In New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's "Dracula Night," Sookie Stackhouse is the only human at the annual commemoration of Dracula's birth. But this year, the Prince of Darkness actually shows up-and finds Sookie to be a tasty-looking present.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher's crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden, of the Dresden Files novels, heads to a role-playing party to give his vampire brother a birthday present in "It's My Birthday Too," only to discover there are some bloodthirsty party crashers who don't share their brotherly love.

In "Twilight," Cassandra DuCharme, who appeared in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's Dime Store Magic, knows she has to kill to live as a vampire another year-but finds herself disturbingly disinterested in the hunt.

Plus ten more bloody good birthday stories that take the cake.

Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with big ideas and a gift for attracting abuse. It isn't easy to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town. . . .

Francis is unhappy. Francis was human once, but that was then. Now he's an eight-foot-tall locust and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .

John Finney is locked in a basement that's stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .

Exclusive Interviews, Totally Pointy Profiles, Behind-the-Scenes Info, and Other Buff-stuff About the Hit Show.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Seth Green, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Mark Metcalf, Robia La Morte, Armin Shimerman, Joss Whedon, and more!

Love Bytes: Boy meets Girl, Girl meets Monster: does anyone live?
A Walking Tour of Sunnydale's Hot Spots (both of them)
The Slayer Handbook (according to Buffy Summers)
Character Guide -- who knew what and when?
Monster Guide -- vampires vs. Bezoars: who's deadlier?
Special Guest Stars -- John Ritter?!
Playlist -- what song did Buffy and Xander slow dance to?
Don't Try This at Home -- an interview with the show's stunt coordinator!
Bonus! Never-filmed dialogue from the original scripts!
Never-seen, behind-the-scenes photos -- Seth Green in makeup, Xander's closet, those icky fish guys!

The Monsters, The Mythology, The Villains, The Victims, The Fashion

Don't be caught dead without The Watcher's Guide.

Buffy Summers's adjustment to life at U.C. Sunnydale has not gone smoothly. She feels awkward, insecure, and jealous that Willow's all over the college life. So when she is visited by a prophecy of impending danger, the timing couldn't be worse. There's plenty of evil afoot as it is: a unified troop of vampires has descended upon Sunnydale, and tension between Buffy and Willow gets in the way of demon hunting.

Before long, a single moment of bad judgment catapults Buffy into an alternate future dimension where vampires reign supreme. Imprisoned in the body of her 24-year-old-self -- and confronting friends and foes the likes of which she'd never imagined -- the Slayer must uncover her past misstep and correct it, or risk facing a terrifying monster that she herself has created....

It's 1940, and Europe is ravaged by World War II -- an ideal environment for demon paramours Spike and Drusilla. The anniversary of Dru's resurrection as a vamp impends, and Spike wants to celebrate. What better gift than Freya's Strand -- a powerful necklace rumored to allow its wearer to shape-shift at will? Spike learns of a demon named Skrymir, who claims to possess the bauble and is willing to trade.

Spike's task is to infiltrate the Watcher's Council headquarters and get his hands on the list of young women in training to take over as Slayer should they be called. In exchange for Freya's Strand, Spike must kill the reining Slayer, a brazen young woman named Sophie, as well as the Slayers-in-Waiting. And if he succeeds, it could mean the end of the Chosen One -- all of the Chosen Ones -- forever....

During a routine slaying, Buffy encounters a vampire named Veronique who knows the slayer's name and can anticipate her attack. One who doesn't have the proper respect for Mr. Pointy. One who cannot die. If slain, she will reincarnate in a new body.

An invincible demon is the last thing Buffy needs right now. Joyce Summers is about to undergo a serious operation, calling up all of her daughter's fears about her own mortality. Angel wants to comfort Buffy, but her mother's crisis underscores the differences between them: he will live forever, while she will grow old...or die young.

Torn between her duties as the Chosen One, Buffy needs the support of her friends to help her solve a rash of grave robberies, head off an influx of new vampires, and take Veronique down once and for all. For Veronique is on a mission -- to bring about the unification of her masters, the Triumvirate, into one all-powerful demon that will drink the blood of the last man on earth...

