INTRODUCTION

      We’ve always known that they really exist, lurking in the shadows, stalking their victims, seeking whom they may devour.

      However, they are not the undead, returning from crypt or cemetery plot to steal blood, the vital fluid of existence from the living. Although they may look like us—and when it serves their purpose they may skillfully impersonate us in order to deceive and to prey upon us—they have never been human. Real vampires are parasitic, shape-shifting entities that feed upon the energy, the life force, and the souls of humans.

      From whatever dimension of time and space they may have originated, real vampires may be compared to an ancient, insidious virus that first infects, then controls its host body, causing it, in turn, to possess other victims, feeding upon its life essence and its very soul. Some who have sought to appease or to control this parasitic blight from the far reaches of the multidimensional universe have only found themselves being exploited and cruelly inspired to form secret societies, blood cults, and hideous rituals of human sacrifice.

      Regardless of the seductive aura of the vampire depicted in contemporary novels, films, and television series, none of these romantic transformations of an ancient menace to humankind portray real vampires. While the vampiric virus may infest handsome men and beautiful women, none of those infected have superhuman powers. Real vampires and those whom they possess are loathsome slashers, rippers, and murderers who do not promise immortality with their sensual “bite,” only a painful death.

      Real vampires and their human hosts can walk freely in the light of day. The rays of the rising sun do not send them scurrying back to their coffins. Crucifixes do not cause real vampires to shrink back in fear of the symbol of Christ’s triumph over sin.

      Real vampires are the spawn of ancient entities such as Lilith, the seductive fallen angel, or of other paraphysical beings—such as the Jinn, the Cacodaemons, the Raskshasas, and the Nephilim—who have traversed the boundaries of time and space to prey upon humankind.

      Real vampires are immortal, and when the spirit parasite that has invaded a human body has tired of that fleshly residence, it dispassionately discards its temporary dwelling and possesses another, abandoning its former host to death and decay, rather than to an existence of attractive eternal youth and everlasting sexual prowess.

      Although these entities cannot be killed, they can be driven away from their potential victims. We can resist them. We can become immune to their power. We can fight them and defeat them.

      Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside follows a shadowy path that ventures into the uncertain dimensions of time and space that many choose to call the supernatural. Denizens from this invisible world have intruded into our own domain since prehistory and have used our blood to perpetuate their own existence.

      Also, we will delve further into the psychological pattern that may present itself by someone who has become an unwilling host of an uninvited spirit parasite. We shall enumerate many of the character weaknesses that may invite a vampiric entity to possess an individual’s body, mind, and spirit.

      While the very essence of the real vampire originates in other dimensions of reality, down through the centuries psychopathic murderers have envisioned themselves as vampires who must feed upon human blood in order to gain power over their fellow humans. And, in one of those bizarre twists of the human psyche, in the Middle Ages self-righteous individuals who were in power condemned men and women as monsters who must be slaughtered in order to establish a triumph of God, faith, and conformity.

      Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside also expands its vistas to include a number of non-vampires who present eerie manifestations of mystery and wonder. Could careless dabbling in the occult bring forth parasitic entities who subsist on the psychic energy of their victims? Could entities from UFOs who claim to come from other worlds, and strange teenagers with haunting black eyes who beg your permission to enter your home, really be vampires in less familiar guises?

      While this book focuses on the supernatural, the multidimensional, and the paraphysical beings who have interacted with our species since prehistoric times, I shall also visit the vampire community living among us today. I do not suggest for one moment that these men and women are murderers, sociopaths, or supernatural beings. They present a subgroup within our society of individuals who are perhaps unusual and unique, but are not after the blood of those who choose to leave their interaction with vampires to motion pictures, television, and books.

      Far more than a book that contains a number of frightening true accounts and a collection of truly magnificent original art, what I hope to accomplish with Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside is expand the definition of the vampire—the most popular monster in the world—to include the more complete definition of “parasitic entities that enter our reality from the far reaches of the multidimensional universe to possess their victims and to feed upon their life essence and their very soul.”

      —Brad Steiger