"Vikram and the Vampire: Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance" is a collection of tales originally written in Sanskrit, with recensions dating to the 11th century. The work follows legendary King Vikramāditya as he attempts to capture a vetala—a vampire spirit inhabiting dead bodies and hanging from a tree. Each time the king seizes the creature, it tells a story ending with a riddle. If Vikrama answers correctly, the vampire escapes back to its tree, forcing him to start over. Through twenty-five attempts, this cycle reveals both entertainment and danger, as a dark plot gradually unfolds. (This is an automatically generated summary.)