"Bela Lugosi's Dead" is a song by English post-punk band Bauhaus. This song was the band's first single, released on 6 August 1979 by record label Small Wonder.

It is often considered the first gothic rock record.

"Bela Lugosi's Dead" was recorded "live in the studio" in a single take during a six-hour session at Beck Studios in Wellingborough on 26 January 1979. Four additional songs were also recorded, varying in genre: the post-punk-styled "Boys", the ska/reggae crossover "Harry", the punk-influenced "Bite My Hip" (later re-envisioned as the 1982 single "Lagartija Nick") and the unreleased pop song "Some Faces". Of these recordings, only two were released. "Harry" surfaced in 1982 as a B-side to the single "Kick in the Eye", while "Boys" served as a B-side to "Bela Lugosi's Dead", and later was re-recorded at Beck Studios in 1979. Alternate versions of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" also included a portion of the early demo recording of their next single, "Dark Entries".

All four band members are given songwriting credit on the single: vocalist Peter Murphy, guitarist Daniel Ash, drummer Kevin Haskins and bassist David J (as David Haskins). David J has claimed that he wrote the lyrics.

The sleeve cover art was taken from the D. W. Griffith film The Sorrows of Satan (1926).

The song is over nine minutes in length, and the vocals do not start (in the studio version) until several minutes into the track. The dub-influenced guitar sound was achieved by using partial barre chords and leaving the top E and B strings open.

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