#vampire shifting

THE GLASS CATHEDRAL. a former megachurch turned vamp-packed rave spot, with laser lights beaming through the stained glass and countless bodies packed into the massive space—constantly moving and dancing without ever getting tired

ECHO PARK 24HR CORNER LIQUOR. they mostly sell vape pens and 99-cent wine, but there’s a back fridge full of very… specific… things, if you know how to ask for them. you’re pretty sure the clerk has never blinked

ASTRO FAMILY ARCADE. dingy and fluorescently-lit in a way that isn’t flattering to anyone—packed with Dance Dance Revolution and air hockey and other machines, some from decades ago. the staff pays zero attention and couldn’t care less about anything that happens after 2am

SUNSET BOULEVARD SMOKE SHOP. stocked with incense, weird ritualistic-seeming religious symbols from across the world, bongs shaped like Egyptian gods—and blood-flavored cigarettes, if you know how to ask

CRIMSON PUCK. a hockey-central dive bar that blasts 80’s hardcore music and is constantly showing old hockey footage. the place is crawling with vamps, drunk ex-roadies, pissed-off barbacks, and various bar fights that occur between paranormal creatures in sexy hockey jerseys

HOLLYWOOD FOREVER CEMETARY. security leaves after dark, and the gate hinges rusted and fell off years ago. tons of vamps go just to smoke the whole place out and chat

BABYDOLL’S BARGAIN PARADISE. hoarder-style super thrift store with fluorescent lighting, busted shopping carts, and a sprawling aisle of VHS tapes. absolutely stacked with vintage goods, clothes from the 90’s and video games from the 80’s and music from the 70’s. they’re constantly getting new stuff

THE MIDNIGHT MCDONALD’S ON BEVERLY & VERMONT. the absolute worst McDonald’s of all time. bright as hell and has a weird ass vibe, but something about it is still oddly irresistible

24HR NEWSSTAND ON FAIRFAX. the cashier is perpetually smoking in the back, or sleeping slumped over on the counter. it carries obscure European fashion mags from the ‘80s and dusty occult zines that people loiter around to read there instead of actually buying

BELLE’S TO-GEAUX. by far the best Cajun place in LA (wonder why), and it’s an overnight place with a fast-moving drive through. they give out $5 plates on Sundays past 3am

FANGBANG SOCIAL CLUB. trashy, slutty nightclub that technically never closes. glitter floors, sticky bar tops, cracked disco balls. they blast 2000’s pop and vamps go there to grind on eachother, sob in the bathroom, hook up out back. there’s absolutely no windows or clocks anywhere inside

BOYLE HEIGHTS’ MIDNIGHT CHOP SHOP [ INVITE ONLY ]. technically very illegal, definitely vamp-owned. you can bring in whatever you’ve got that’s broken—motorcycles, limbs, hearts, etc—and they’ll do their best to fix it. don’t expect to get it back the way you brought it, though

BAR HEXA. an astrology-themed dive bar where each drink named after a sign, with clever rotating promotions about Virgos drinking for free, Capricorns having to buy Libras a drink, and things like that. nobody is ever sober, and everyone wants to talk about their dreams. the bartenders are pretty much all former cult members

LITTLE TOKYO CRYOTHERAPY & SKIN CLINIC. they’re open all hours, because the wealthy famously like to be icy at 3am. the vamps show up for the cold, sterile atmosphere, and nobody really questions paleness there

SLUDGEPOP. hyper-sweet candy rave shop with shimmering neon-painted walls that looks like a Nickelodeon set from 1997 exploded. they sell absolutely massive neon slushies and psychedelic jawbreakers (and many other things that aren’t FDA approved)

CATALINA LIQUOR. they stock obscure Eastern European wines, expired candy, and vintage cigarette brands. customers come for many, many creatures comforts that they can’t find anywhere else

TOMB SERVICE. an ironic goth-themed 24hr convenience store that used to be an eye-roll thing until the bats realized that it’s, unfortunately, perfect. one of the only gaudy places designed by humans that ended up being perfect for vamps. black shelving, a fake fog machine, stocked with things like obscure soda, absinthe candy, and blood sugar meds

GROTTO 39 LANES. bowling, cheap beer, neon lights, and loud music—the kind of place that’s perfect for both extroverts looking to mix socially, and vamps looking to blend into the colored lights and the thick of people after dark

BLACK LUNG PAPERBACKS. noir bookshop with old tiled floors, wallpapered walls that reek of cigarettes, and dim grayish lamps. they specialize in detective pulp, nihilist poetry, and out-of-print lesbian vampire fiction. the owner is blind, but still pays more attention than most others

MIDNIGHT GRILL BBQ. 24hr Korean barbecue joint with deep, squishy booths and thick smoke. vamps like to rent a table, order way too much raw meat, and stare at the flickering grill flame for hours

