Loving True Blood in Dallas book suggestion: The Dead Travel Fast

One morning while Eric Nuzum sleepily munched his Count Chocula at breakfast, he realized he was surrounded by vampires. Not literally, of course. News stories, advertising, television shows-it seemed vampires were everywhere. Motivated by curiosity, this National Public Radio employee decided to research people's fascination with the mythical blood sucker, resulting in The Dead Travel Fast, a very humorous research/travelogue title.
Nuzum first decided to attempt to watch every vampire movie ever made. He details how Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi's Dracula were made, providing interesting reading for film buffs. The list also includes Samurai Vampire Bikers from Hell, Rockabilly Vampire, and Atom Age Vampire. There are a surprising number of interesting facts interspersed with the narrative, particularly about Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Nuzum and his very skeptical wife travel to England, tracing the locations mentioned in the book. Stoker was a stickler for setting. Nuzum gives a nice background about what may have motivated Stoker to write his classic horror story, and how it's been interpreted and reinterpreted through the years. The chapter in which he travels by tour bus through Romania to research Vlad Tepes (the "real" count Dracula, who was very pro-impalement) is the funniest travelogue I've read.
Think you've had a bad family vacation? Nope. Nuzum's travelling companions included Butch Patrick, "Eddie" from The Munsters-who spent most of his time asleep. The trip included a dog bite, an infected mosquito bite, sinking boats, an emotionally disturbed monk, and lots of vomiting. After eating a Romanian "American-style" pizza, which included fried eggs, venison and goat cheese, let's just say things were a bit messy on the bus.

buy from amazon here

Listen to NPR interview HERE

Erics blog HERE

Thanks Redmercury for the suggestion