Modern culture has brought the vampire to become one of the most famous or infamous monsters of the night. The following lists the most popular of modern vampire lore.

• Vampires are dead or "Undead"
• Vampires are usually long dead aristocrats from Europe
• They can only come out at night as sunlight sets them alight
• They drink blood by biting people on the neck using fangs
• They can turn themselves into bats
• They fear garlic
• Vampires can be burnt by holy objects such as a cross or holy water, which wounds caused by such objects cannot be healed.
• They have to sleep in their native soil. Usually in their coffin that they were buried in
• They turn anyone that they bite but they do not drain them fully of their blood
• They can be killed by a wooden stake through the heart.
• Can be killed by decapitation

This list is based on recent culture and has little to do with actual vampire mythology. According to vampire lore from Eastern Europe vampires didn't actually bite people, most vampires were peasants, they have no association with bats. Holy items have no effect and there is no need for their native soil. Most ancient vampire lore refers to vampires been more ghost like, their body stays in its tomb while the spirit or ethereal form can move freely. A stake through the heart did little only cremation of the body was the only safe way to kill a vampire. The only two modern vampire lore's that feature is the fear of sunlight and fear of garlic.

Most of the modern vampire comes from a single literature source which is Bram Stokers Dracula novel, based very loosely on a Transylvanian Prince Vlad Tepes or otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler who was a local hero in the war against the Turk's.

In reality a real vampire is a predatory ghost who kills to prolong its own life. It is not necessary to be bitten to become a vampire, you could have practised sorcery, be excommunicated by the church or commit suicide, or finally be a werecreature. It was believed that a vampire would first kill members of its own family then friends and neighbours before striking out against anyone within its area. Also these vampires cannot cross running water the same as ghosts and non-holy objects can wound them.