#NAGELBROOD – 80s vampire shenanigans
A QUICK NOTE FROM NAGELBROOD’S CREATOR:
There is something dreamlike about the 1980s, especially how we see them through the lens of media made at the time. Technology strove to be on the cusp of sci-fi. Individuality was praised like never before, seeing a bevy of subcultures being invented or coming to the forefront (The Valley Girl, The Yuppie, The West Coast Surfer…) Anything felt possible in what seemed like a post scarcity world of neon and materialism.
And yet there was more darkness underneath. Greed, drugs, and corruption all against the backdrop of the tail end of the cold war. This is partly why I think vampires do so well in a setting of this decade. Vampires are the ultimate symbol of alluring danger. Forever young at the price of human blood. Vampires can be anything at any time and the 1980s prove fertile ground for a wide range of them. Some heroes, some villains – all different and fascinating.
The Lost Boys, Fright Night, Clive Barker’s Nightbreed, even Once Bitten and Vampire’s Kiss. To me, these were all wonderful examples of who vampires and other similar night creatures were to the people of the 1980s. Bela Lugosi gave way to Chris Sarandon and Kiefer Sutherland, proving that the vampire evolved with the times, but has always remained rooted in our minds.
I didn’t know what would come out of the Nagelbrood hashtag when I began it. It started as a way for a vague mission statement – vampires but its the 80s – to be shared between myself and one or two of my interested friends.
I dreamed that perhaps it might blow up into the next big internet trend (something I am now happy did not come to pass) or maybe that I would shoot a few videos with this vampire character and then never think of him again. A year later however, I am blessed with the making of a whole world, filled with well rounded, interesting characters. Even better, I have gotten to meet and grow close to a group of talented, creative, and kind people who helped me grow as an artist and a writer. I am humbled and touched by their support and say without exaggeration: my life has been changed because of them. To them – to you – I say, thank you.
Mollie C.
April 2nd, 2022