Buffy, Oz, and Angel are Europe-bound, only they're not flying any airlines. They're traveling limbo's "ghost roads" in search of Jacques Regnier. Jacques is the sole heir of the dying Gatekeeper whose Boston mansion is the supernatural barrier restraining thousands of the world's monsters. The evil Sons of Entropy will do anything to destroy the gate -- even if it means trading the power-laden Spear of Longinus to the wicked vampires holding Jacques.

Back home, the ghost ship Flying Dutchman has set sail for Sunnydale, determined to shanghai new crewmen -- dead or alive. For Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and Giles, it's an ocean of trouble, especially when the monstrous Kraken reemerges with a vengeance.

But everyone's assistance will be needed once Buffy locates Jacques, and uncovers the shocking plans the Sons of Entropy have already placed in motion -- a plan that, if successful, will destroy the world and create a horrible new realm ruled by monsters.

Led by the fanatical Il Maestro, the Sons of Entropy are assaulting the supernatural Boston mansion that holds back the realm of monsters, and stealing the life force from the besieged Gatekeeper. In limbo, the Ghost Roads are crumbling, becoming weak and unstable where Hell and the Otherworld have begun seeping in, blurring the passages that lead to the human world. And Xander lies mortally wounded from a failed attempt to free Joyce Summers from the clutches of the zealots who hold her hostage.

With the Gatekeeper rapidly weakening, Buffy sends Willow and Cordelia to escort Xander along the Ghost Roads to the Gatehouse, which may hold his only hope of survival. Meanwhile, she, Giles, and an unlikely band of allies take their fight to the very mouth of Hell itself, desperately hoping to save Joyce and repel the evil spawn before Sunnydale becomes a demonic ground zero. Only then can Buffy safeguard the Gatekeeper's eleven-year-old heir, the only one able to prevent the ultimate destruction of humanity.

"I'm the Slayer. Slay-er. Chosen One? She who hangs out a lot in cemeteries?
Ask around. Look it up: 'Slayer comma The.'"
-- Buffy, "Doomed"

As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers.

Dig into it: all--new character profiles, episode guides, quotables, and more -- a fully updated volume filled with the latest dirt on your favorite cemetery-hopper!

The Mayor, Faith, Mr. Trick, Angel's return, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, snow in Sunnydale, Graduation Day, Zachary Kralick, the end of the world -- again!, Spike, Veruca, Tara, Riley, Maggie Walsh, The Initiative, Adam -- and much, much more!

The Buffyverse: The World According to Buffy Summers.
Everybody Hurts: In Sunnydale, love can be downright scary.
Anarchy in the USA: How Buffy and Giles came to be footloose and Council-free.
Power Girls: Buffy, Kendra, Faith -- wasn't it supposed to be "Chosen One?"

BONUS: Creating Buffy: From brainstorm, to script, to genius on the small screen -- with a few tiny detours along the way.
Go behind the scenes for Season Four's pivotal episode "The I in Team" and catch all the action, from scouting locations to running lines with the stellar cast to music editing -- it's all inside!

THE GUYS, THE GALS, THE LORE, THE LINGO
The chillingly complete WATCHER'S GUIDE VOLUME 2 will slay you

Or so it was believed for eons...until Thrym the Hollow, Jotunheim's deposed King of the Frost Giants, rose from death.

This time, he would not rest until his foes were eviscerated, and his fearful tyranny reigned across the human realm of Midgard. Earth.

To combat the encroaching evil, the fates reveal a massive skeleton and iron hammer in an uncommon lightning storm on the frozen shores of Sweden. Sent to investigate are the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense's top operatives -- the amphibian humanoid Abraham Sapien and the equally anomalous crimson demon called Hellboy.

Only Hellboy can lift the seemingly immovable object from the lifeless figure's clutches. But when a lightning strike fuses the iron weapon to his stone right hand, the occult investigator becomes joined with the mightiest weapon in all of Norse mythology. Once wielded by the legendary thunder-bearer instrumental in Thrym's downfall, the hammer subjects Hellboy to an ancient life he has never lived, and visions no other can see. Yet even that knowledge, coupled with the aid of a talking squirrel, a beautiful folklorist and dwarfish Nidavellim warriors, may not thwart the Frost King. Regardless of whether Hellboy triumphs over Thrym and the other leviathans rising to wage war, he may still be forever lost to an essence not his own...lost among The Bones of Giants.

