Properly speaking, vampires are a phenomenon of Eastern European folklore. But there are lots of other creatures that some writers want to shoehorn into the “vampire” template.

It’s me. I’m “some writers.”

In my defense, I actually started Dead of Night with some of these other creatures in mind. I just realized that “vampire” was a handy, if not entirely accurate, shorthand to group all these creatures into some kind of whole.

What that means is that “vampires” in my story world display great diversity, and the ones that take center stage are not entirely what anybody thinks of when they hear that word. These are creatures that have been described as vampires, vampire-like, an inspiration for later tales of vampires, etc. They exist somewhere in the murky territory between ghost and demon. Though they do, in fact, prey on mortals, they are more often motivated by vengeance than by hunger.

All this to say that, in terms of the story, “vampire” should be taken in its broadest, most generic sense. A vampire is any human-shaped, demonic, cannibalistic monster. It doesn’t have to be undead. It doesn’t even have to drink blood. What it does have to do is terrorize the living.

Some of these creatures are essentially malevolent ghosts who didn’t receive the proper burial rites. Others play into all the ancient tropes of scorned women who’ve turned into monsters to prey on unfaithful men. Others still are grim revenants from the northlands who terrorize the countryside, often accompanied by packs of vicious dogs and can grow to giant size. And, of course, there are the “classic” vampires from the Balkan region.

All of these nightmares make an appearance in Dead of Night. I hope you’ll read it and tell me your favorite!

The night gets darker on July 1, but you can pre-order today from Bookshop (paperback or ebook) or Amazon (ebook).