[Halloween Romance] 9 Best Undead Couples in Movies

The leaves are turning orange, the nights are getting colder and everything is feeling just a little bit spookier. That must mean it’s the run up to the best holiday ever…Halloween!! So let’s celebrate with a month of horror themed posts, reviews and lists. Time to countdown the 9 Best Undead Couples in Movies.

Their hearts may not be beating, their flesh may be rotting but these undead couples are still able to feel love. Romance and horror may not always seem like a match, but sometimes we get a couple who bring out the sweeter side of the genre. True love can endure many things, including death, so here are the 9 best undead couples. 

Victor Van Dort & Emily (The Corpse Bride)

Victor and Emily may not have a conventional romance, firstly she’s dead and he isn’t, but he also doesn’t even realise he’s proposed to her. Whilst practising his vows for his upcoming marriage to Victoria, Victor places a wedding ring on what he assumes to be a branch, however it is the undead finger of the titular ‘Corpse Bride’ who now believes her dreams have come true. Like many Tim Burton films this is a tragic romance that doesn’t end in a traditional ‘happily ever after’, Emily is released from her torment and Victor marries his fiance, but the journey these two go on is the romantic core of this film. Even with exposed ribs and a popping eye, Emily would have made a beautiful bride for Victor. 

The Monster & The Monster’s Bride (Bride of Frankenstein)

The original undead lovers, Frankenstein’s Monster and his iconic Bride. Even a monster can feel lonely and long for some eternal company. Elsa Lanchester is stunning as both Mary Shelly and the Bride, even if she only appears briefly at the end of the film. It may not end well for the reanimated couple in this 1935 film but their legacy as lovers has continued since then with numerous iterations across TV, Film and Comic Books. Frankenstein and his bride have long been held up as pop culture icons, with couples lovingly dressing as them for Halloween and even having Frankenstein themed weddings. These two may “Belong Dead” but they also belong together. 

Lestat & Louis (Interview with a Vampire)

It may never have been explicitly said in either the novel or the film adaptation, but Lestat and Louis are definitely in some form of romantic relationship. After losing his wife and unborn child a despondent Louis wanders the streets of New Orleans, taking the eye of the vampire Lestat who offers to turn him and end his misery. He does one of those things. Maybe the simple explanation of ‘couple’ doesn’t cover it, but ‘Loustat’ is definitely a thing. These two vampires have a flair for the dramatic and a whole heap of sexual tension that bonds them. They are the epitome of ‘love/hate’, sometimes revelling in decadence together, other times wishing death upon their fellow immortal. Sometimes, love isn’t simple. 

Oskar & Eli (Let the Right One In)

Oskar is a bullied 12 year old who dreams of exacting revenge on his tormentors. Eli is a 200 year old vampire who uses her guise as a 12 year old girl to lure both her victims and her servants. There’s a perfect dynamic between Oskar and Eli, one of them needs to kill and the other wants to kill. Now there’s a harmonious relationship. This vampire romance focuses less on the flashy aspects of being undead and more on the dark relationship between these two outcasts and the cruelty of humanity. There is a beautiful innocence to their Morse Code communications and their long silences simply spent enjoying each other’s company, and yet sinister urges lay beneath it all. Oskar and Eli save each other, both physically and emotionally in this disturbing yet entrancing love story. 

Sally & Jack (Nightmare Before Christmas)

A couple so iconic they have even been immortalised in a Blink-182 song, Jack and Sally are the quintessential idols for all ‘emo’ lovers of the 90’s. Jack is the Pumpkin King, leader of Halloween Town who has grown weary of his role, Sally is a demure and beautiful rag-doll creation who secretly pines for him. They are opposites in many ways, Jack is creative and impulsive, Sally is shy, logical and sweet, but together they are absolutely perfect . Created in impressively detailed claymation this couple look incredible together, boasting the twisted Gothic imagery we expect from anything associated with Tim Burton. It’s plain to see, this couple is “simply meant to be”.

Sang-hyun & Tae-ju (Thirst)

A vampiric love story of forbidden fruit and repressed urges, Thirst presents us with two incredibly developed character who discover the thrills of sex and blood lust together. When a Catholic priest, Sang-hyun, undergoes a medical experiment he is left with a fatal disease that is cured by a blood transfusion. Yet this miraculous recovery seems to have it’s downside, he only maintains his health by drinking blood. He becomes drawn to Tae-ju, a fed up wife trapped as a carer for everyone around her who longs for more from her life. Their relationship is chaotic, brutal, sexual and ultimately tragic, yet it is beautiful in its exploration of the forbidden and the fantastical. 

Candyman & Helen (Candyman)

Clive Barker is a man who knows how to mix horror and romanticism in a strange and unique way. This is clearly evident from the relationship between Daniel Robitaille (Candyman) and Helen Lyle in Bernard Rose’s 1992  film adaptation. Even from his origins Candyman is a hopeless romantic, a tortured artist who’s forbidden love for a white women led to his brutal murder. Helen stumbles upon his legend whilst working on her thesis, and so the obsession began. Candyman is a seductive figure, he asks for Helen to surrender, only taking her when she has given herself to him. It helps that Tony Todd is a suave dreamboat in the flick as well. 

Chucky & Tiffany (Bride of Chucky)

There’s something so adorable about these pint sized serial killers. Bride of Chucky is a self referential comedy horror that takes the slasher icon Chucky and out of the hands of unwitting children and into the driving seat of his own story. Just like Frankenstein before him, this sewn together monster is looking for a partner. When his human counterpart’s former lover, Tiffany Valentine, resurrects him he pays her back…by killing her and putting her soul into a doll as well. That’s when their adventure begins. These two are devilish, demonic and downright hilarious in their killing spree. They have become an iconic couple who may not always ‘love’ each other but who definitely keep things fun (sized). 

Barbara & Adam (Beetlejuice)

There is no way a list of undead couples could be complete without the sweet, pure and loving Barbara and Adam from Beetlejuice. Before their tragic deaths, Barbara and Adam are a happy and loving married couple who just want to finish working on their idyllic home and revel in each other’s company. After their death they have to learn how to utilise their ghost powers to get rid of the annoying new inhabitants of their dream house.  These two ghosts are not only perfect for each other but also become the sweetest parental figures for Lydia, after saving her from becoming the child bride of ‘bio-exorcist’ Betelgeuse. The Maitland’s are relationship goals both in life and in death.