Van Helsing's Curse are a side project, orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 of Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...

 lead singer, Dee Snider

Dee Snider

Daniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...

. Along with Snider the group featured a five-piece rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band, a six-piece choir, and six-piece string section.

History

Snider came up with the idea for the group after seeing a Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Trans-Siberian Orchestra is an American progressive metal band founded in 1993 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. Since then, TSO sold nearly 8...

 concert, but he wanted an orchestra that featured a halloween

Halloween

Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

 theme. The group, named after fictional vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing

Abraham Van Helsing

Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...

, would release their first album in 2003 under the title Oculus Infernum, which in Latin means "eye of hell." The concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

, narrated by Snider himself, tells the fictional story of a young boy, orphaned after an entity murders all the adults in his town. The child then wanting revenge comes upon one of the descendants of Van Helsing and teams with him to try and put an end to the entity. Beginning that same year, Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation...

 began using Oculus Infernum as a soundtrack for their October Fright Fest

Fright Fest

Fright Fest or FrightFest is a Halloween-oriented event that takes place at some theme parks, notably Six Flags parks, called "Six Flags Fright Fest", and PARC Management-owned parks, called "FrightFest".-General information:...

s.