In this encyclopedia, Melton (religious studies, U. College, Santa Barbara) offers about 500 essays on topics related to historical, literary, mythological, biographical, and popular aspects of vampires that range from popular subjects like Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the scholarly, such as the Journal of Vampirology. The essays explore folklore and literature, organizations, movies, TV shows, websites, fanzines, people, places, related non-vampire entities in other cultures, and the social function of vampires. This edition has been updated to include the subject's recent surge in popularity, including the Buffy phenomenon, the Twilight saga, romance novels, the vampire on television, vampire-related paraphernalia, new authors like Steve Niles and Charlaine Harris, new movies like Van Helsing and Underworld, and other topics. Other entries have been updated and outdated ones have been dropped. Distributed by Independent Publishers Group. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)