What Genre is My Vampire Story?

Which genre is my book? You want to know but you are not sure, all you are really certain of it that it is about vampires.

The basic genres are: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Literary, Mystery, Romance, Satire, Science Fiction, Western

Within these genres are several sub-genres... some genres have as many as 20 different sub-genres.
For example, inside of Horror, you will find: Dark Fantasy, Goth Lit, Gothic Horror, Gothic Romance, Halloween Stories, Splatter Punk, Suspence, Thriller, and more.

There are many cross-overs to confuse you even more. The most common of which is Chick-Lit. Chick-Lit, is a category outside of genre in which the basic genres become sub-genres. In other words, Chick-Lit can be any genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Literary, Mystery, Romance, Satire, Science Fiction, Western, etc.

In other words any genre and any of it's sub-genres can be Chick-Lit. What makes it Chick-Lit is the fact that the main character is a female (or a chick). She could be a housewife, a career woman, single, married, widowed, divorced, laid-back, out-going, a teen, a young woman, middle aged, senior, a farm wife in the 1800's, a globe trotter of today, a time traveler, or even a vampire. Usually there is a tone of romance in the story, and usually there is the attitude that woman are the greatest, best, most able to do whatever it is that she has to do. Though Chick-Lit is considered to be a genre, it is the only genre that is determined based on who the book is about. So, if your female main character happens to be a vampire, than you may find that your vampire story is actually Chick-Lit.

If one or more of your characters broods in dark places, avoids sunlight, has a fear of garlic, flies, and drinks blood, you can be sure they are a vampire.

Of course not all vampires are alike. There are vampires that feed off life force or energy instead of blood. Some vampires walk around in broad daylight with no problem. Not every vampire is allergic to garlic, sliver, holy water, or mustard seeds. Only vampires raised in Christian cultures fear a cross. While modern vampires are beautiful and human-like, classic vampires were monstrous and looked more like winged werewolves. Some vampires are shape-shifters but others are not.

It is very important, when writing about vampires that you know what type of vampire your vampires are. You don't need to stick with what anyone else says vampires are or are not either. What is important, is that your vampires are consistent. In other words, if in Chapter One, you said they turn to dust when struck by sun rays, than your vampire better not be seen outside on a sunny day 3 chapters later!

Before you write your story, first write up a brief explanation of what your vampires are and what they are not, and than keep that list on hand while you write.

In genre, horror horrifies your readers and romance romances them, while science fiction takes them on journeys through time and space, mysteries intrigue them into solving a puzzle, and Westerns take them to the wilds of the old west. (Has anyone ever thought about writing vampire cowboys vs zombie Indians?)

So, as you can see, the genre is determined by what the story is about, not who the story is about.

So, as you can see, the genre is determined by what the story is about, not who the story is about.

Okay, so we've looked at genres. Now lets look at vampires. In what genre should you place your vampire? To date there is no genre in which vampires do not appear (even non-fiction).

But how do you know which genre your vampire story is? Well what you need to ask yourself is, who is your vampire? What is he like? How does he live? Where does he live? When does he live? What is he doing? Why is he doing it? What will happen as a result of what he is doing? In other words, what is the plot of your story?

Ask yourself: WHAT GENRE IS YOUR STORY? Are you writing something really scary? Yes? Than you are writing a horror book. Are you writing a girl meets vampire story? Than you prob'bly will be writing romance. Does your vampire come from another side of the galaxy and travel through space and time? Than you are writing a science fiction story. Is your vampire smashing pumpkins and scaring children on Halloween so that he can drink the peanut butter centers out of chocolates? Than you may be writing a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial, a children's picture book, or a satire novel.

What your vampire does in the story and how and where and when he does it, is what will determine the genre of your story, vampires or no vampires. Your vampire is just another character in the story; take him out and you still have the genre, because you still have the same plot.

A guy who kills folks to drink their blood, could be a mythical beast or a mental patient depending on your take. He could be a cutsy comical vampire as seen in children's Halloween picture books or a bloody gore lusting serial killer of the splatter punk books. He could be the romantic lover. I once read a young adult-preteen chapter book in which a vampire was a detective, along the lines of Sherlock Holmes... he never bit anybody or did any vampire like things, because he was too busy solving the mystery. Your vampire could be good or bad, the villain or the hero. It all depends on the plot you plan to use.