From the first vampire staking to the last glimpse of Sunnydale, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a genre-busting hit, attracting millions of fans worldwide. The last three seasons ran the gamut from an episode without music to a musical episode, from the arrival of a teenage sister to the death of Buffy (again).

Now the third volume in this best-selling series of companions will break down every episode of seasons five, six, and seven -- from the villains and the victims to quotables and love bytes -- as well as take a wide-ranging look back at the entire run of the show.

Additional features:

• Flashback Foreshadowing: A line-by-line deconstruction of the portents in the season four finale, "Restless"

• "Lost" lines of dialogue, stage directions, and descriptions cut from the original teleplays

• The Trio's Pop-Culture Explosion: Mastering the references of Geek Speak

• Critical (and not-so) essays from a variety of contributors on topics from Buffy's romantic optimism to Dawn's unfulfilled potential

Seven years, 144 episodes, 3 Slayers, 3 principals, 2 networks, 2 vampires with souls, 2 Watchers, 2 pigs, 1 Master, 1 Mayor, and 1 hit show (with tons of Potentials): It all adds up to one must-have volume!

Around Sunnydale, they say a scarecrow saturated with Halloween rain will come alive and slaughter anyone in sight. (Lovely place, Sunnydale.) Buffy's best friends, Xander and Willow, used to think the tale was nonsense -- but after a few adventures with Buffy, they're not so sure.

Even without a maniacal scarecrow, a Sunnydale Halloween is a truly horrific happening. There are enough zombies and vampires about, ready to party hearty and eat some brains, to keep the Slayer and her friends up all night.

And then rain starts to fall....

Slayer duties caused Buffy to miss picking up her Yearbook, so Willow took it for her and enlisted the help of Xander, 0z, Cordelia, Giles, and Angel to make it truly special. Filled with personal notes, candid photos, and in-jokes about Slayerfest, Halloween, substitute teachers, the principal who was eaten, Ascension, etc. -- Buffy's Yearbook is part school publication, part memory book.

Written by the authors of the bestselling The Watcher's Guide, this keepsake volume is packed with key references to the show and characters, 32 full-color pages of fan-favorite moments, and Graduation photos!

Jousting contests, human chess matches, lords and ladies and beggars...a traveling Renaissance fair has come to Sunnydale. The fair may seem terminally uncool, but Buffy and her friends are charmed anyway. Especially by a sad-eyed boy named Roland, who serves as the court jester.

Unfortunately, the people from the fair are not the only visitors in Sunnydale. Roaming the countryside are nasty little creatures with a taste for flesh: the dark faerie. They are minions of the Wild Hunt, servants of the evil Erl King.

Buffy's challenge is to annihilate the king and his murderous horde. But the path to his destruction leads straight to Roland, who is not quite human...and destined to become the Slayer's mortal adversary.

One night while on patrol, the Slayer and her friends are outnumbered and receive aid from a totally unexpected source:

Buffy's old flame, Pike. He and Buffy had a complex relationship back in Los Angeles, when the Chosen One was first called. Now, Pike has arrived in Sunnydale, on the run from a stone demon with a grudge. Faced with this blast from the past, Buffy finds herself caught between her history with Pike...and her future with Angel.

But there's little time to contemplate this situation as vamp activity rises and Giles, in particular, becomes the target of mysterious, brutal attacks. Buffy suspects a deeper connection between old friends and new enemies. With the help of her friends, Buffy unmasks the evil entities -- and discovers that even a Watcher can be watched....

Since he arrived in Los Angeles, Angel's mission has been to help the helpless. He has saved countless innocents in his city. However, one escaped his grasp: Doyle, the half-demon who came to Angel on a vision quest. Doyle sacrificed himself and in turn reconciled his internal conflict toward his own demonic heritage, leaving Angel and Cordelia to carry on with the good fight. And fight they do.

But as the group squares off against evil in the City of Angels, little do they know that back in Sunnydale, trouble is brewing. A shakedown of snitches yields info: Someone other than Buffy has been slaying -- and whoever it is, he or she is strictly after half-breeds, going so far as to lie in wait to attack. It doesn't add up, and the Scoobies are stumped.

