was originally published in 1978 (ninth ed. 2016), has become the standard reference work in the field. Other noteworthy reference works include his Biographical Dictionary of American Cult and Sect Leaders, Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, New Age Almanac, and Prime-time Religion (co-authored with Phillip Charles Lucas and Jon R. Stone). He has also acted as the series editor for six multi-volume series of reference books: American Religious Creeds, Religions of the World, The Churches Speak, Cults and New Religions, Sects and Cults in America Bibliographical Guides, and Religious Information Systems Series. He is a contributor to academic journals such as Syzygy, and Nova Religio. He has also contributed chapters to various multi-authored books on new religions, and articles in many other reference works, handbooks and encyclopedias of religion. He has contributed 15 Micropædia articles, generally on religious organizations or movements: Aum Shinrikyo, Branch Davidian, Christian Science, Church Universal, Eckankar, Evangelical Church, The Family, Hare Krishna, Heaven's Gate, Jehovah's Witnesses, New Age Movement, Pentecostalism, People's Temple, Scientology, and Wicca. Main areas of research Christian countercult and secular anti-cult Melton drew a distinction between the Christian countercult and the secular anti-cult movements. In his Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America he articulated the distinction on the grounds that the two movements operate with very different epistemologies, motives and methods. He was urged to make this distinction in the course of a formal dialogue with evangelical sociologist Ronald Enroth and after conversations with Eric Pement of Cornerstone magazine (Chicago). This distinction has been subsequently acknowledged by sociologists such as Douglas E. Cowan and Eileen Barker. Vampirism research From his college days, Melton developed an interest in the subject of vampires, which he has since pursued in his leisure time. In 1983 he served as editor for Vampires Unearthed by Martin Riccardo, a bibliography of English-language vampire literature. In 1994 he completed The Vampire Book: An Encyclopedia of the Undead. He has also written The Vampire Gallery: A Who's Who of the Undead and most recently The Vampire in Folklore, History, Literature, Film and Television: A Comprehensive Bibliography (2016). In 1997, Melton, Massimo Introvigne and Elizabeth Miller organized an event at the Westin Hotel in Los Angeles where 1,500 attendees (some dressed as vampires) came for a "creative writing contest, Gothic rock music and theatrical performances." Aum Shinrikyo investigation In May 1995, during the investigation into the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo