‘Virginia Creeper’ explores a female vampire’s secluded yet self-sufficient life in a sleepy backwater of Suffolk. The author wrote it to honor the upcoming celebration of Halloween but it was predominantly inspired by seeing a house covered in a bewitching plethora of poison ivy: scarlet red, bronze and gold leaves. The colors mesmerized the author and gave her an impetus to write. The idea of an isolated manor house covered in beautiful yet macabre leaves became an integral setting for this gothic horror short story.