not even close! Rebecca and Hannah travel back to the 19th century to look at the vampire poems, short stories, and novels that came before Bram Stoker’s masterpiece. They talk about the scandalous relationships of Lord Byron, the canon of female vampires, the homosexual undercurrent of tales going back to 1810, and how these works set Dracula up for success.

Come vamps, join us around the campfire.

CW: brief mentions of suicide

Major Spoilers:

* “The Vampyre” by John Stagg, 1810

* “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819

* Varney the Vampire: or, the Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Ryder and Thomas Pickett Prest, 1845-1847

* “Manor” by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, 1885

* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

* Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

Other media mentioned in this episode:

Poetry

* “The Bride of Corinth” by Goethe, 1797

* “Thalaba the Destroyer” by Robert Southey, 1801

* “The Giaour: Fragment of a Turkish Tale” by Lord Byron, 1813

Fiction

* Glenarvon by Caroline Lamb, 1816

* Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, 1818

* “The Mysterious Stranger” by Karl Von Wachsmann, 1844

* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, 2010

TV

* “Are You Afraid of the Drunk?,” Drunk History, 2019

Additional Reading

* William Veeder, “Carmilla: The Arts of Repression,” Texas Studies in Literature and Language 22, no. 2 (1980)

* Marjorie Howes, “The Mediation of the Feminine: Bisexuality, Homoerotic Desire, and Self-Expression in Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Texas Studies in Literature and Language 30, no. 1 (1988)

* Lloyd Whorley, “Loving Death: The Meaning of Male Sexual Impotence in Vampire Literature,” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 2, no. 1 (1989)

* Talia Schaffer, “‘A Wilde Desire Took Me’: The Homoerotic History of Dracula,” ELH 61, no. 2 (1994)

* Elizabeth Signorotti, “Repossessing the Body: Transgressive Desire in Carmilla and Dracula,” Criticism 38, no. 4 (1996)

* Sarah Sceats, “Oral Sex: Vampiric Transgression and the Writing of Angela Carter,” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 20, no. 1 (2001)

* Barry McCrea, “Heterosexual Horror: Dracula, the Closet, and the Marriage Plot,” NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction 43, no. 2 (2010)

* Ardeal Haefele-Thomas, Queer Others in the Victorian Gothic: Transgressing Monstrosity (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2012)

Don’t miss part two of this series: Are All Vampires a Leetle Gäy?

For podcast updates, vampire memes, and consumption suggestions, follow us on Instagram! @vampirecampfirepod

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

Note: We’re an affiliate of Bookshop.org and earn a small commission if you purchase through our links — allowing you to support indie bookstores and an indie podcast at the same time!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vampirecampfirepod.substack.com/subscribe