In European folklore, vampires are undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods which they inhabited while they were alive.
Vampire, in popular legend, a creature, often fanged, that preys upon humans, generally by consuming their blood. Vampires have been featured in folklore and fiction of various cultures for hundreds of years, predominantly in Europe, although belief in them has waned in modern times.
From Dracula to Twilight, vampires have left a prominent mark on popular media. What makes vampires so interesting is the fact that they’re always portrayed differently depending on the source material.
One of history's most famous — and bloodthirsty — legendary creatures, vampires have terrified human beings for centuries. In 1892, a group of frightened villagers in Exeter, Rhode Island gathered at the town’s graveyard with shovels and a grim task.
While the exact origins of the vampire myth have numerous sources, one of the first notions of vampires as threatening undead creatures roaming the night is often traced by academics back to Bulgarian folklore from at least one thousand years ago.
Drifting in the deep ocean, the vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis; pictured) has features of both octopuses and squid. Researchers have now worked out what and how this mysterious creature eats ...
There are almost as many different characteristics of vampires as there are vampire legends. But the main characteristic of vampires (or vampyres) is they drink human blood. They typically...
Between 1725 and the 1750s, villagers in central Europe witnessed a mass hysteria frenzy that would later be known as the Great Vampire Epidemic, the largest vampire epidemic in history: killing several people, terrorizing thousands, and marking the rise of the vampire.