Nosferatu

Murnau's unauthorized adaptation

Nosferatu is a vampire, specifically the kind depicted in the influential 1922 German silent film of the same name.

The word has become synonymous with a gaunt, rat-like, monstrous vampire—distinct from the suave, aristocratic type later popularized by Dracula adaptations.

Though sometimes claimed to derive from Romanian folklore, the term's origins are murky and may have been invented or misremembered by Bram Stoker, who used it in his novel *Dracula*.

vampire

undead

Deceased yet animate

nocturnal · creature · predator · folklore · supernatural · cursed · feeding · victim · infection · plague

etymology

Romanian

Person from Bucharest's country

Bulgarian · folklore · Slavic · supernatural · linguistic · disputed · origin · unclean · devil · spirit

film

silent

Producing no sound

unauthorized · Stoker · public domain · remake · cinematography · intertitles · chiaroscuro · Bremen · Ellen · count

iconography

bald

Without hair on head

hunched · rodent-like · grotesque · shadow · silhouette · staircase · elongated · cadaverous · pale · sunken eyes

Categories
Opposites
life/death status

Nosferatumortal

Subject to death

life-giver · healer · human · the quick · life force

moral/spiritual alignment

Nosferatuangel

Divine winged messenger

saint · Christ figure · guardian angel · holy spirit · seraph

aesthetic/cinematic style

NosferatuBela Lugosi

Twilight

Family

Dracula

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG-13