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 freaktacular tales, tidbits, and encounters with all those beasties that go bump in the night.

Along with classic pieces from Bram Stoker, Elliot O'Donnell, Sabine BaringGould, 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