Vampira: Glamour Ghoul book tells the story of horror host Maila Nurmi

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Maila Nurmi, a.k.a. Vampira, is believed to have been the first horror host, and even though The Vampira Show only had a brief run in the mid-1950s, the character has a popularity that endures to this day. Nurmi established a formula that many horror hosts still follow: show lower quality movies that you can make mocking comments about while interacting with creatures and dropping ghoulish puns. The Vampira Show was so well-known, Nurmi was able to continue playing Vampira – and take acting roles where she was credited as Vampira – for years afterward. Her most famous acting role came in Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space, and her involvement in the making of that film is why Nurmi was played by Lisa Marie in the 1994 biopic Ed Wood.

Sadly, Nurmi passed away in 2008. But her story is still being told. Nurmi's niece Sandra Niemi has teamed up with publisher Feral House to bring us the paperback novel Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pain of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi (order a copy HERE).

The 400 page novel has the following description: 

Maila Nurmi, the beautiful and sheltered daughter of Finnish immigrants, stepped off the bus in 1941 Los Angeles intent on finding fame and fortune. She found men eager to take advantage of her innocence and beauty but was determined to find success and love. Her inspired design and portrayal of a vampire won a costume contest that lead to a small role on the Red Skelton show which grew into a persona that brought her the notoriety she desired yet trapped her in a character she could never truly escape.

This is Malia’s story. Her diaries, notes, and ephemera and family stories bring new insights to her relationships with Orson Welles, James Dean, and Marlon Brando. Sandra Niemi ? Malia’s niece ? fills in the nuances of her life prior to fame and her struggles after the limelight faded and she found a new community within the burgeoning Los Angeles punk scene who embraced her as their own.

Includes rare photographs.

This sounds like it will be a must-have for Vampira fans, and an interesting read for those of us who love horror host shows and want to hear how it all began.