VAMPIRA: REST IN PEACE. It's with a sad and cobwebbed heart that I mark the passing of Maila Nurmi who rocketed to fame in the 1950's as wasp-waisted TV horror host Vampira: she died January 10th. Maila was briefly the most famous woman in the country -- until the TV station felt she was getting too big and took her off the air. Vampira has flitted in and out of the public consciousness ever since; from her mute appearance in the classically inept "PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE" by Edward D. Wood Jr. to the eponymously titled Misfits song "Vampira". Most recently, the 2006 documentary "VAMPIRA THE MOVIE" was released on DVD last year to some really good reviews and I agree; the flick is a now even more precious opportunity to hear Maila tell the story of her life in her own inimitable words. And trust me, Maila Nurmi was a character. A true original. We won't see her like again.