"Vampire Lawsuit": Sink your teeth into this one...

(CBS/AP) HOUSTON - A Texas inmate serving a life sentence sued prison officials claiming they wouldn't let him practice religious beliefs related to vampires. On Thursday, a federal appeals court rejected the civil rights lawsuit as frivolous.

Inmate Courtney Royal two years ago sued about a dozen Texas prison administrators and officials at the Hughes Unit where he's doing life for offenses including aggravated assault, robbery and escape.

Royal's nine-page single-space typewritten lawsuit, dismissed by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said he wanted to practice "West African spiritualism and 18th Century Catholicism" marked by prayer to Africans reincarnated by blood. He argued it was no different from "unproven" Christian beliefs.

In the filing, Royal described himself as "Vampsh Black Sheep League of Doom Gardamun Family Circle Master Vampire High Priest."

Guess spelling doesn't count when you're a self-styled Count Dracula.