While American Vampire has introduced plenty of supernatural and undead threats since its debut in 2010, the most insidious antagonist of them all is the shadowy Gray Trader.

Taking the appearance of a traveling salesman, the Gray Trader represents the most ancient, evil vampire clan of them all, quickly becoming the most dire opponent for the Vassals of the Morning Star (V.M.S.) as they battled vampires around the world. According to co-creator Scott Snyder, the inspiration behind the mysterious villain was borne from America's musical history.

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"I'm big fan of old folk music and it feels like it's this recurring template: This guy you meet at the crossroads who makes a deal with you or has an instrument and plays a song that drags you down. There's this kind of very American interpretation of that you find in all kinds of blues music, country music," Snyder tells CBR. "That myth about the devil at the crossroads is just so built into our cultural ideology, if not our religious ideology. I wanted to do something where that figure, that guy who knows you, even though you don't know why he knows you, could pop out of the dirt, anywhere."

By the start of the current volume, American Vampire 1976, the Gray Trader is still on the loose, with the V.M.S. unable to accurately track his whereabouts. Set on uniting the ancient vampire clans to plunge the world in eternal darkness, the characters will have to make desperate alliances if they hope to save humanity from the vampiric apocalypse the villain was been preparing all along. For Snyder, the Gray Trader ranks as the most terrifying enemy of them all.

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"The Gray Trader is meant to be the scariest villain in the series. He travels through tunnels underground and he's got armies down there, where he sends the beast. He's become the right hand of this ancient evil, and I love him — he's a lot of fun to write," Snyder explained. "Every character in the series is meant to play off different Americana and a blend of different American iconography. The Signalman, with the classic western cowboy-sequined suit, and Pearl is obviously the Hollywood starlet from the 1920s. Everyone plays off these iconographies, and the Gray Trader is meant to play off the devil at the crossroads in the series."

Written by Scott Snyder and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, American Vampire 1976 #1 is on sale now from DC Comics.