‘Tis the season for ghosts and goblins, ghouls and gremlins. October is one of our favorite months here at the Roarbots because it’s 30 days of Halloween Eve: perfect for horror novels, creepy comics, and scream queens. Sometimes, though, the truth is even stranger than fiction, and if you’re going to go vampire hunting, you best know whether stakes and crosses are actually going to protect you from the sharp and pointies – or whether Anne Rice picked and chose for maximum dramatic effect.

Fear not, intrepid explorers! Your friendly books and comics editor has you covered with these nonfiction favorites.

The Occult, Witchcraft & Magic: An Illustrated History by Christopher Dell (Thames and Hudson)

Humans have always believed in magic; most of us still do if we’re honest. This beautifully illustrated encyclopedia draws from different cultures, practices, and historical eras, and it’s an excellent survey of what people believed when. But it also tracks which bits of lore have persisted and how they have been preserved. A solid, single-volume survey from a reputable publisher is always a good investment – both as a source and a jumping off point for additional research on topics of personal or academic interest.

Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation by Mitch Horowitz (Bantam)

Is the United States a Puritan nation? You bet your ass. We’re also a nation obsessed with mysticism. Peep how many Important Personages (including presidents) have been Freemasons. Google “burned-over district Upstate New York” and read a few of the articles that pop up. Take a look at a Book of Mormon. There’s a reason the Satanic Panic happened here and not somewhere else. Spend some time with Occult America and you’ll come away with a very different view of American history.

Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits Who Brought Spiritualism to America by Peter Washington (Random House)

If you enjoy Horowitz’s survey, Washington’s book is a logical next stop as it goes into more detail on some of the colorful personalities responsible for transporting mysticism to America and making it an integral part of popular culture. Foremost among these renegades who challenged Darwin himself was Madame Blavatsky, a mysterious (aka shady) Russian aristocrat (who did indeed have a pet baboon) and went on to found the Theosophy movement, which still exists in various forms today. Washington brings this history into the modern area by demonstrating how “New Age” groups emerged from these turn-of-the-20th-century philosophies.

Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth Century America by Ann Braude (Indiana University Press)

Madame Blavatsky’s leadership role in the Spiritualist movement wasn’t a one-off; for many women, Spiritualism offered an alternative to male-dominated mainstream religion and also an entreé into the feminist and women’s rights movements. Braude argues that, especially in the United States, emancipation may not have been possible without Spiritualism as an avenue to independence.

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach (W.W. Norton & Company)

Mary Roach has written several delightfully weird books on the science of various topics – from what happens to corpses to how, exactly, astronauts will prepare for the journey to Mars. Spook may be my personal favorite of the lot, however. In it, Roach uses both her well-honed research skills and her razor-sharp wit to attempt an answer the eternal question: What happens to us after we die? Everyone from engineers to mediums seems to have an answer, but are any of them the right answer? Roach synthesizes the data and reveals her conclusions…

Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World’s Most Infamous Items by J.W. Ocker (Quirk)

Do you believe in curses? Rational me says no. Fun me says, “welllll…” Some really unpleasant stuff has happened to various owners of the Hope Diamond. And the guys who busted into Tutankhamen’s tomb didn’t meet particularly nice ends, now did they? Somehow, though, no one ever wants to get rid of these demonic keepsakes. Such tokens, from teeth to massive gems, live (and sometimes, I swear, breathe) in graveyards, museums, and private homes. They inspire stories, novels, and movies. And now the most famous of them populate a single volume. Might want to keep this one in some sort of lead-lined vault when you’re reading it…

Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend by Mark Collins Jenkins (National Geographic)

Where was the very first vampire born? How did the legend grow? Why do most cultures on the planet have some variant of a vampire in their mythology? Mark Collins Jenkins examines archaeological and anthropological evidence from Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and Egypt, and he follows the trail to 16th century Venice where a plague victim was buried with a brick in her mouth… to modern forensics which still can’t explain quite everything. Why do we still fear not the reaper but the blood sucker? Come find out.

New Orleans Vampires: History and Legend by Marita Woywod Crandle (Haunted America)

Yes, yes. We’ve all seen Interview with a Vampire. But have you ever been to New Orleans? Because let me tell you, if you have, you know Louis and Lestat would have lasted about two seconds there. New Orleans is an old city full of magic, but that magic isn’t all benign. Too much violence has been done on those cobblestones for even undead gentlemen to faff about doing pretty things. So pick Woywod Crandle’s slim volume up. Learn about the Casket Girls. The mysterious 100-year-old man. The pair of brothers who fed on human blood during the Depression. Meet the real vampires of New Orleans.

Legends like La Llorona and Bloody Mary exist because one night, somewhere, something terrifying happened. As to whether knowing the truth will make the stories more or less horrifying? That’s for books to know and you to find out…