Yeah, yeah. I know. The “Giallo Hotel” podcast is really, really late. Really, I know. I’d give you a list of people to blame, but I’d hate to see all those people turning up dead. Bear with me. I’m working on it.
In the meantime, here is some sad news to wake up to. I should know. I did this morning. Actress and model Maila Nurmi died in her sleep about five days ago. We all know her as… Vampira!
Oh, c’mon. Play this up, fer pete’s sake.
Admit it. She made this world a fraction more cool than it was without her, don’t you think? She looked creepy and snarked about so-so monster movies long before it was fashionable.
And Halloween would’ve been a little less sexy. I’m sure lots of people thought to dress up like Morticia Addams before she did. But Vampira made it the in-thing to do.
Well, that and she was one of the few highlights in Plan 9 From Outer Space. She actually made that weird finger-wiggling bit pay off. I mean, it’s not a selling point or anything, but….
I’ll close with a correction. You won’t see this in the Wikipedia entry, but there is another musical tribute to Vampira worth noting, from singer-songwriter-and-really-cool-DJ Greg Kihn. Go to his website and buy his “Horror Show” album. Maybe I’m sentimental, tone-deaf, and in league with Jerry Falwell, but I swear the last track on “Horror Show” deserves to be a Halloween anthem.