Author's Note:
So for those you who don't know, my storybook is based on a real unsolved mystery. So, all the hikers mentioned in this story were real people who died tragic deaths, but the cause of their deaths remains a mystery to this day. Because the hikers' deaths remain mysteries, and they all died in very unusual ways, I decided to create a mythical storybook using creatures of local legends as their cause of death. My first story, Creature of Night, is based on the Russian Folklore stories about vampires in White Russia and Ukraine. Yuri Krivonischenko and Yuri Doroshenko were the first two bodies found on the recovery mission in 1959. Despite temperatures of −13 to −22°F on the night of their deaths, both men’s bodies were found shoeless and wearing only underwear. There were also remnants of a small fire found near them. Above the bodies branches on the tree were broken indicating that at least one of the men had climbed it, so I wrote these bits of evidence into the story of how I imagined it happened. There was also remnants of human flesh found on the bark of the tree, and the men's arms were cut up, like they were trying to climb the tree. Out of all the deaths, Krivonischenko and Doroshenkoand had the least external and internal damage which is why I thought a vampire antagonist would fit the story best.
Story Source: The real vampire in Russia and Slavonic countries & The Soldier and the Vampire