With “New Moon,” “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries” it’s a good time to be a vampire. But what do you really know about these creatures of the night? Sink your teeth into our vampire quiz.

Quiz by Andrell Bower and Erica Smith

SOURCES: The data for this interactive graphic was compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

It was adapted by Post-Dispatch interactive designers Brian Williamson and Erica Smith. The graphic, a snapshot of area employment, reflects the counties and cities where the employed and unemployed reside and not, necessarily, the business locations where they work or worked.

A graphic of the national employment scene, designed by TIP Strategies, provided the inspiration for the map.

Every month, the St. Louis Police Department releases crime data from the previous month. I take that information, pull out the homicides and add them to our city homicide map.

The data released today included one November 2008 homicide, one June 2009 homicide, one July 2009 homicide and 18 October 2009 homicides. (Homicides are recorded on the map according to the date of the incident, but the November, June and July deaths likely were not classified as homicides until last month.)

Our data goes back to 2005; and this is the bloodiest October we have seen in the city. It also pushes the year’s total past 100. Looking at the numbers for the past four years, St. Louis averages 14 homicides in November and 11.75 homicides in December. If those numbers hold true for 2009, the annual total will exceed the number of homicides reported in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

We…

Veterans Day is Nov. 11. More than 3 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism, are honored by burial in national cemeteries. The first 14 national cemeteries were set up during the Civil War. Today, more than 140 national cemeteries have been established. There are three in Missouri, including Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, and seven in Illinois.

Also take a look at America’s foreign cemeteries. There are 24 permanent American burial grounds on foreign soil: 30,921 World War I and 93,238 World War II soldiers are interred at 22 of those cemeteries. In addition, 5,364 Americans who died during the construction of the Panama Canal are interred at Corozal American Cemetery in Panama City, and 750 unidentified U.S. veterans of the Mexican War are interred at the Mexico City National Cemetery in Mexico City.

Maps by Erica…

Veterans Day is Nov. 11. Test your knowledge of military-themed movies.

Also take a look at Joe Holleman’s picks for the best World War II-Europe films.

By Joe Holleman and Erica Smith