In 1892, recently deceased resident of Rhode Island, Mercy Brown, was believed to be preying on her family from beyond the grave. After dying of consumption and being buried, many more of her family members contracted the disease. You know, as happens with deseases. When Mercy was exhumed, they found that her body had not decomposed much and they found traces of dried blood in her heart. So the townspeople burned her. You guys do weird things.

A little south, the legend of Chupacabra is possibly my favourite Central American vampire story. My old pal Chupacabra lives across Latin America and he is such fun at parties. His name means goatsucker. Goatsucker! I love that guy. He's sort of a "vampire vegetarian" meaning he really only drinks animals. Goats, for example. Farmers hate him, but everyone who knows him think's he's the best.

In Surinam, the azeman is a shape-shifting vampire that can turn itself into a bat. Sound familiar? It can also turn into a wolf, and is OBSESSED with counting. If you place a broom in front of the door, the azeman will have to count each bristle before entering.

In Mapuche legends, the piuchen is a shapeshifting vampire that eats hearts. It also primarily drinks the blood from sheep. The most common form of the piuchen is a flying snake.

Back to the United States, the Atlanta Vampire Alliance or AVA is an organization for modern vampires. They have an online forum and their mission statement states that "The mission of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance [AVA] is to promote unity in the greater Atlanta, Georgia real Vampire Community while being available to the newly awakened to encourage self-awareness and responsibility."