I’ll admit to never having read the “Twilight” saga, but I certainly remember the vampire mania novelist Stephenie Meyer’s series set off. In fact, while working at a bookstore, I was once tasked with guarding the latest installment. I had to make sure eager fans didn’t sneak a peek until the stroke of midnight.

But readers of these books and viewers of the movies made from them would barely have recognized the first vampires. Related myths may have begun a millennium ago, University of Virginia Slavic folklore expert Stanley Stepanic writes – often linked with diseases. Over the centuries, tales about the undead evolved in response to epidemics, war and cultural change, including a period called the “Great Vampire Epidemic,” when hysteria spread across much of Europe.

Whether the vampires at their heart are dashing or diseased, these myths don’t seem to die. They just transform.

This week we also liked articles about corporate sustainability-as-usual policies, why you should avoid telling kids that you’re worried about their weight and a surprising reason for some unnecessary C-sections.