Okay, so I've got my plot all ready to go, spent 3 months outlining, in 2 days I start writing, I'm doing good too, no vampires in sight - ghosts and zombie, but not a single vampire, and suddenly today, October 30th, I start thinking - tomorrow is Halloween! YAY! Got to go watch every Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price movie under the sun for the next 24 hours!!!! Yep, I'm weird, I know - every Halloween I pull out mountains of Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price DVDs and spend the whole day going classic vampire crazy. Oh no! Two days before NaNoWriMo I have a different plot ready to write and than Halloween shows up and messes up my train of thought and now all I can think about is vampires and how much I want to write a vampire story. :(

Okay, so I'm still doing my Frost Zombie apocalypse and I'm planning on 75k for that, but you know me, since when I have written less than 200k for NaNoWriMo? What that means is, I can go ahead and do a second NaNovel, and if I can go ahead and do a second NaNovel, than why can't I go ahead and spend Halloween planning a vampire NaNovel? Can I outline an entire novel in less than 24 hours? Who knows, but I'm going to try.

So, here's where I come to you guys. I'm trying to figure out what exactly it is, I think of when I think of vampires. Who are my vampires? What is it that makes my vampires, different from humans? What makes a vampire a vampire?

So, I am compiling a list of classic vampire things, (I prefer classic Bela Lugosi style Dracula vampires, btw, so that's what I'm focusing on, and if any one has anything they want to add to this list, feel free to jump in and add your thoughts.

Here is my list so far:

Things that make a Vampire a Vampire:

- drinks blood
- is undead
- looks like Bela Lugosi ;)
- dresses like Bela Lugosi =P

"Regular" Vampires have the following abilities:
"Super Powerful" Vampires also have the additional "rare" abilities:

Movement Abilities:

-Inhuman Speed
-Unearthly Reflexes
-Vertical Ascension (climbs walls)
-Gliding (with help of cape)
-Bat Form
-Mist Form
-Flight
-Move Silently

Rare Movement Abilities

-Clown Frenzy
-Astral Projection
-Dodge Daylight
-Spider Climb
-Cat's Grace
-Shadow Conceal

Offensive Abilities

-Fangs
-Vampiric Claws
-Enhanced Senses
-Animalistic Frenzy
-Superhuman Strength
-Mind Control
-Wolf Form
-Horrific Transformation
-Glamor

Rare Offensive Abilities

-Pyrokinesis
-Corrosion
-Control Mall Santas
-Ironic Annihilation
-Purge Blood
-Pestilence
-Mummification
-Blood Soaked Vengeance (Carrie)
-Hellfire
-Demonic Familiar
-Bloodletting
-Vampire Lord
-Summon Horseman
-Shadow Transformation
-Bone Spikes
-Demon Summoning
-Telepathy
-Drain Youth
-Raise Zombies
-Invisibility
-Shadow Manipulation
-Blood to Ashes
-Command a Wolf Pack
-Command Rat Swarm
-Cause Madness
-Intoxicating Bite

Defensive Abilities

-Fast Healing
-Impervious to bullets
-Intimidation

Rare Defensive Abilities

-Veil of Thorns
-Winged Guard
-Premonition
-Indestructible
-Iron Skin
-Create Illusion
-Immunity to Religious Icons
-Immaterial (can walk through solid walls)
-Resistance to Sunlight
-Immunity to Silver

(This list was copied from the Zanga Game Vampire Wars, btw)

So, what do you think makes a Vampire a Vampire? Are the things on my list enough, too much, or not enough? I'm not really worrying about cliches and such. I figure if it's too cliche, well tough luck, I'll just have cliched vampires than. I've always been mesmerized by Bela Lugosi as Dracula, he's the best vampire ever and he's what I think of when I think of vampires, so he's what I've got stuck in my head right this moment - of course it helps that I just watched Dracula last night too :)


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And now I'm answering NaNoWriMo Threads about vampires---

RE: Help! I know next to nothing about vampires!

[quote=soaringdragon42]I've never read about vampires, nor seen any vampire movies. I know most basic cliche things about them (they suck blood, they're really strong, sunlight does bad things) but that's about it. The closest I've come to vampires is Terry Pratchett. ;P


Then my MC demands she is one, and the majority of the story is of her being turned into one and how she copes with it.


