THE SUPERNATURALS

A vampire is a mythical creature which sustains itself by drinking the blood of living animals. Most vampire myths center around the reanimation of human corpses, with the corpse preying on other humans for the blood it needs. Vampire mythology is ancient, with most cultures having some version of the vampire in their folklore, perhaps reflecting a universal desire to explore the ideas of death and dying. In the modern era, the vampire has become almost a pop culture figure, thanks largely to Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula, which features an aristocratic, mesmerizing vampire.

Modern ideas about vampires originate primarily from myths which have their roots in Eastern Europe, but the origins of the vampire are much older. Ancient Rome, Greece, China, and Egypt all had stories about creatures which closely resemble the modern vampire, and vampire myths were also present in many other regions of the world, in some form or another...

source-WiseGeek.com