After attending a concert by the Christmas-themed Trans-Siberian Orchestra, former Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider was so blown away he decided the rock-orchestra format needed to be applied to his favorite holiday, Halloween. Snider combined a six-piece choir, a six-piece string section, and a five-piece rock band and named it Van Helsing's Curse after a vampire hunter in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Hardly a one-off project, Snider envisions Van Helsing's Curse touring every October with the orchestra in costume and on-stage special effects. Koch Records released their debut, Oculus Infernum, in 2003 and the Six Flags theme park in Jackson, NJ, started using the album as the soundtrack to their nightly Fright Fest in October of the same year. At the time of the album's release, Snider was in talks with the Universal Studios parks and the other Six Flags for similar licensing deals. ~ David Jeffries