So! What do I need to know, beyond they're blood sucking weirdos? How can they be killed? What different kinds of vampires are there? Do they sleep? How? How are people turned into vampires? What's the fascination with them?




Thank you for your help!
[/quote]

What do I need to know, beyond they're blood sucking weirdos?

Traditionally, vampires are said to be the undead souls of people who commit suicide. They are too wicked to go to heaven because they took a life, but too good to go to hell because the life they took was their own not someone else's. So they are condemned to walk the Earth between the living and the dead, not quite alive, but not quite dead. They are very similar to zombies, the main difference being that zombies have no mind of their own and vampires have free will to come and go as they please.

They waste away into nothing if they do not eat human blood. They are farther curse though, by the fact that drinking human blood causes the human to become a vampire as well. This than leads to vampires who do not want to drink blood in some stories.

How can they be killed?

Traditionally they can not be killed, because they are already dead. They can only be warded off and held at bay.

What different kinds of vampires are there?

Every culture has vampire myths, most going back thousands of years. The traditional vampires as we think of them today, comes from the Carpathian myths, and is based on a very real person: Prince Vlad Dracul aka Vlad the Impaler. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_III_the_Impaler who was of course the ruler of Transylvania in the 1400' and is where Count Dracula myths come from.

Do they sleep? How?

They must sleep in the coffin they were buried in, and carry dirt from their grave with them every where they go. This myth comes from Vlad, because his body vanished from his grave and it is said that he became an undead and took his coffin with him.

How are people turned into vampires?

I think I just explained that.

What's the fascination with them?

I think every one has a different reason.

[quote=Ghostword]

Important novels:

Dracula by Bram Stoker (the basis for all of them)

I am Legend by Richard Matherson

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

[/quote]

YES! I'll second these. If you only read one vampire novel - let it be Dracula! Practically everything we know about vampires today, came straight out of Dracula. Dracula pretty much created the modern day vampire. Better yet, watch Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Best vampire movie ever made - even if it was made in 1931. No body embodies the vital essence of being a vampire the way Bela Lugosi did. OMG! That guy was freaking amazing!

Don't watch the movie version of I Am Legend though. The movie is nothing like the book. Well, yeah, watch it, it is a great movie, but know that in the movie you will not find a single vampire! The book has vampires, the movie does not! When they made the movie they took out the vampires and stuck in zombies instead. That is one book you can not judge by it's movie.

[quote=Orfn]Try to find a copy of The Lost Boys. It's an older movie about vampires somewhere between monster and superhuman. If you want straight up monster vampires, watch 30 Days of Night or Salem's Lot. Twilight or Queen of the Damned are examples of vampires that are hardly even monsters, though I wouldn't recommend watching Twilight as it would be a good two hours of your life you'll never get back.[/quote]

The Lost Boys is a great introduction to vampires. It just reaks of every classic vampire cliche, but it does it in such a way that you don't realize it's full of cliches. I esp love the twist on the flying vampires, by them riding flying motorcycles. That was pretty cool.

Twilight was a good movie if you watch it with the knowledge that these vampires are really freaky and don't act like your traditional classic vampire. They are like renegade-I-Don't-wanna-be-a-vampire type vampires. So it's a good thing to watch to see how non-traditional vampires could be handled. Just remember it is heavy on the chick-flick so if the thought of watching lovey-dovey romance chick-flick makes you sick, yeah, you might want to avoid it.

Queen of the Damned? I just did not get that movie at all. Vampires? Really? What vampires? Where? I'm not seeing them. The whole movie had me going - What the heck is this thing anyways? I found it incredibly boring and a huge waste of time to watch.

Underworld is another one. It's like - okay - I'm ready for the vampires to show up now. Where are they? Heeellloooooo? Where are these so called vampires that are supposed to be everywhere? Underworld is not recommended if you have never seen any other vampire movie, because basically, all it is is a bunch of mega wealthy emo dudes and emo chicks fighting werewolves. They don't do anything other than dress like vampires. And really, you got to do more than live in a big house and wear skin tight emo goth leather, to call yourself a vampire!

[quote=jessica_marie]30 Days of Night is terrifying. Best Vampires as monsters movie I've seen.