But back in L.A. the picture becomes clearer when Angel Investigations is visited by an unexpected guest....

When Jenna Blake starts her freshman year at Somerset University, she's not only living on her own for the first time, she's moving closer to the father she never really knew. It's an exciting time, filled with new faces and new challenges, not to mention parties and guys and...corpses?

Jenna feels torn about her future. She'd like to be a doctor like her mother, but she can't stand the sight of blood. Her father, a criminology professor, thinks he has the answer and sends her to interview for a job with the medical examiner -- an interview that takes place in the middle of an autopsy.

When a congressional aide goes violently insane and then drops dead, the pathology team at Somerset Medical Center discovers that his brain was ravaged with disease -- and loaded with insect larvae. As Jenna starts her new job, she is drawn into a web of terrifying disease, dangerous politics, and intriguing mystery. And when one of her professors ends up dead, she starts making connections even the police haven't seen...connections which will bring her face to face with a pair of killers: one medical, and one all too human.

The Hellmouth (a.k.a. Sunnydale, CA) has drawn vampires, witches, and other demons to its powerful vortex. Now it has also drawn the attention of an ancient set of Druids -- allies in Buffy Summers' battle against the Undead.

Clocked in Darkness, wrapped in mystery, the Druids descend on Sunnydale ready to perform new rituals to summon forth a new world order, free from the evil that shapes Buffy's nights.

But the Slayer's concerns are more immediate -- someone is stalking her friends. Cordelia, Xander, and Oz -- all are falling victim to this spell. And now it's up to Willow and Giles to find the cause, while Buffy stands between the Mouth of Hell and the New Dawn.

Vampires, werewolves, witches, demons of nonspecific origin. All of them are drawn to the Hellmouth in Sunnydale. California. And all of them have met their fate at the hands -- or stake -- of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since its premiere. the popular TV show has pitted the Chosen One against the forces of darkness on a weekly basis. And her success is due in part to the intense research her Watcher Rupert Giles. and the rest of the gang have done to find the origin and best method of disposal for each villain.

The Monster Book expands upon information revealed through Giles' research and knowledge, exploring the mythological, literary, and cultural origins of the endless numbers of ghoulish creatures that have tried to take a piece of the Slayer. Before the Master, there was Dracula, before "Becoming," there was Nosferatu. Before Buffy, there was...no one. The true horror fan knows that the legend of the vampire has existed for as long as there have been legends. But the demons that greet the business end of Buffy's stake are one part tradition, three parts creative genius. Indeed, the Buffy creators have purposefully moved away from recent vampire fictions to find a middle ground among ancient lore, Bram Stoker's "rules." and their own twist on the topic.

"Well, if we close our eyes and say it's all just a dream it'll stab us to death. These things are real."
-- Xander. "Fear, Itself"

Here you'll find exclusive interviews with series creator Joss Whedon and the Emmy®-nominated team that creates the images you can't shake.
The Monster Book welcomes you to the Hellmouth.

Enter at your own risk.

"Wish me monsters."
-- Buffy, "Living Conditions"

The Creature from the Black Lagoon's less attractive cousin has hit the Sunnydale scene, and Buffy and Co. are all over the new threat. So the Scoobs are stunned, naturally, when members of the Watcher's Council arrive, explaining -- or rather, insisting -- that they've got the matter "under control."

Enter Faith.

The Council has found a way to spring the rogue-but-repentant Slayer from jail to combat the water beast, and she is enjoying her stint as "the Good One." Buffy, a self-declared independent operator for quite some time, thinks she is going to have to do a little digging. What connection could the Council have to these horrific creatures? There's some soul-searching in store for the Slayer. Even if Buffy is ready to align with the Council, is this a battle worth fighting?

Besides, there's plenty of evil afoot as it is. A unified troop of vampires has descended upon Sunnydale, operating with a cohesion unusual to most bloodsuckers. Giles thinks a spell will help the gang combat these foes, but tension between Buffy and Willow gets in the way of demon hunting.

