When someone says “faerie,” ’fess up: Do you think of Tinker Bell? A tiny little blonde who hangs around with a tribe of cute and helpful, frolicking pixies?

Those are not the particular brand of fae I want to discuss. So put all that sweetness and light out of your mind, and head with me to the darker side of faeries.

Perhaps the most well-known and recent occurrence of faerie is in [highlight for spoilers] Season 3 of True Blood, where we discovered that Sookie is part-fae, and then some other fae strolled into Bon Temps, Louisiana, [highlight for spoilers] and tried to destroy the town and its inhabitants.

Spoilers below.

Or the fae that almost, ahem, sexed Mac (from Karen Marie Moning’s Fever Series) ’til death in a museum, leaving her naked on the floor in front of tons of onlookers (he apologized for it later, in the Fever Series, for what that’s worth). But what is the inspiration for these somewhere between angelic and demonic creatures?

Faeries, or the Fae, originally appeared in old English tales to help explain either unnatural events or disabilities in humans. Some distraught parents believed that the Fae took children and replaced them with changelings. More recently, ties have been made between the fae and modern-day wiccans—it is believed that the Fae will assist the Witch with spells if they can trust the welding Witch.

Faes, by their very definition, hang out in a limbo between our world and theirs. Their stories are most commonly told of in countries of Celtic origin. The modern reader finds them not hanging around in limbo, however, but usually in bed. With someone who can’t resist them.

Sookie is indeed a modern-day Faerie. No supernatural being can resist her enchantment. She’s hopelessly camouflaged in her human appearance of nonchalant waitress exterior, but they can sense her. And they are lured in by whatever it is she’s got, Fae-wise. No wonder this little unassuming Merlotte’s server casts such a spell!

Unlike Sookie, the Fever fae know exactly what they are doing and exactly how to get what they want. In Karen Marie Moning’s series, V’Lane, the Prince of the Light Seelie, is what our delightful protagonist Mac refers to as a “death by sex” fae. I don’t believe there are any pictures that could adequately depict his heavenly image, but if I have to put him into words, he would be a mash-up of Owen Wilson, Matt McConaughey, and Brad Pitt . . . Hang on, I need a moment to regain composure.

*dating game music playing in my absence*

Anyway, this guy is some seriously hot stuff. The first book, Darkfever, marks V’Lane’s first appearance in Mac’s world.

A more urban look at faeries can be found in Rae Lori’s Ashen Twilight series. Intriguing and dark, this series offers a glimpse of the world of Ariya and her delightfully attractive Jace. He is a warrior among the fae, and a pretty darn hot one to boot.

So, whether they possess you or kill you byway of lethal sex injection, they’re here to say, creeping into romance-land at full force.

This article and its ensuing discussion originally appeared on romance site Heroes & Heartbreakers.

More writing by Aliza Mann can be found at her site, Paranormal Playground.