[/quote]

wait - What? Those were vampires????????????????????? I thought they were zombies??? Really? Yow! I'll have to watch it again. I really thought they were zombies. LOL! Yeah - VERY monster in that one. I guess they could have been vampires. I just watched it thinking these are great zombies! Oh well. Actually, I watched it looking for the Bruce Campbell cameo that was supposed to be in it, but wasn't in it, and I didn't realize that his cameo was cut until after I watched it 3 times trying to figure out where the hell he was in it! LOL!


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So, I've been reading all the Vampire Threads on NaNoWriMo, when I found this one on: Vampire discussion: the technical aspects and this one Vampire Guidlines...?, and they inspired me to spend the last 3 hours figuring out who and what my vampires are and than writing up an answer. YOW! What a long post this one is!

Here is my answer:

There are different types of vampires in my way of thinking, but for the book I am currently working on there are just two types of vampires, which I refer to as: True Vampires and Common Vampires. As you will notice from my answers, my entire vampire system is based largely on Dracula the book and Bela Lugosi's representation of the Dracula movie. So basically if it isn't happening in either the book or Bela Lugosi's version of the book, than you can bet it isn't going to happen in my book either. my vampire's are pretty much straight up Classic Dracula Style Vampires. (My other types of vampires - the ones not in my NaNovel 09 - are quite different from the True Vampires and the Common Vampires I am focusing on today.)

My personal guidelines (for True Vampires and Common Vampires, as seen in my NaNovel 2009) are as follows:

Creation:

"True Vampires" are evil men who were too evil for Hell and are cursed to walk the Earth forever, neither dead no alive and are thus Undead. They are humans whose souls have been condemned. Some men who are really black hearted, like Count Dracula (who is the main vampire in my book btw) can use black magic (aka super evil deeds and calling on demons for help) to turn themselves into a vampire. "True Vampires" are extremely rare, as few people are wicked enough to become one. They are immortal and can not be killed or defeated in any way, shape, or form, they can only be temporarily stopped, imprisoned, or delayed, which only lasts until they escape and rise again.

"Common Vampires" are people who became vampires by being bitten by a "True Vampire". They do not turn with just one bite. It takes a series of bites over many days. With each bite they grow weaker and become paler and more mindless/hypnotized. These are more like zombies than vampires. They are mindless drones who do the bidding of the True Vampire that turned them. Because they are humans who bodies were possessed (as opposed to humans who's souls are condemned) and thus are not actually 100% dead, but rather in a sort of animated coma, they are not immortal, can be killed, thus saving their souls from being lost.

For most Common Vampires, a stake through the heart will release them from the True Vampire's spell. For those that have been under the True Vamps spell for a really long time, they may also require decapitation, because the True Vamp's hold on them is very strong.

An added Note: Only the True Vamp that turned them into a Common Vamp has the power to control them. In other words an alternate True Vamp could not come in and give the Common Vamp orders, because they are hypnotized and will only obey the True Vamp whom they refer to as "Master".

Physical Features:

What does your vampire look like?

"True Vampires" are usually men (as women rarely commit the horrendous acts of evil required to become a True Vamp). They look just as they did before they died, only their skin is much paler and their bodies are as cold as ice. However they dresses and acted when they were alive, is how they continue to dress and act as the Undead.

"Common Vampires" are not yet dead. They are zombie-like victims of a True Vamp's spell. Common Vampires tends to be woman, because True Vampires have a tendency to go after female humans more often than male humans. They look exactly as they did before being bitten, except that they have a pale bloodless look to them, dark circles around their eyes, they have blood shot, blank, empty staring eyes. They look dead. They walk around in a trance, and no longer act like themselves. They kind of just stand around waiting for the True Vamp to give them orders and tell them what to do.

Do they retain their humanity? Do they have a conscience? Or have they detached? Do they have two sides to themselves, is the vampire a separate personality (more like a possession or a demon) with their human side fighting against it (or not as the case may be).

However they acted, thought, felt, talked, etc before they were a vampire, they continue to act. Their personality remains the same. Keeping in mind that they were most likely a cruel, emotionless serial killer before they died (which would be the type of person who would be condemned to walk eternity as a True Vampire), that means they are likely to be a cruel, emotionless serial killer after they died as well. In other words the type of person who would get turned into a True Vampire would be some one like Jack the Ripper, Adolf Hitler, or of course Prince Vlad Dracule III (who is the real life prince whom became the fictional Count Dracula btw), so if a True Vampire showed up, you can bet his pretty darned evil or he would not have become a vampire to begin with.

