Vampires: shape shifting, undead, vampyre, nosferatu, necromancer, and many other names depending on which country(s) of the old world you research. But when we think vampire we automatically think, Vlad III Dracul or Dracula. The most popular Dracula today is Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s movie, Dracula staring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder in which Dracula lives (?) up to his mythology. Dracula, according to legend drank the blood of his victims. This is simply part of the mythology of the vampire. Vlad III Dracul, im-paled countless Turks during war time. He also preformed questionable operations on his victims thus he became known as a vampire.

In order to determine whether or not vampires do indeed exist we need to look at the mythology of the beast. There are countless individuals who fantasize themselves as a vampire. They belong to a subculture; organizing websites and clubs. There is a belief within this subculture that there is an alliance forming amongst the vampire clans to strengthen their forces (army). When a leader rises from within the clans there will be a war and they will rule the Earth.

In mythology a vampire is the “undead” who drinks the blood of unsuspecting victims. A vampire can change form from solid to gas or transform into a bat or rat. In reality a vampire’ does drink blood but not from an unsuspecting victim. But rather from a willing participant. This is as close as they come to fitting the mythology of the vampire since the human body is incapable of transforming to any other form especially a gaseous state.

In the real world the “vampire” usually holds a job, attends college or high school, lives and sleeps in an apartment not in a coffin. They frequent clubs and restaurants where they meet and mingle with other individuals in and out of their subculture; they socialize.

Having stated the obvious I need to make a disclaimer. The modern day vampires which I have indicated above are reasonably rational individuals who fantasize about the existence of vampires and their subculture. But there are those who suffer from psychosis believing they are indeed vampires. These individuals stalk and kill their victims of all ages. The vampire then drains their blood and disembowels the victim, drinking the blood. The organs are saved and blended for consumption.

These individuals (vampires ?) are as close to real as they come according to mythologies laws. Even though they kill to consume the blood of the victim they are still mortal beings who are incapable of shape shifting. Neither science nor philosophy has been able to prove definitively the existence of real vampires today or a thousand years ago. That is unless one is speaking of a small bat feeding off the blood of cattle in South America.
Work Sited
Muskegon Community College lecture, Professor Mike Johnson 2003