Welcome to the Ten Nights of Halloween! Each day I'll introduce you to one of the characters in my picture book, Halloween Good Night.

Ready to take a bite out of the vampire myth?

Today is the ninth of the Ten Nights of Halloween! We lurked with globsters, flitted with imps, leaped with werewolves, shuffled with mummies, lurched with zombies, soared with witches, tricked with goblins, haunted with ghosts. Now we can nosh with vampires!  

The most famous vampire of all time is, of course (No, not Edward), Dracula, the novel by Bram Stoker that ignited a fascination with vampires. It happens to be one of my all-time favorite books, which I read on my phone's tiny screen, thoroughly creeping myself out in waiting rooms and dim parking lots while waiting for children's activities to finish. 

What many of us know, those who are fans of vampire-lore at least, is that Stoker's Count Dracula was inspired by a real person. Vlad III, or Vlad the Impaler, was a 15th century prince born in Transylvania (though he never lived there), who had a penchant for impaling his opposition on spikes.

Vampire lore blossomed, spawning countless novels and films, and inspiring cultish groups to develop actual vampiric looks and activities, involving blood-drinking and artificial fangs. Yet while Vlad and Dracula popularized the vampire, nearly every culture has vampire-like stories dating back to ancient times. Most involve blood-drinking demons, rather than rakishly handsome dandies and buxom ladies in corsets. Blockbusters like Twilight make me wonder, what is it about the vampire?

The True Stories Behind Vampire Myths:

Clever animation and fascinating stories explore one of the most chilling (and famous) creatures of the night.

Vampire crafts to sink you teeth into!

There are so so so so so (into infinity) adorable vampire crafts out there, but these two caught my attention. So unique, adorable, and one of them looks very, very easy (bet you can't guess which one!).