Like wise it is possible for them to have a change of heart and repent and try to spend eternity making amends for their prior wrongful deeds. In such a case, where they truly had a 100% change of heart and repented, they could move on in life and work towards becoming a guardian angel and than spend eternity helping mortals.

Do your vampires have growing hair and fingernails? Do their hair and nails still grow? Or are they trapped how they looked when they were turned (Anne Rice's vampires revert to how they looked when the died upon waking every evening. One character cuts her hair off every night.)

Not sure about the True Vampires, seeing how they are dead and all. I'll have to think about that some more. They are sort of trapped in how they looked when they died. They age though - really fast if they go to long without blood. But once they's had blood they revert back to the way they looked at the time they died.

The Common Vampires do have growing hair and fingernails, because they are not actually dead.

- Eyes - Are their eyes unnatural? A strange colour? Do they change colour depending on whether they've fed? (Twilight) Do they have a certain vividness to them, a strange gleam? (See Anne Rice). Do their eyes change when they're about to attack? (See Game Face) or do they have normal human eyes? Can they see in the dark? Does this give them a light sensitivity? Do their eyes glow or have animalistic traits?

Their eyes are whatever color they had before the became a vampire.

A True Vampire's eyes look the same a when they were alive, except when they hypnotize their victims than their eyes have and "animal glow" to them (like when lights hit an animal's eyes at night.) Their eyes are described as "glowing like hot coals" or "burning like fire balls" when they feed on blood - they sort of go into a frenzy over blood, and that's when their eyes start glowing.

They can see in the dark, in fact they can see in the dark better than in the day (like a cat or an owl) which is part of the reason they come out at night rather than during the day.

A Common Vampire, which is not dead, just mesmerized, looks the same, except they have dark circles around their eyes, and they have blood shot, blank, empty staring eyes. Like a dead person, the color is gone from their eyes, due to the extremely dilated pupils. In other words, they look dead.

- Game face - When about to attack, do they physically change? Do their entire features twist and contort (Buffy) or do their eyes change at all? (Moonlight has eyes going pale blue, Being human had them going black).

See my answer above for info about their eyes.

I never liked how the Buffy vamps twisted all out of shape into grotesque monsters. My vamps don't do that - though the True Vamps could if they wanted too, seeing how they can shape-shift (usually into wolves, bats, etc.)

True Vamps tend to have a heightened sexual appeal just before attacking, (they seem sexier, irresistible, gorgeous, etc) thus attracting the opposite sex to them, making it easy for them to lure their victim to them with less resistance.

Common Vamps do not shape shift or change appearance, they remain in their zombie like state.

- Fangs - Do they have fangs? (some vampires have a piercing tongue or sting instead) Are these fangs just elongated canines or lateral incisors? Are they hollow like a snake and secrete venom? Are they very sharp or just pointed enough to make biting a little bit easier? Do they grow back if lost? Do they retract? Alternately, do they have rows upon rows of sharp teeth (30 days of night) instead of just the usual fangs? How long are they? (TruBlood vampires have very long fangs). - I have a vampire race who don't have any fangs at all, they use knives to draw blood.

Depends on the book. I tend to change this to match the particular vamp I'm writing about. In some stories they have long snake like fangs that drip venom - very Cobra/Rattlesnake/Pit Viper - very sharp and deadly. In other stories they have near normal teeth, with only slightly more pointed upper canines - just pointed enough to draw blood.

My most often used reoccurring vamp (the sparkling silver skinned drag queen, seen only in my banned M-Rated adult books, The Twighlight Manor Series; and these books were written in the 1970s through 1980's btw, nearly 30 years before Twilight's sparkling vampires, which has caused some of my fans to point to Twilight and scream plagiarism, seeing how she used so many things out of my books, including the title) is

- Claws - Do they have claws at all? Are these more like animal claws or talons or simply long, very sharp nails?

Claws are one of the first things people notice about my True Vampires. They are somewhat like eagle talons. Very sharp and made for tearing flesh.

In my adult books, the drag queen vamps keep them cut in a more human like manner, and also paint them.

The Common Vamps have normal nails.

