Varla Ventura is the author of  Fairies, Pookas and Changelings: A Complete Guide to the Wild and Wicked Enchanted Realm; Banshees, Werewolves, Vampires, and Other Creatures of the Night: Facts, Fictions and First Hand Accounts; Among the Mermaids: Facts, Myths & Enchantments of the Sirens of the Sea; The Book of the Bizarre: Freaky Facts and Strange Stories and Beyond Bizarre: Frightening Facts and Blood-Curdling True Tales Bizarre. Born just outside the wild jungle of San Francisco, she moved to the gold-streaked foothills of Northern California as a young girl, where her family drew water from an old well and used kerosene lamps in the night. With a Texan father and a SF-native witch for a mother, she spent many of her formative years between woodland outings and cemetery picnics. These days she can often be found lurking about the deep dark woods and lakes of Minnesota on the hunt for beastly things, magical herbs and the elusive Little Men of legend.