“You going to look at me all night, love?” They ask with that otherworldly smile of theirs "Or are you going to let me in?"
“Of course” you laugh, unlocking and opening the door “Come on in. Make yourself at home.”
They follow you inside and reach out with pale perfect arms to hold you.
“I fully intend to” they say, kissing you deeply.
You sink into their arms, surprised by the coldness of your embrace. It has been so long and you have been so lonely…You look into their eyes and you want to whisper that you love them-
But all you can do is scream as their fangs rip into your neck.
From the ghoul-like, Indian vetālas to the first wife of Adam, vampiric creatures have existed in various myths and legends in one form or another throughout the world. While there are many deviations on this theme, each more fascinating than the last, it becomes necessary to clarify the basic image of what a vampire is for the purposes of this discussion. Not all the vampires discussed here will follow a strict adherance to the following definition but they will only vary slightly from this offered model. To this end, we will focus on but one of the most popular definitions of the vampire that did so much to push the vampire into the public consciousness; the vampires displayed in the book Dracula by Bram Stoker. This vampire has been crucial in defining the identity of the vampire and is the source from which most inspiration is drawn from considering the rules, powers, and the lore of the vampire.
Looking through the lens of Bram Stoker, a vampire is a corpse risen from the grave each night to feast on the blood of the living. However, you wouldn’t know such a thing by just looking at them. For vampires appear as they did in life but usually appear much more beautiful and seductive. These powerful children of the night are unkillable through conventional means, only able to be killed by burying a stake in their heart and then cutting off their head and filling it with garlic. In addition, they hold dominion over the minds of animals, can control others who look into their eyes, shapeshift into many different forms (though usually the forms of animals or mist), can turn others into vampires by feeding them their blood, are incredibly intelligent, and also possess otherworldly strength.
That being said, despite possessing a large arrray of powers, unlike the vicious werewolf or zombie, the vampire is a creature that uses its brains rather than their brawn in order to vanquish its victims. This is because, unlike other monsters, they are also subject to a large number of weaknesses. They can not enter any household without being invited in, can not stand the presence of holy items or garlic flowers, contact with holy water and sunlight burns them, and during the day they must rest in a coffin filed with the grave dirt of their home country. With such a large amount of weaknesses, the vampire is a monster that uses manipulation, temptation, and seduction to capture the mind and body of its prey. Its beauty and charm draws humans like a moth to a flame, its powers of hypnosis bend them to its will, and when the moment is right, it strikes. Unlike many monsters, the fear of the vampire does not come from its monstrous features but the horrors that comes from corrupting others to its whim and the ways it takes away one's humanity. However, is there a greater fear that we perceive in the otherworldly gaze of the vampire? A real world fear that we do not like thinking about? Behind the fangs, the good looks, and the otherworldly powers, what true fear lurks behind the visage of the vampire?