- Pallor - Are they pale? Are they blue, green, yellow? or some other unnatural shade. Are they deathly looking? Is their skin supple and soft to the touch or hard and stony/marble-like? (Twilight, Anne Rice) Is it more like the skin of a corpse? Is there any reason for any of this?

They are very, very pale, nearly as white as snow. Some have a ashen grey tint, others are stark white. They look dead and bloodless. Their skin remains soft to the touch.

- Can they shape change? Into what? (Bats, wolves and vermin are most common). If not into animals, can they become mist?

Depends on the story. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Common Vamps do not shape shift or change appearance, they remain in their zombie like state.

- Are they unnaturally beautiful? Do they just retain their normal human appearance? Are they hideous and deformed (Nosferatu). Does their appearance change depending on whether they've fed or not? (E.g: Do they retain their youth if fed but become hag-like without blood? Do they get a flush of life from feeding (warmer to touch, blushed skin etc). Do their eyes dull without blood? Do they become sluggish and sick looking?)

True Vampires look as they did before they died, but they tend to have a heightened sexual appeal just before attacking, (they seem sexier, irresistible, gorgeous, etc) thus attracting the opposite sex to them, making it easy for them to lure their victim to them with less resistance.

If they go too long without blood, they start to age rapidly, losing their eternal youth. They require blood, not to stay alive, but rather to stay youthful and to prevent themselves from turning into a dried up skeletal corpse with dehydrated "beef-jerky" skin. Drinking blood keeps them soft and fleshy. Vampires that refuse to drink blood, turn into dried up prunes and gain a skeletal grim reaper look to them. Just after feeding on blood they gain a warmer, rosy glow, and a slightly bloated look. They tend to sleep just after feeding, and by the time they awake a few hours later the rosy glow and bloated look has gone away.

Common Vamps rarely attack, and do not shape shift or change appearance, they just remain in their zombie like state and await orders from their master. They only attack humans if commanded to by the master.

- Do they have any physical abnormalities? (One nostril, furry feet, a bare skull etc. One vampire legend even has a creature who's skin is blackened from the funeral pyre, another had metal teeth and hooked feet.)

Only if they already had physical abnormalities prior to becoming a vampire, do they have physical abnormalities afterwards. They can however be damaged in battle (lose an arm, get a gashed face, etc.) and thus gain physical abnormalities after becoming a vampire.

- Are all of their kind only one gender? (Some vampires across the world are only male or only female)

"True Vampires" are usually men (as women rarely commit the horrendous acts of evil required to become a True Vamp).

Common Vampires tends to be woman, because True Vampires have a tendency to go after female humans more often than male humans (unless of course they are gay). The choice of who to attack is a very sexual thing. True Vamps tend to use sexual attraction in order to get their victim close enough to them, in order the bite their neck.

In my children's books, this fact is never mentioned, however the "law" remains the same: True Vampires are nearly always male and Common Vampires are nearly always female.

- Can they move soundlessly?

True Vamps can, yep. They are know for "appearing out of no where", not because they magically appeared, but because no one heard them come into the room, thus it seems like they magically appeared from out of no where.

Common Vampires are not so stealthy. Being in a zombie like trance, they tend to be some what clumsy and may walk into things.

Biology:

What makes your vampire a vampire

Being a parasite, like a leach that needs a host, is the only real requirement to make a vampire a vampire.

True Vampires need blood from a host and are undead. This is what makes them a vampire.

Common Vampires, are not really vampires, they are just mistaken for vampires because they look like True Vampires and are in a trance by the True Vampire that controls them. Common Vampires are in fact Zombies, not vampires. They serve as hosts and slaves of the True Vampires. They are not dead. They do not drink blood unless commanded to by their True Vampire Master. They have no free will of their own.

As I said before, I have many types of vampires and not all of them feed on blood or are undead. The True Vampires and the Common Vampires are the only two being used in my NaNovel '09 so those are the only two I've been mentioning in my answers here.

In addition to those two types, however, I have also used others

My Twighlight Manor Electric Eel Sirens are mer-folk vampires (and are a type of Fae or Faerie). They are very much alive, can be killed, and may or may not feed on the blood of their victims. They are only seen in my M-rated stories, because they are highly sexual and prey on human victims for sex, rather than for blood. They feed on the life force of humans, leaving their victims near comatose after an attack (an attack being more or less rape.) They are somewhat akin to incubus and succubus.

