Banshees, Werewolves, Vampires and Other Creatures of the Night - Varla Ventura

The lusty vampire, the sympathetic werewolf, the tragic banshee are just a few of the dark and frightening creatures you'll discover in BANSHEES, WEREWOLVES, VAMPIRES, AND OTHER CREATURES OF THE NIGHT. Huffington Post Weird News columnist and author, Varla Ventura, takes readers on a wild ride through the shadowy hills of rural Ireland, the dark German forests and along abandoned farms and country roads across the world to discover some of the most frightening and freak-tacular tales, titbits and encounters with all those beasties that go bump in the night.

Along with classic pieces from Bram Stoker, Elliot O'Donnell, Sabine Baring-Gould, William Butler Yeats and many others, Ventura includes:
· Famous vampires you may not know
· The identity of the author of the first English vampire novel (and
his relationship to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein)
· Excerpts from the first psychic vampire novel ever written
· Stories of 19th century werewolf hunters
· Why banshees are the most feared of supernatural creatures

Many a lonesome night has been spent listening with trepidation to the howl of the wind. In spite of our rational minds and our sound judgment there is nearly alwaysespecially in that passage of time between midnight and three in the morninga sound that simply cannot be explained away. Oh, but we try. To the rattle of the windowpane and the thump upon the porch we say 'Tis only the wind! To the squeak of the floorboards and the bang on the roof we declare, This old house is settling! But deep inside, and we have all likely felt it at one time or another, there is an uneasy understanding that something very supernatural is afoot. And the odds are this feeling of uneasiness is very likely accurate. There are many, many things out there clawing in the night, snarling in the shadows.
From the Introduction