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Reclaiming NOSFERATU: On Vampires, Antisemitism, and Horror's Hebrew Problem

By Preston Fassel

My wife and I have a unique problem every year: settling on a really great couple’s Halloween costume. See, our friends Dan and Bradley throw the Samhain Shindig in Dallas, and you don’t just show up to something like that in a Wal-Mart hockey mask. So, we’ve been concocting unique ideas for years now: the killers from Funny Games; Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein; Ed Harris and Kristen Stewart from Love Lies Bleeding. In the name of sourcing appropriate materials, we usually pick something a year in advance. In fall of ’24, I came up with what she decided was a slam dunk: “Monster Blind Date.” She’d be the Cuckoo from Tilman Singer’s film of the same name, while I’d be Count Orlok, the OG Nosferatu. It seemed like the perfect selection: she dug the creature’s look and already owns a sick ass trench coat, while I’m forever on the lookout for costumes conducive to a bald head.

It seemed perfect, of course, until I remembered I wasn’t choosing in a vacuum.

Growing up Jewish at the end of the 20^th century, antisemitic caricatures seemed to be relegated to our collective past: once-common grotesqueries only kept alive as in textbooks and documentaries, warnings from a less civilized time. I had no illusions that antisemitism was extinct- I lived in rural Oklahoma in the late 90s - but we were past the days of stereotypes and into the realm of microaggressions and dog whistles. Sure, right-wing trolls had resurrected “happy merchant”. The only people seriously sharing that image, though, also believe in Space Lasers, QAnon, and Andrew Tate’s body count.

Since October 7, Jews’ physical appearance has become a rife target both online and at demonstrations. True, the tactics have evolved: we’re no longer discussing Jews appearance but Zionists appearance, which, of course, makes it OK-- hollow platitudes about body positivity be damned. All that talk of hooked noses and body hair and hunched backs sure sounds like the exact same stereotypes leveled at Jews throughout history. Since October 7, though, antisemitic- er, antizionist—caricature has become a staple of protest signs, TikTok videos, and social media, with pro-Hamas activists now openly embracing the Happy Merchant… and Nosferatu.

For the uninitiated, a quick history lesson: during the rise of German Fascism, the Nazis latched onto the image of Max Schrek’s Count Orlok as emblematic of world Jewry. Even if F.W. Murnau had wanted to make an antisemitic movie (he didn’t; we’ll get to that) he couldn’t have crafted better propaganda. Here was a monster from foreign lands drifting into Europe, bringing disease and decay, exploiting the weak through his vast fortune and literally drinking the blood of pure, white, European women. To top it off, Orlok’s image evoked the absolute worst stereotypes of Jewish masculinity: hook-nosed, bald, slope-shouldered, and incongruously hairy in the wrong places. He’s even decked out in natty black robes and a sweet hat that vaguely resembles a Bukharian (Uzbeki) yarmulke.

                                                                                       

Nosferatu screenwriter Henrik Galeen was Jewish. So was actor Alexander Granach, who played Knock, the vampire’s familiar. Director F.W. Murnau, meanwhile, was a closeted homosexual, in a time and place when shared persecution still engendered camaraderie. Regardless, the image of Count Orlok became a staple of anti-Jewish propaganda, to the point that, for much of the 20^th century, he was almost inseparable from the specter of European antisemitism (making the protestations of a prominent horror scholar that he was unaware of Nosferatu’s legacy when comparing Jared Kushner to Count Orlok ring especially hollow).

I had the fortune of growing up in what I’ll call post-Nosferatu Jewish America. We were taught about the past- Nosferatu included- but had the comfort of a shared reality far removed from it. People no longer stereotyped us that way. We grew up listening for words, not looking for images.

Then- stop me if you’ve heard this one- October 7 happened and subtext became text.

If you’ve watched any Hamas propaganda, you’ve probably seen it: the image of Benjamin Netenyahu as Nosferatu, bald head elongated, front teeth fanged, painted in the iconic “looming” pose, clawed hands ready to attack. The tradition of political cartoons is time-honored, and there were myriad ways Netenyahu could have been depicted. You’re not going to hear me defending him. The choice not just to syncretize him with a vampire but this specific vampire was an intentional propagandistic decision. It wasn’t long before the image of Netenyahu as Nosferatu (Nosferyahu?) was popping up stateside—and then, because subtlety is a lost art, it became Jews- er, Zionists as Nosferatu. Jews are ugly. Nosferatu is ugly. Therefore, Jews are Nosferatu are ugly (to an earlier point, the aforementioned scholar now just compares Jews to Dick Tracy villains. No word yet on whether Pruneface was a member of the tribe).

