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A comparison of various popular sources for vampire lore against the myths of history. Do all vampire have fangs? Can all vampires reproduce? How do the popular vampires of the 20th century live and die and hunt and feed? S. A. Rudy takes a look at five modern vampire themes.

A Dhampir in Balkan folklore is the child of a vampire father and a human mother, with vampire powers but none of the weaknesses. A dhampir is believed to have the unique ability to see vampires, even when these are invisible, and is unusually adept at killing them.

On Dominica there exists a creature known as the soucoyan. The "official" explanation of this creature's origin is that it is a curious combination of West African spiritualism and 18th Century Catholicism.

The Shtriga, in Albanian folklore, was a vampiric witch that would suck the blood of infants at night while they slept, and would then turn into a flying insect (traditionally a moth, fly or bee). Only the shtriga herself could cure those she had drained (often by spitting in their mouths), and those who were not cured inevitably sickened and died.

A baobhan sith (pronounced baa'-van shee) is a type of vampire in Scottish mythology, similar to the Manx Leanan Sídhe or Irish banshee. They are also known as the White Women of the Scottish Highlands.

Traditionally, vampires are undead mythological or folkloric beings who feed by draining and consuming the blood of human victims.

I am Legend. Duel. The Twilight Zone. Star Trek. Dracula. X-Files. One genius helped create or inspire all of them. Do you know his name?

Many of the world's myths and legends have some basis in fact, which is why they are perpetuated through the centuries. In one case, the idea of a race of nefarious monsters-specifically, vampires-may actually have sprung from a very real and potentially deadly disease that affects thousands of people worldwide.

Are there vampires who dwell beneath the waters of the world, and if so, what myth, legends, and folk tales surround them? Are they normal vampires who just prefer water to the land? Are they blood-drinking mermaids? Are there any such vampires in fictional books or movies? To fully answer such questions, a whole book would be required. But let me give some telling examples.