CLOAK & ANTLER, EAST HOLLYWOOD. half dive bar, half rodeo fantasy. vamps come here to do the two-step, start drama, and watch the cowboy crowd that’s wrapped in leather with anthropological fascination. the disco ball never stops spinning, and the room is filled with a wild tension

DREAMSCAPE LAUNDROMAT. flickering green fluorescents over beaten-up spinning laundry machines, an old sofa in the back to wait for your clothes on, and a forgotten arcade machine. it’s kinda the perfect place to wash blood out of clothes

R.I.P. CURL. 24hr surf shop in Venice, crowded with surfboards, floor lightly dusted in sand, with a 3am espresso bar in the back. it’s mostly humans there, but a few ocean-loving vamps hang out—salty, restless, always barefoot

SOCCORRA’S TACO WINDOW. there’s no seating, no decorations—just really good tacos and a really aggressive stray cat outside. vamps tend to love the place because nobody talks or makes eye contact with eachother

EXIT GAME. downtown escape room complex that’s technically “open until 2am,” but they have plenty of rooms that stay open the whole night. most are standard fare, run-of-the-mill escape rooms, but there’s one that hasn’t been solved since 1997. they’re intricate and detailed and tons of fun

NORTH HOLLYWOOD HOOKAH LOUNGE. a place that hums with low light and stranger-than-fiction clientele. nobody notices people chatting about ethics or feeding on some innocent nicotine addict when there’s so much smoke smothering the room

FEVER PLANET. a disco roller rink with glitter, strobing lasers, and pop remixes booming through massive speakers. it feels like Studio 54 got hit with a meteor, somewhere vamps go to let go of 500 years of Catholic repression and roller skate half-naked under strobe lights, no questions asked

MELROSE ALL-NIGHT TATTOO. they don’t take walk-ins and it’s pretty much impossible to make an appointment for before 9pm. a couple of the artists have been there “since the 90s” and somehow still look twenty-five

STAR LUBE. a downtown autobody shop that also does body modifications, and counts as a coffee shop, too. oil changes, piercings, espresso. no one’s really sure how this place got its permits, but the vamps obviously don’t care and come for the no-questions atmosphere

OPEN-AIR GYM ON 7TH & MATEO. it’s outdoor, unofficial and lowkey, and only really lit by car headlights and fire barrels. there’s one desk person who always sleeps after dark during their night shift, so vamps show up to toss eachother around in the back, or drink, or just watch everyone else

BLUNT OBJECTS. hyper-curated sex shop that’s all latex with no labels. there’s a redlit hallway that seems to go on forever, and sex workers, vamps and general freaks mingle over glass cases filled with hand-poured wax toys and bite play accessories. there’s no receipts and absolutely no returns

HOUSE OF PIES. unassuming and always open. believe it or not, some bats just want a slice of banana cream and a booth to brood in without being bothered. they get it here, and blend right in

CANOGA PARK ALL-NIGHT STUDIO. soundproof rooms go for $25 an hour, where punk bands, drag performers, performance artists, or vamps with unfinished shoegaze albums from 1997 come to practice their old stuff. can’t hear screams from inside any of the rooms, either

MISS MEAT MARKET. this hole-in-the-wall used to be just an all-night butcher, but it’s since been transformed into a wine and tarot bar with amazing ambience, sexy lighting, and an evocative playlist. you can still come to get a good chunk of meat disassembled, though

KOREATOWN BOOK DUNGEON. not a chain, it doesn’t have a website, and it’s cash-only. books have zero organizational pattern, they’re just stacked up and down every single wall. some grad students argue about Walter Benjamin, and the vamps blend into the background

SICKOTOWN. underground nightclub that never legally opens or closes—no signage, constantly moves locations. you can only find it through glitchy Instagram stories and flyers with bloodsoaked edges. you can look forward to red lasers, deafening techno, and a slick dance floor

TANGERINE LOUNGE. juice bar with a massive, extensive menu of fresh and hybrid juices, that also offers tarot readings. it’s aggressively chill and nonjudgmental, and has a weirdly sensual playlist

FIXER’S ROOM. vintage electronics repair shop in MacArthur Park with seemingly random hours. vamps often bring in extremely old technology like tape decks, vintage cameras, and broken clocks—the kinda things they have from way back when they were alive, and no one knows how to work on anymore—but no matter what, you always leave with a working device

VIDIOTS. literally a temple for those who love VHS. they’ve got niche horror screenings, late-night rentals, a stocked bar cart, and clerks who couldn’t care less what goes on

JUMBO’S CLOWN ROOM. a divey, punk-influenced strip club where the undead don’t stand out among the other weird customers. it’s got a kitschy circus vibe, and many of the dancers look like little carnival kittens. plenty of bats love the energy—low stakes, high weirdness

