Reign of the Scream Queens: Gloria Holden

Scream Queen Impact

Much like Ingrid Pitt, today’s Scream Queen, Gloria Holden, made her audiences scream more than she ever did in a film. Holden has forty-one film credits to her name, but only one of them would ever be considered a horror film. That film, Dracula’s Daughter (1936), was the first sequel to the iconic Bela Lugosi Universal film Dracula from 1931. Holden starred as Countess Zaleska, the daughter of Count Dracula, who is attempting to break the curse upon her that makes her lust for blood. Needless to say, she fails at breaking the curse.

The film is considered by many horror fans, writers, and filmmakers to be highly influential in the vampire genre. Most notably, Anne Rice declared Dracula’s Daughter to be a major influence on her work, the Vampire Chronicles. She and others have stated that they found lesbian undertones and subtle homoeroticism in the film and this greatly influenced future vampire films, books, and television shows. For myself, having seen the film numerous times, I personally see the countess’ longings and desires to be her struggle with the hunger for blood. That being said, that hunger could easily be equated with the desire to engage in “forbidden love” or homosexual encounters. The countess doesn’t want to give in to the cravings but must give in to them. Please note that I use the term “forbidden love” only because homosexuality was seen as taboo back in the 1930’s (and still is in many places today).

Holden continued working in film for many years after making Dracula’s Daughter. Her career lasted nearly thirty years and featured primarily guest starring or background roles. Her biggest role outside of playing the countess was that of Alexandrine Zola in the 1937 biopic The Life of Emile Zola starring Paul Muni. Her final role was an uncredited appearance as a party guest in 1958’s Auntie Mame.

Thanks for checking out today’s Scream Queen! Mrs. Holden only had one significant horror role, but that role went on to influence major works like Interview With The Vampire, Dark Shadows, and erotic horror films like The Vampire Lovers (which happened to star Ingrid Pitt). Countess Zaleska’s desire to end her curse and her reluctance to kill innocent victims has also become a trope of many vampire stories including Louis in Interview With The Vampire and Morbius in the Marvel comics of the same name. Gloria Holden is definitely deserving of her Scream Queen title. Be sure to check out Dracula’s Daughter!