About this episode

This episode explores the evolution of vampire mythology from folklore to modern pop culture.

On this episode we trace the vampire’s long, shadowy journey, from 18th-century graveyard panics and Slavic strigoi to the seductive aristocrats of Gothic fiction and the conflicted immortals of modern pop culture. We also will go into how the myth evolves on screen, from Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi to Anne Rice, Buffy, and beyond. We explore why the vampire keeps returning to embody everything we fear (and secretly crave): mortality, contagion, seduction, power, and immortality.

More episodes of The Strange and Unusual Podcast

• Bloom and Rot - A Rural Village Spring Folk-Horror · April 20, 2026 · 46 min
• Away with the Fairies: The Changeling Murder of Bridget Cleary · February 11, 2026 · 56 min
• The Radium Girls · January 21, 2026 · 47 min
• 7 Winter Legends That Lurk in the Dark · December 17, 2025 · 50 min
• The Night of the Strigoi: St. Andrew’s Eve in Romania · November 26, 2025 · 51 min
• 10 Strange and Unusual Halloween Superstitions · October 20, 2025 · 60 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Strange and Unusual Podcast podcast page.