SUNSET 24HR PRINT & COPY. they can produce ten thousand flyers by dawn, and there’s always two guys working there that don’t ask questions. most people don’t actually need ten thousand flyers, but lots of vamps print fake documents there

EIGHTBALLER. billiards dive bar near Burbank that hasn’t changed since like ‘89. it smells like menthols and old spice in there and the lighting is super low. they have $3 whiskey and a jukebox that devours coins without ever playing your requested song

CANTER’S DELI. a classic Jewish bakery, except for the extremely intense yellow lighting and the weird atmosphere. still, they’ve got incredible borscht

SUGARDOOM. a cutesy-themed candy boutique in Little Tokyo that’s all pink, all night long. they’ve got Japanese import candy, gigantic gumballs, liquid sugar sticks, and bursting crimson fruit jellies

NO-REST MOTEL. it’s off the 5, always vacant, kind of feels like a David Lynch location. the sign outside flickers and the front desk person is creepier than all the customers combined. vamps use it for feeding, hiding, or when they just need an ugly room with peeling floral wallpaper

WIDOWS. a dive bar styled like a 1940’s war widow’s house—lace curtains, wet velvet, old jazz, gin martinis. half the drinks come in cracked teacups, and the backroom is invite-only

SABBATH CYCLE. all-night spin and pilates studio in Downtown Los Angeles, where all classes start at midnight and are lit by candles. the instructors usually just blast Ethel Cain remixes and scream instructions, while the vamps try to twist and bang their ever-unchanging bodies into a different shape

THE 101 DINER. technically for tourists, but they come during the day—vinyl booths, truckers stopping by for bottomless coffee. the night shift doesn’t give a shit what goes on, so that’s when the vamps come by

FANGS N’ BANGS. an all-night hair, nail and beauty salon that’s unapologetically garish. they’ve got hot pink walls, chrome pedicure chairs, EDM playing on loop. the staff doesn’t care what you are as long as you tip, and there are certain stylists that you can share all the gossip with… like, tell anything to

THE NEPTUNE ROOM. 24hr bathhouse that’s not even remotely subtle. steam, sex, dark corners. vamps use this place to feed, hook up, or just sit in the sauna and soak up some heat for once

CRAVE CAFE. always-open, they’re a hybrid between a café and creperie. plenty of people come for the pancakes stuffed with chocolate, and most of the vamps come for the giant menu, the fast WiFi, and the baristas who are extremely unconcerned with what they see and pay less than zero attention

24HR SILVERLAKE LAUNDROMAT & CAFE. think obnoxious neon lighting that assaults your eyeballs in shades of blue and red, terribly glitchy indie playlists, $9 espresso, and a rotating variety of night drifters constantly passing through

RENATA’S DOUGHNUTS. softly-lit and open all night, with a formica counter and baby blue booths inside. there’s a drive through that plenty of vamps roll through with heavily tinted windows, to pick up an assortment of sweets filled with soooo much jelly

GLOWHOLE. an alien-themed and mostly gay karaoke bar that opens whenever the staff feels like it—usually around 10pm, open all night. some people do karaoke in alien masks, and vamps dig the no-pressure vibe and dramatic lighting. one regular only sings E.T. by Katy Perry over and over again

FAIRFAX LATE-NIGHT PAWN & GOLD. pawn shop open 24/7 that has bulletproof glass on all the windows, and an extreme paranoia problem. Usually where vamps go to sell stolen or immorally inherited antiques, or shop for weird stuff. seriously though, don’t even look at the clerk for too long

LE PETTY MORT. a combination all-night laundromat and wine bar. they didn’t even intend to attract a vamp crowd, but that’s what happened when they offered the ability to wash a load and sip merlot at the same time

VENICE BEACH BOARDWALK, PRE-DAWN FREAK HOUR. obviously somewhere everyone goes, but vamps are most often there in the hour before sunrise. they walk around, throw themselves into the ocean without attracting attention, and eat at the food stands that open early

GRIME & VINYL. a vintage record store & flea market that’s tucked in a half-collapsed warehouse. there’s always a booth selling taxidermy, next to one blasting old R&B. vamps hawk antiques, buy gaudy jewelry, and gossip here between 2-6am

VENENO GUT FEELING. pop-up taco stand that’s only open after 11pm. the food there is incredible, they’ve got open flames to cook over that provide light and heat to stand near, stray dogs linger nearby, and there’s the persistent feeling something weird might happen

MILK BAR. the perfect place to scratch the sugar itch at 2am with cereal milk soft serve—and no judgment, because the staff is paying zero attention