So, what does that mean for horror fans- and, specifically, Jewish horror fans? It’s no secret that the horror community has long prided itself on its dedication to progressive causes, a pursuit that dovetailed nicely with Judaism’s commitment to tikkun olam and social justice. As it has been for other traditionally marginalized groups, horror was a safe space for many Jewish Americans—until it wasn’t.

A significant portion of the horror “community”-- including prominent influencers, writers, critics, and editors-- wholesale embraced Hamas on 10/8, with several quick to share rape-denial and blood-libel in the name of “Antizionism.” Over the last two years, Jewish creators have been pressured to disseminate TikTok propaganda; discouraged from discussing or defending our own culture; told we aren’t allowed to define Zionism, antisemitism, or even Judaism; and have been encouraged to support the ethnic cleansing and dissolution of Israel. Even moderate to liberal views are suspect: I’ve personally spoken out against indiscriminate bombing, in favor of a ceasefire, in favor of humanitarian aid to Gazan civilians, a return of the hostages, and a Two State Solution. Still, my refusal to self-abnegate has gotten me labeled a “genocide loving white supremacist,” disinvited from author’s events, turned down for writing opportunities, and targeted for online harassment. Speaking from private conversations, I’m hardly alone in being a Jewish horror fan who no longer considers our safe space “safe.”

Multiple rabbis, writers, and thinkers have offered “be a little more Jewish” as an antidote to this new form of antisemitism which seeks to dilute, delegitimize, corrupt, and co-opt Jewish identity. With that approach in mind, I feel like it’s time we do some co-opting of our own. Antisemites want to compare us to Nosferatu?

Good. Let them. They want to give us Nosferatu? I say we take him.

This isn’t about trying to awkwardly appropriate an explicitly antisemitic character like, say, Shylock (an endeavor discussed in fascinating detail in Dara Horn’s People Love Dead Jews). No one involved in Nosferatu intended or wanted Count Orlok to become a flashpoint for antisemitism, so why let them? Orlok is historical. He’s iconic. He’s one of the first cinematic vampires and easily one of the most recognizable. As a villain, he’s cool. He’s scheming and clever. He commands an army of rats and nearly succeeds in wiping out Germany (methinks the Nazis protested too much). He’s got that great hat.

Too, without Orlok, there’s arguably no Dracula. Cinematographer Karl Freund, who did extensive uncredited directorial work on the Bela Lugosi flick, had a long and storied career with Murnau, placing their respective films in even greater dialogue. What’s more, Orlok’s appearance—stripped of antisemitic undertone—has evolved beyond the confines of its original film and provided the template for an entirely unique type of vampire. Orlok’s bald head, incisor fangs, and quiet, animalistic qualities- in line with older conceptions of vampires as more feral and less cerebral- have been replicated in media from Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot to 30 Days of Night to Penny Dreadful. It’s fair to say that Count Orlok isn’t just a character, he’s become a horror institution—and if people want to say he’s Jewish, well, why not? A foundational pop cultural character whose legacy has transcended international borders, crossed cultures, and disseminated itself into the popular consciousness for over a century? A supervillain in a culture that reveres its supervillains (Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, Walter White, Tony Soprano) perhaps more than its heroes? Why aren’t we claiming Nosferatu?

                                                                       

Full disclosure: following the appearance of the aforementioned Nosferyahu mural in a particularly upsetting Hamas video in February of ’25, I pushed “pause”. The pain was too extreme, the world’s response too blasé. That said, Count Orlok is back on dock for ’26. In the meantime, I’m encouraging any Jews who plan on celebrating Spooky Season this year to consider Count Orlok as a quiet but powerful form of cultural protest. Here is a unique opportunity to seize control of a cultural narrative and take something back for ourselves. It can be a potent conversation starter in mixed spaces, and an assertion of resistance and cultural affirmation across spaces.

Many will undoubtedly feel uncertain or even a little repulsed at the idea of dressing up as a character whose visage has been used to terrify, demonize, and dehumanize Jews for centuries. That’s understandable, and no one should be forced outside their comfort zone. For those interested and willing, though, I offer Count Orlok as a powerful emblem this Halloween season: one of Jewish self-determination, cultural pride, and a refusal to allow our identity, traditions, or even our safe spaces to be invaded and hijacked.

Special thanks to Christopher Vander Kaay for sharing his unique insights and knowledge on Freund and for helping compile instances of Nosferatu-style vampires in cinema.

Specialer thanks to my cats Gaius and Tiberius for “helping” me “type” this wefferv34234f article.