My Twighlight Manor Phookas, likewise are alive and can be killed, but are incredibly strong and can snap a full grown man's bones with their bare hands, so killing one is not easy. These are the darkest of my vampires, very much an animalistic monster, and a type of Fae or Faerie, best described as being a sort of demon. These human looking creatures, act like frenzied sharks and will not only drink the blood of their victims, but will also tear them limb from limb and gorge themselves on human flesh. These shape shifters can look like anything or any one - they are commonly known to look like your lover/spouse, in order to trick you into bed with them, where they have violent sex with you (usually killing you by the time they are done), than eat you in a very black widow manner.

Yeah - my Twighlight Manor books are pretty dark, violent, sadistic, and full of sex crazed, blood sucking, flesh eating, drag queen, cannibal vampires. It pushes all the limits and is high on graphic sex and brutal violence. My Twighlight Manor vampires can't go any where's near a YA or children's book, so that's why I'm not focusing on them in this question and answer session here.

- Do they breathe?

True vampires = They must, though I never thought about it before.

Common Vampires = Of course they do. They are not dead.

- Do they have a heartbeat? If so, is it fast? Erratic? Slow?

True vampires = They must, though I never thought about it before.

Common Vampires = Of course they do. They are not dead. In their zombie like state, I would assume it to be very slow though.

- Are they actually dead? Did they rise from the grave? (Some legends mention corpses coming to life if a cat jumps over the grave or if moonlight crosses the body)

True vampires are actually dead, but have not left their body and have not passed of their either Heaven or Hell, because they were so wicked and did such evil acts while they were alive, that they are cursed to walk eternity as the undead - a fate worse than hell.

Common Vampires? They are not dead. They are hapless victims of True Vampires.

- Are they immortal or do they still age? If immortal, do they get bored of living and destroy themselves? Dig themselves in and sleep for a few centuries? (Lestat slept for several centuries and emerged in the 1980s. The vampires in the World Of Darkness often do this). Does the magic keeping them "alive" only last so many centuries?

True Vampires are immortal; doomed to walk the earth for ever and ever. They can never dead, because they are already dead. You can temporarily defeat them, but you can never kill them, because they are already dead. They keep coming back. They always come back.

There is no rest for the wicked. They retreat during the day, but may or may not sleep. Sleep for centuries is not a thing they could do even if they wanted to. They can become trapped in a coffin for centuries, but they do not spend that time asleep, rather they spend it howling with rage and frustration as they try to claw their way out of the coffin. Once trapped in their coffin the only way they can escape is if some one still alive releases them yy opening the coffin. Thus it is possible for centuries to pass before they "return from the grave".

Common Vampires, unless released from their True Vampire Master's trance, will die a week or so after becoming his prey. Sometimes they are turned into True Vampires by their Master, but this is a rare occurrence that only happens when the True Vamp decides he wants to keep the Common Vamp as his bride.

- Are they cold to the touch? Room temperature? Hot?

True Vampires are cold. Very cold. Think, like you just stuck your hand in a vat of liquid nitrogen or dry ice, when you shake hands with them. This cold is so penetrating, that you can feel cold ait wafting off of their body, before you even get really close to them.

Common Vampires, being humans in a trance, are still warm, though they may feel slightly colder than is normal due to their being nightly drained of more blood by the True Vamp that is controlling them. Eventually (after a couple of weeks) they will die from blood loss and the True Vampire will seek out a new victim/host.

The best sure way to tell a Common Vampire from a True Vampire is to shake hands with them. The Common Vampire will still feel somewhat warm, while the True Vampire will feel like you have a hand full of dry ice.

- Can they reproduce? Does that ahem, area, work at all?

In my adult stories, sex seems to be what drives a True Vampire to attack their victims. They have a strong sexual desire, but the desires can not be fulfilled (part of their punishment, is that they must spend eternity wanting things they can not have, sex being the top of the list of things they want and can never have.) This is why they lure their victims in, than suddenly go into a rage and drain them of their blood.

In my children's books this subject (sex/reproduction/etc.) is never mentioned, alluded to, or hinted at in any way or form.

