Unholy Communion: Vampires and the Church

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, 2025Other 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, 1746Fiction* “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, 2010Film* 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, 2025TV* 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 SpiegelmanNote: 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