Vampires is one of my favourite subjects which I research and I found
    myself flung many times between legend and truth.None of the facts in
    this research can be confirmed because most of it comes from old
    scriptures of legends and stories.Before we get into facts I want you to
    understand the meaning of being a Vampire: A Vampire is a person that
    has lived among us just like everyone only that he has been killed and
    revived by another Vampire and thus has been brought into the order of
    Vampires. He is very sensitive to sun ,he has to hide from it
    underground or in a house.During the time the sun is up he is
    uncouncious.Because he can't be touched by the sun rays his skin,with the
    years,becomes very pale.A vampire must have a feast of human or animal
    blood every time he wakes,this revives him and heals his wounds
    instantly. A vampire is immortal while his physical state stays the same
    as it was when he was initiated into the order. The only way to destroy
    a vampire is by either burning him alive or exposing him to the sun.
    That's it for the facts of being a vampire now on to the research
    itself.

    This definition sounds like something out of a horror movie but every
    legend has a basis of truth. People believe in Vampires from first
    records of time.Legends reach back to ancient Babylonia and Vampirism
    always includes the ritual of drinking blood. Aztecs poured blood into
    the mouth of their idols,in India rajahs drank blood from severed
    heads. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed in a woman Vampire which
    seduced men and drank their blood.

    The fact of Vampires was imprinted into humanity when Bram Stoker wrote
    his famous novel 'Dracula'. Stoker mixed facts with fiction in his novel
    thus making it sound authentic. The novel takes place in Transylvania(a
    province today under Romanian rule) where the Count lives in his
    castle,and later on in England. Stoker was very accurate about
    geografical facts in his novel(Borgo pass,Bistritza)and he even used the
    name of a real ruler:Dracula.

    Dracula wasn't a Count,actually he was a Prince,he was the ruler of
    Walachia.His name was Vlad Tzepes(=Impaler),Dracula was a title. 
    This title was given to him bcause his father. Vlad's father was a member
    in a Roman order called The order of the Dragon.This orders main target
    was to bring as many allies as possible to Rome in order to fight a mutual
    enemy to all the Turks. Vlad fought the Turks and he got
    his nickname "Vlad the Impaler" from executing the Turkish prisoners by
    impaling them.He even built a forest called the "Forest of the
    impaled",when the Sultan tried to go through the forest,attempting to
    conquer Walachia,he was so shocked at the sight of so many of his
    soldiers impaled that he turned back. Vlad at the begging of his rule
    was worshipped by his people because he protected them from the Turks
    but slowly he started turning his ruthlessness towards his own people.
    The people slowly started legends around him and soon he became a feared
    monster among his own people who beleived that he worshipped
    the devil and they knew he drank blood since he was in the order of the
    Dragon so they started making legends about how he would leave his
    castle in either the form of a bat or a wolf and he would come down into
    the villages and kill people for their blood.

    Vlad(=Dracula)was killed in an ambush by the Turks or by his best firend
    and advisor,and a few monks brought his body to burial in a monestary near
    Bucharest. Dracula's grave was opened in 1931 and to the amazement of
    everyone his coffin and corpse were missing.

    The problem of getting to the bottom of this mystery is that after
    Stokers book appeared many novels and movies were made on the subject
    and every writer and director gave new special powers to his Vampire.
    The Vampire in Stokers book is given a charming personality and a
    dashing look that can conquer every woman on the other hand in the first
    movie made on the subject 'Nosferatu' (1921) the Vampire is ugly and
    actually has no personality.

    The subject is complex because many unreal facts are mixed up with real
    ones so it is very hard to determine what is a true Vampire. Vampires
    are known to be un-dead(people who died and came back) but if we look at
    the first major Vampire,Dracula,we will see that he was thought to be a
    Vampire before he was killed by the Turks. So if we strip Vampires of
    all their supernatural powers we will come to one fact that is the
    same-drinking of blood. The question that arouses is why do they
    need human blood? I will bring here one answer which I personally
    thought to be quite intriguing(The thesis is taken from a novel called
    'Children of the Night' by Dan Simmons and it has no scientific basis):
    The thesis in the novel says that Vampires are normal people that are
    born with a genetic deffect.They have a part in their body which normal
    people don't have,this body part feeds on human blood and strengtenth
    the immuno system of Vampires causing a much larger life span then
    normal humans.

    All in all we can't give a straight answer about this subject but I
    advise you to shut your window tight tonight and always keep a piece of
    garlic near your bed because we are among you and you can never know
    when will we strike...


    Dracula.