The Mystery of the Vampire Beauty Pageant

A vampire beauty pageant? By all accounts, that’s what the post of an old black-and-white photo of a man crowning a gothic-looking dark-haired woman portrayed.

Back when I was still on what was known as Twitter, someone I followed posted it. He’s since deleted his account, or I’d share it here. However, I had saved the wording in my email, which I recently rediscovered while cleaning it up. That’s why I can share what his accompanying comment read: “Why did this not continue? Can we please have this be a thing again? Am I wrong in wanting this to be a thing?”

Right?

Except, was there ever really such a thing as a Miss American Vampire pageant? If there was, why didn’t it continue?

Even though the photo looked legit, I’m not one to implicitly trust anything I see on the Internet, especially not social media shares. Since I hadn’t before, I decided to look into the matter and discovered, yes. There really was a Miss American Vampire pageant. Just one, though. And there was also a little bit of controversy surrounding the winner.

But that’s not why there was never another pageant. At least not a vampire one. We’ll get to that, but first let’s explore what this vampire beauty pageant was all about and why there was only one of them.

Publicity Stunt

The Miss American Vampire beauty pageant was a publicity stunt timed to coincide with the release of House of Dark Shadows, a movie inspired by the TV series Dark Shadows.

The Miss American Vampire Competition

Regional competitions were held across the United States. However, as The Collinsport Historical Society explained, “New York City and Los Angeles generated the most interest from competitors.”

Vintage Everyday included a few photos of the New York regional crowning ceremony (which was held at the Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey), including the one below:

And the Winner Is…

Regional winners moved on to a national final, where Sacheen Littlefeather was crowned the ultimate winner. However, as the Collinsport Historical Society explained, “history has declared [Christine] Domaniecki the true winner of the event. Hers is the name most often associated with stories about it, and she appears in the few photos from the campaign that remain in circulation.”

Domaniecki won the New York regional event and also the credited bit part in the movie.

Littlefeather Oscars Controversy

I found a lot of articles announcing the contest. (Maybe because it was sensational?) More challenging was finding ones that reported who won. At least right after the contest took place.

There were several that mentioned the winner a couple of years later in 1973, when Sacheen Littlefeather rejected a Best Actor Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando, which he’d been awarded for The Godfather.

But even that sparked controversy when it came out that Littlefeather was only part Indian and her real name was Maria Cruz.

Bad Manners

I also found an article that shocked me. It would’ve been acceptable (or at least tolerated without question) once upon a time, but today, it would be considered unacceptable journalism for its racism.

Take for instance how it refers to Littlefeather as “the little Indian, in native dress, who turned down Marlon Brando’s ‘best actor’ Oscar.” We definitely don’t refer to indigenous people as “Indians” anymore, but also disrespectful is the condescending use of “little.”

Then there’s the dig about the Alcatraz occupation.

“She listed her address at the time as Alcatraz, the abandoned prison known as ‘The Rock,’ in San Francisco harbor which had been illegally seized by the Indians who were staging a well-publicized sit-in. Sacheen was part of this take-over until she landed the movie job.”

Hmm. I took exception with a lot in that sentence. There’s more to the story of the Alcatraz occupation in the 70s than this narrow-minded snippet conveys. (But that’s a post for another day.)

But also noticeable was how the author, whose last name is ironically “Manners” (but she demonstrates anything but), uses Littlefeather’s first name. Again, it’s condescending and shows a lack of respect. And then the author implies Littlefeather is flighty and abandoned the cause because she got a job in a movie.

Maybe she did. I don’t know. Maybe her plan had never been to stay the whole time anyway. But Manners implies that a movie role trumps activism, which makes Littlefeather look insincere. I don’t think that’s the case at all.

And then don’t even get me started on the title, which includes a play on a word that is now recognized as insensitive and offensive to indigenous populations. (It’s why a popular peak formerly known as Squaw Peak in Phoenix was changed to Piestewa Peak.)

But all this was written before our society evolved to be more sensitive to other cultures. Still, it’s shocking when I come across stuff like this in print.

Miss Ghost Contest

I briefly searched for more info about the Miss U.S. Ghost contest but didn’t find much. In fact, finding this snippet was a fluke, but, of course, I’m curious to know who won. And how do you crown a ghost? When time permits, I’ll look into it more. (Unless I luck out and someone in the know reads this and shares their info.)

But I loved that it was once again to promote a movie inspired by the Dark Shadows TV series, this time Night of Dark Shadows, which was also a sequel to House of Dark Shadows.

More Miss Vampire Clippings

Here are a few other newspaper clippings about the Miss Vampire pageant I found interesting. In addition to gleaning extra tidbits about the contestants and the movie, there were references to two haunted places. One appeared in the film. The winner had a connection to the other.

Lyndhurst

This one mentions Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York, where House of Dark Shadows was filmed. Not only was it a “haunted house” setting for a movie, but it’s rumored to be haunted in real life, too. They even often host ghost tours on select weekends in October.

Domaniecki Wins

“Barnabas Collins himself” bestowed the honor of the New York-New Jersey regional Miss Vampire contest upon Christine Domaniecki.

Miss Vampire On Stage

After she won her regional contest, Littlefeather made an appearance in conjunction with the movie. I liked that this small piece offered a tidbit about her acting and educational background though too.

Alcatraz Miss

In addition to covering that Sacheen Littlefeather was the national winner, it named the other final contestants, the judges (Regis Philbin was among them!), and what Littlefeather won with her Miss Vampire title (a week role in Dark Shadows).

Check-In

Are you a fan of the original Dark Shadows series? If so (or even if not), have you seen any of the movies it inspired?