I'm sat in a fast-food joint off Sunset Boulevard, deep in discussion with Vampira, the world's first TV horror host. Maila Nurmi, the Finnish performer beneath the famous black wig and nails, was a phenomenon in the 1950s. Her iconic gothic style, sardonic wit and eye-popping hourglass figure made her the macabre fantasy of guys and ghouls across the globe, despite appearing on a show that was only broadcast in the Los Angeles area. Every week the voluptuous vamp would emerge from dry-ice studio fog to the sound of creepy organ music. She would unleash a bloodcurdling scream and utter puns in an exotic, sexual, Marlene Dietrich-like drawl - "I am...