The Vampire Circus: Five Questions With the Show's Real Life Circus Freaks

The "Wheel of Death" at The Vampire Circus.

Like any evil villain, Count Dracula has one goal: world domination. And like most evil villains, he has a half-diabolical, half-comically unlikely plan to achieve it. "I'll launch a traveling circus with my minions as the stars," Dracula mused to himself in his lair in 19th-century Bohemia. "It'll be the perfect cover-up for my plan to turn all the souls of the earth into undead blood-suckers!"

That's the premise of The Vampire Circus, the big top act at Bayfront Park that combines the feats of Barnum & Bailey with the scary sensuality of True Blood. Thirty different vamp-artists show off skills like magic, acrobatics, and other carnival tricks. We reached out to two of them -- "sensual hula hoop vampstress" Ailona and Vlacius, a juggler who comes with a warning: "beware of his deadly skills with the juggling clubs and still having the time to strike to quench his taste for blood" -- for their bloodthirsty thoughts on vampire culture, the circus' best acts, and of course, Team Edward vs. Team Jacob.