"I smell dead people": Nosferatu marketing stinks (in a good way)

One of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year is Robert Eggers' Gothic homage of Nosferatu. In 1922, the F.W. Murnaw-directed silent film petrified all onlookers in the cinema. A vampire named Count Orlok, preys on the wife of a local estate agent and wreaks havoc and terror in a small village.

Even today, the sight of Count Orlok creates the creeps with his elongated fingers, gremlin ears, and freakishly agape eyes. (Fun fact: Max Schreck, who played the Vampyre, blinked only once throughout the entire film.) Evidently, Bill Skarsgård is so haunting as the nocturnal nightmare that Lily-Rose Depp and Nicholas Hoult had difficulties looking at him on set.

As with any Focus Features-helmed movie, marketing is conservative but visible. And, with any Robert Eggers film, the marketing doesn't matter. The trailers alone sell the tickets. (Watch The VVitch trailer and let us know.) But something doesn't quite add up with this new commercial venture. Not only is Nosferatu delving into experiential marketing, but it's also creating a startling moment for fans.

Introducing "Nosferatu: Eau De Macabre." Yes, that's really "the smell of death."

Wait, what?!

In a partnership with Focus Features, Heretic Parfum is promoting the Nosferatu scent. According to marketing materials, the manufacturer is right on brand.

"A scent as atmospheric as the film, the perfume transports the wearer into the dark spaces inhabited by Count Orlok himself. The Eau de macabre opens with top notes of lilac and ambrette seed that fall into a heart chord of violet, orris root, and petrichor. The mysterious dry-down is woven around vegan ambergris and Oud absolute. Described as cold, pale, and pellucid, the fragrance evokes the uneasy chill of encountering an apparition."

Nothing says love like the chill of encountering an apparition.

This love for the dead will cost you too. Each bottle retails for $125 USD. Each 30ml bottle has Count Orlok's sigil on the cap and the official film's title on the bottle. Why make silly popcorn buckets when you walk away smelling like creeping death, amirite?

If you're interested, HereticParfum.com notes they are already experiencing "minor shipping delays." Of course, that's expected. Can you imagine the supply chain issues they have bottling this funk from high in the Carpathian Mountains? Amazon Prime charges must be a deep pain in the neck. (#SorryNotSorry.)

With a stellar cast led by Bill Skarskård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe, Nosferatu appears in theaters this Christmas.