As much as we love stories about good vs. evil, and wish for the better angels to triumph over the dark demons that haunt us all, horror movie fans often find themselves cheering for serial killers who have somehow acquired the ability to stop aging. It's kind of like falling for a "bad boy" or "bad girl" in real life; such characters are irresistibly appealing, even when we have the sneaking suspicion that they're getting away with murder.

Here are our favorites, the horror movie characters who refuse to age, as far as we can tell, and appear determed to remain in our nightmares forever.

Michael Myers 

First appearance: Halloween (1978). Latest: Halloween II (2009).

In this and in many other ways, John Carpenter's Halloween created a template for the modern horror movie: footage from the killer's POV (point of view), teenage girls killed for daring to have sex, a virginal "final girl" who survived -- and a killer who is apparently killed, only to rise from the dead. The mask he wears, which makes perfect sense when he's running around slashing people on Halloween, has also hidden his age and facial appearance throughout the series.

Jason Voorhees

First appearance: Friday the 13th (1980). Latest: Friday the 13th (2009).

Die-hard (cough, cough) fans know that Jason appears only fleetingly in the 1980 original but he quickly became a silent, fully-furious figure of evil, ready to turn any sharp object into a murderous weapon. Even though he's "died" numerous times, he keeps coming back to life, no matter what anyone does to bury the dude, often with new powers. Similar to Michael Myers, the head covering Jason has worn -- first a burlap flour sack in Friday the 13th Part 2, then a hockey mask starting in Friday the 13th Part III -- doubles as an age concealer.

Freddy Krueger

First appearance: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2004). Latest: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). 

Having been (apparently) burned to death, Freddy's horrifying, disfigured appearance is, quite literally, ageless, because he only exists in the dream world. So this is one character whose longetivity makes total sense: he's not human anymore, he's more of a supernatural force of evil. Various characters believe they have killed him, only to be proven wrong when he bounces back up, little the worse for wear.

Hellboy

First appearance: Hellboy (2004). Latest: Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). 

Our first sighting of Hellboy on the big screen revealed him to be an infant demon. He grew into adult maturity quickly, however, and now ages quite slowly, so while he is not technically ageless, for all intents and purposes he is, since he will potentially outlive all his colleagues, as well as the moviegoing audience. Hellboy is rare among ageless creatures, a sympathetic soul who has great empathy for mankind, and a desire to conquer true evil.

Dracula

First appearance: Necklace of the Dead (1910). Latest: Hotel Transvylania 2 (2015) 

Although hundreds of adaptations preceded it (and hundreds more followed in its wake), Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 production (above) sought to capture the motivating spirit of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, and was aptly titled Bram Stoker's Dracula. In this version, Dracula has never recovered from his beloved wife's suicide after she thought he had been killed. As monstrous and muderous as his actions may become, he started from a point of deep, abiding love. He is an ageless character but it is still possible to kill him, which leaves him, ultimately, vulnerable. Filmmakers continue to be drawn to this and other ageless character, allowing for the possibility of new, redrawn, and timeless horror characters.