Varla Ventura: Mermaids, Vampires, Werewolves, Banshees, Oh My!

We interviewed Varla Ventura at The Church of Mabus radio show you can listen for free here

http://churchofmabusradio.com/1818/church-of-mabus/varla-ventura-among-the-mermaids/

With Hosts Jeffery Pritchett and Beezlebub

Among the Mermaids: Facts, Myths, and Enchantments from the Sirens of the Sea Plus we talked about her upcoming book Banshees, Werewolves, Vampires, and Other Creatures of the Night: Facts, Fictions, and First-Hand Accounts

From Homer’s Odyssey to Pirates of the Caribbean, Mermaids have fascinated popular culture for centuries.

Among the Mermaids is an enchanting collection of classic stories, facts, and tales of mermaids from around the world that will thrill every lover of this romanticized mythological creature.

Compiled by Book of the Bizarre author and Magical Creature devotee Varla Ventura, Among the Mermaids includes turn of the century tales of merfolk from Bret Harte, T. Crofton Croker, and W.B. Yeats, along with tantalizing trivia, facts, first-hand accounts, and speculations about mermaids in popular culture.

Some facts about the fluid and the fair from the book:

Many people believe today that early explorer sightings of mermaids were manatees. (Scurvy + many days away from your lady = a blubbery creature looking supple and bodacious.)

Blackbeard, the fierce and terrible pirate, was afraid of his crew being lured into a watery grave by mermaids, so he ordered his ships to avoid certain areas reputed to have a high number of mermaid sightings.

Since 2009, the town of Kiryat Yam, Israel has offered a prize of $1 million dollars to anyone who can prove the mermaid off their coast is real. The prize remains unclaimed.

• Famous vampires you may not know
• The identity of the author of the first English vampire novel (and his relationship to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein)
• Excerpts from the first psychic vampire novel ever written
• Stories of 19th century werewolf hunters 
• Why banshees are the most feared of supernatural creatures