Before long, a single moment of bad judgment catapults Buffy into an alternate future dimension where vampires reign supreme. Imprisoned in the body of her 24-tear-old self, the Slayer must uncover her past misstep and correct it -- or risk facing a terrifying monster that she herself has created...

Sunnydale has always been a haven for creatures of the underworld. But when Buffy Summers awakes in a possible future, she is stunned to discover that Southern California has fallen under vampire rule. Buffy learns that her Slayerettes have already rallied together against the new order. But they're different now: Willow is a full-fledged sorceress, Xander a battle-scarred, humorless man, and Oz a frightening split personality. Almost more shocking is that Faith's gone, and a new Slayer has been called in her stead. Buffy's astonished at the terrifying alternate reality for which only she herself is to blame.

Back in the present, Buffy's friends can't figure out why the Slayer is behaving so strangely. They don't realize that the Prophet has inhabited her body. Either they're going to have to bring their friend back or Buffy herself, still trapped in the future, will have to find her own way home -- but not before confronting her worst nightmare....

To be continued...

Joyce Summers is dead. Spike has been slain and Faith, rogue Slayer, is gone as well. Southern California has fallen under vampire rule.

And Rupert Giles is Vampire King.

Buffy can hold no one but herself responsible for this grim possible future; her own insecurities and petty jealousies led to this moment. She must now gather her inner strength and combat the demon that inhabits the corpse of her most trusted mentor. With the help of Willow and the Slayerettes, Buffy must invoke the elements, stave off a vampire stronghold, and return to her real-time body -- but not before identifying and preventing the misstep that brought about the oppression of those she holds closest....

The Conclusion

In the upper reaches of the Himalayas, Hellboy's ex-girlfriend, archaeologist Anastasia Bransfield, believes she has found the location of the legendary "Dragon King Pool" -- thought to be the ancient dwelling of an evil dragon who inflicted horrific devastation on the land and its people. Every year the villagers would sacrifice a child to placate the beast, until one day an unlikely hero fought the dragon and won, bringing peace and prosperity to the land.

But Anastasia's triumph at her discovery is short-lived. Soon unearthly creatures are seen lurking around the dig site, someone is sabotaging the excavation with dire results, and the young daughter of one of the dig leaders goes missing. It looks like a job for Hellboy -- but his toughest challenge might be putting his past with Anastasia behind him....

Bitten by his werewolf cousin Jordy, Oz has struggled with the forces of evil that transform him to a beast three nights of each month. Those who care about him have learned to deal with his alter ego and accept him for who he is.

But Oz himself isn't sure who he really is. Part human, part dangerous animal, he must constantly question his basic nature, and worries that he might, as the wolf, bring harm to his loved ones. Therefore, with great difficulty, he leaves Sunnydale and sets off on a course toward enlightenment. Giles has told him of a Watcher in the Fiji Islands who might help him to transcend the lunar pull.

Oz's journeys take him from Tibet to Australia, and even to Hong Kong. Far-flung regions and exotic cultures provide new understandings of consciousness and human nature. Before long, though, he realizes that he must gain control of his inner wolf sooner rather than later -- or risk finding himself not predator, but rather, prey...

That's the very real question facing college freshman Jenna Blake, and it has nothing to do with romance and heartbreak. A second grisly murder mystery is unfolding at Somerset University, and her job as a pathology assistant at the local hospital brings Jenna too close to the haunting crimes.

Everyone has a theory on the nature of the killings, including Jenna's older half-brother, Pierce Logan, who's new in town and has some odd ideas about why someone would want to steal a human heart.

Meanwhile, Jenna begins working on her own heart when she meets a fascinating older man. But there's little time for dating when the Thief of Hearts declares Somerset the perfect hunting ground -- and someone very close to Jenna is the prey.

This comprehensive book contains:
* An introduction to roleplaying and the Buffyverse.
* A guide to character creation including the entire original cast for your quick-play pleasure.
* A primer on magic mojo.
* A guide to hotspots in Sunnydale.
* Monsters and five Big Bads.
* Blow by blow details on how to create Buffy roleplaying episodes.
* A guide to Buffy speak to colorize your games.

All this and more is packed with vivid art and screen shots beautifully assembled into this full color book.