THE NEON KISS OF DEATH. the only strip club that’s pretty much exclusively filled with vamps. of course, it’s open all hours, pulsing with old pop music and flashing neon pink lights. many of the dancers have pinprick holes in them… but they also make much more money than the girls at other places, so maybe it’s a give-and-take

SUN NONG DAN. stew filled with raw spicy meat—and zero questions asked. it’s popular with the vamp crowd mostly because of the heat, and the long meals that stretch into dawn

PROMISE 2 LICK. a punk-adjacent sex shop in Echo Park that’s open 24/7 with no cameras, and no judgment. it smells like rubber and patchouli, and they stock everything from vintage Playgirl mags to hand-carved bloodletting tools

VENICE BEACH SKATEPARK. full of teenagers during the day, but vamps are the midnight crowd. they congregate to smoke and do insanely dangerous tricks in the bowl (usually breaking a couple arms in the process)

CHEAP PLASTIC PARADISE. think Hawaiian funeral dive bar, but if a Barbie-doll shop exploded inside—tacky plastic leis, synthetic pink-orange fog, glowing cocktails. old reality TV blares from the vintage screens by the booths, half the surfaces are sticky with some sweet mango syrup

VOIDSPACE BOBA. boba in Silver Lake that caters to mostly goth people and witches—but attract a vamp crowd as a side effect. 24hr tea lab with black sugar pearls, lavender foam, rose syrup, and blood orange everything

WEST HOLLYWOOD 24HR SPA. a Korean spa with steam rooms, cold pools, and no clocks. it’s good if you’re relaxing, or trying to stalk someone between eucalyptus mist clouds (to eat or ask out, not sure)

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[this DR is pretty much just me living out the plot of a vampire webcomic I've been working on for the past year.]

Me and my kind of older brother figure, Mikey, are just two vampires who live in a very shitty little house and spend their time pissing off the police, listening to loud music and trying to fly under the radar of the vampire government. this is mostly because Mikey kind of pissed them off a bit in the 60s.

i live a double life of sorts, spending my days going to school and hanging around the skatepark with my friends, and my nights sneaking around with Mikey, stealing from hospitals and committing minor crimes (mostly vandalism with a bit of shoplifting.)

Until one day a boy arrives in town. he is the son of one of the members of the vampire council, and they've been sent to keep an eye on us. However, this boy is incapable of being nonchalant, so we strike a deal: i will help him be normal and avoid getting him caught, and he will hide some things from his father

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I. Bloody, rare steak

II. Pages and pages of journal ranting in swirling cursive handwriting

III. Shimmery cool red lipstick

IV. Raw meat

V. Red vintage convertible driving through deserts and mountains

VI. Discontinued lipstick shades

VII. Candied apples

VIII. Water towers & climbing them

IX. Being covered in dirt and scratches from sticks

X. Out-of-control bonfires

XI. Smoking out open windows

XII. Long, sharp nails

XIII. Deep red cocktails with rose garnishes

XIV. Playgrounds at night

XV. Crystal-clear streams & massive lakes

XVI. Tequila shots

XVII. Neon-lit motels with pools

XVIII. Fresh sliced fruit

XIX. Eating at 24h diners in the middle of the night

XX. Blood bags

XXI. Gritty, poor-quality photos

XXII. Cornfields

XXIII. Falling asleep in the woods

XXIV. Camping trips in the middle of the mountains

XXV. Rare fruit jams & preserves

XXVI. Soda in glass bottles

XXVII. Lobster drenched in butter and served in its shell

XXVIII. Ruby & garnet red jewelry

XXIX. Silver lockets with photos of people that aren’t alive anymore

XXX. Abandoned churches

XXXI. Bats and their little cute faces

XXXII. Six-inch heels

XXXIII. Velvet bedsheets & lace canopies

XXXIV. Stained glass windows

XXXV. Gargoyles

XXXVI. Vladimir Nabokov’s letters to Vera

XXXVII. Parties that go on for days

XXXVIII. Red lillies

XXXIX. Dior Hypnotic Poison

XL. Pomegranate seeds

XLI. Keeping flip phones & landlines long past their time

XLII. Walking around barefoot

XLIII. Silkstone Barbies

XLIV. Explicit public displays of affection

XLV. Grimy dive bars

XLVI. Massive collections of books

XLVII. Madonna’s Inn

XLVIII. Rich chocolate cake

XLIX. Obsessively watching movies

L. Cherry & chocolate flavored cigarettes

LI. Crystal decanters

LII. Wandering around in the wilderness

LIII. Antique stores

LIV. Vacation benders that last for days and days on end

LV. Animal bones

LVI. Cream-filled strawberries

LVII. Hunting rifles

LVIII. Walking the train-tracks at night

LIX. Black bears & grizzlies

LX. Rich chocolate cake