Interred in shadows no more, the vampire mythos is illuminated in this captivating exploration of one of the world's most sinister--and feared--creatures. Join Brian Righi as he unearths the truth behind myths and beliefs, both ancient and modern. He traces the evolution of the vampire--from Dracula's mysteriously empty grave and the enduring legend it spawned to terrifying documented cases of the real-life blood drinkers of today. Sordid and sultry, the vampire's long and gruesome history is revealed. Included: various cultures' beliefs and superstitions surrounding bloodthirsty immortals ; chilling true accounts of the unquenchable bloodlust of historical figures such as Vlad the Impaler and Countess Báthory ; stories and lore from villagers, as recalled from the author's travels through Romania ; serial killers who suffered from delusions of vampirism ; how the early Christian church inadvertently fed into the 18th-century Eastern European vampire scare.