Monsterquest Vampires in America (2007– ) Online

The "MonsterQuest" series is, or can be, a lot more intelligent than it sounds, and this episode delivers the goods. Were there or are there vampires in America? That depends on what you mean by vampires; certainly there have been people who believed in them, and there are today people who believe they are them. There may have been such people in the past too, but in view of little things like the Salem trials, it would probably not have been politic for them to say so. Even in the last century such an admission may not have been wise on account of a visit from the men in white coats.

Seriously though, as well as the historical and literary aspects including Vlad, Countess Bathory and Mr Stoker, the team cover inter alia the best documented cases of alleged vampirism in America, those of Mercy Brown, and the Connecticut man known only as JB. These are treated intelligently, although arguably not so intelligently at the time.

If people thought the dead were vampires, what of living people who think they are? They meet two women, one who says she has a craving for human blood, and another who claims to be a psychic vampire - in the nicest possible way. The latter appears to be a genuine anomaly, but there is nothing either other worldly or supernatural here.

We learn too that the Mercy Brown case may have been among Stoker's inspirations for his classic Gothic novel, and that between them "Dracula" and the film "Nosferatu" have contributed more to the misinformation about vampires today than you might think.