Perhaps Halloween’s favorite entity, I give you the eternal vampire. Our evil but passionate friends have been a part of Eastern European folklore for centuries with more established roots within the Balkan Peninsula countries like Romania, Albania and even into Greece. The most famous vampire of them all was born in the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker titled Dracula.
Here are a few of my personal favorite rock & roll/Vampire crossovers.
Bela Lugosi’ Dead – Bauhaus: It is considered by many to be the first ever Goth rock song. The 1979 hypnotic song clocks in at 9 minutes. They recorded the piece live in the studio in a single take. Bela Lugosi for the unfamiliar, is a classic horror film legend who played Count Dracula in several films throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Speaking of movies, Bauhaus actually played this song live in the open scenes of the 1983 film The Hunger staring David Bowie and a young Susan Sarandon.
Night of the Vampire – Rocky Erickson: This is a really good, overlooked vampire track sure to make your annual Halloween playlist. It is predictable in every sense of the word, so much so that I’ll call it traditional.
Vampires – Godsmack: This is just a thick groove instrumental with added clips from the TV show Mysterious Forces. Simple. On-point and effective.
Love Bites – Judas Priest: Not overly dark, this lands on the more romantic side of Vampire lore. Judas Priest’s catalog includes more obvious Halloween tales, with songs like “A Touch of Evil”, “The Ripper” and “Necromancer” but this 1984 song still deserves some October love.
Live Forever – Soulidum: Some folks find vampires sexy. Allowing themselves to be seduced by the thought of eternal life and overlooking the whole killing people part of the bargain. Sound like you? Ah, then this is your new anthem.
Possum Kingdom – The Toadies: I never really looked at this as a vampire tale…but lots of other music-type people do…and with a lyrical passage like “I can promise you you’ll stay as beautiful, with dark hair and soft skin, forever” I can kind of see why.