The monster book - S.R. Bisette Golden

Starting with Giles' research into the various monsters and demons Buffy and the gang have encountered, this book then delves into the folklore that inspired the show's bad guys - their mythology, science, cultural, literary and historical origins.
Take vampires, for example. Their portrayal (including their strengths and weaknesses) has varied from Bram Stoker to Buffy and all those films, TV programmes and novels in between. THE MONSTER BOOK looks at how vampires are created (figuratively and literally) on the show, including interviews with series creator, Joss Whedon, as well as the writers, Emmy-nominated makeup and costume artists, stunt men and actors. It also explores the vampire mythology as developed in other forms of popular culture. The same applies to werewolves, witches, ghouls and zombies, and all the many monsters, both familiar and weird, who have menaced Sunnydale as they congregate on the Hellmouth in the course of four scary seasons.
From Inca mummies to reptile gods, from ancient Sumerian demons to hyena spirits, from grim Germanic goblins to the apocalyptic Judge, there's much more to Buffy than the meticulously reconstructed vampires alone. Meet them all, safely captured and examined for your entertainment and erudition in between the covers of THE MONSTER BOOK: a book no Buffy fan - and no fan of the demonic, the monstrous and the supernatural - will want to be without.