- Do they need to sleep? If so, how often and for how long? Is this a "sleep of the dead" (as in, they show no signs of life at all and are basically a corpse) or more like normal human sleep? Do they dream? Do they sleep in a coffin or have to keep native soil on them? (some stories have the vampire sleeping in several inches of blood (Carmilla)

How they Sleep:

The True Vamps: They sleep during the day. They can sleep where ever they want. They don't have to sleep in their coffin, though some just seem to do so for some unknown reason. Most prefer to keep the coffin hidden away somewhere and avoid sleeping in it, in order to avoid becoming trapped in it, as trapping a vampire in it's coffin is the best way to imprison it for centuries. They must however have the dirt from their grave with them. Thus they may keep a box of dirt under their bed, or fill their coffin with dirt, etc.

It's not so much that they actually NEED the dirt, as it is, they are very, extremely OCD and are compelled to have the dirt with them, otherwise they simply toss and turn, unable to sleep because all they can think about is how they need their grave dirt their with them. It's a psychological thing sort of like the kid that can not sleep without a teddy bear and a night light.

There is no rest for the wicked. They retreat during the day, but may or may not sleep and their sleep is far from restful. Sleep for centuries is not a thing they could do even if they wanted to. They can become trapped in a coffin for centuries, but they do not spend that time asleep, rather they spend it howling with rage and frustration as they try to claw their way out of the coffin. Once trapped in their coffin the only way they can escape is if some one still alive releases them yy opening the coffin. Thus it is possible for centuries to pass before they "return from the grave".

The Common Vamps don't really sleep, they just sort of stand there waiting for the True Vamp to give them orders.

- Can they sweat? If not, does this lead to problems dealing with temperature shifts? Do they sweat blood? Conversely, can they cry?

True vampires = I never thought about it before. I don't think they can sweat or cry. I've never known any of mine to do either, so they must not be able to, though I do not have an explanation as to why this would be.

Common Vampires = Of course they do. They are not dead. They are not likely to cry though, due to their trance like state.

- Can they be active during the day? What happens if they go into sunlight? (Do they combust? Or do they just run the risk of dehydrating. If they sparkle, kill this character NOW) Does sunlight strip them of their powers (Dracula) or have no affect at all? Does it hurt their eyes? Does it burn? Do they tan?

Because of their super pale skin, they have no resistance to UV rays and thus get super wicked horrendously awful sunburns, wick, do not kill them, but will weaken them something fierce. They do however get a stronger resistance to sunlight the older they get, so Count Dracula can go out during the day, providing the UV factor isn't too high (ie - on cloudy, overcast, or foggy days), but their sensitivity to sunlight does weaken them so they don't do it if they don't have to.

This applies to both True and Common Vamps, due to their pale skin.

- Healing. Can they heal unnaturally fast or do they have to feed to heal? Can they heal at all? Does it leave a scar? Can they regenerate lost limbs? Not heal from certain damage inflicted to certain areas (Heart, Brain etc) or by certain materials? (Wood, Silver, cold iron etc). Do they heal so quickly they run the risk of healing over bullets and such forth? (thus needing reopen the wound to dig them out) or does their body push out foreign objects as it heals? (Like Wolverine in the second X-men movie lol)

True Vampires heal very fast, mostly while they are sleeping. They can be wounded, injured, and weakened, and will return to their coffin to sleep and re energize. A wound that would kill a live mortal, will only slow down and weaken the undead immortal True Vampire. A wound that in a mortal would take weeks to heal, would heal in a True Vampire in just one night (or two). It's not an instant heal, but pretty close to it.

Common Vampires, being humans in an animated coma, are weaker than normal and thus are easily wounded, easily put out of commission, and have a very slow ability to heal. They are thus easily defeated, easily killed, and their true purpose is to serve as a device to slow up any attack on the True Vampire and allow him extra time to escape.

- Are they unnaturally fast? Strong? How fast? How strong?

True Vampires: yes
Common Vampires: no.

True Vampires can move faster, or rather they seem to move faster because they are so silent when they move. I;m not sure if they are actually moving faster or if it's just and illusion caused by the fact that you never hear them coming.

They are very strong. A True Vampire can easily crush and man's neck or lift him up by gripping his throat, just using one hand.

Common Vampires are much slower than normal, due to their weakened state from loss of blood and due to their being in a trance. They are also far weaker than normal, for the same reasons.

Can they get sick? If not, do they carry disease? Can they infect their victims with this illness?

True vampires = They must, though I never thought about it before. But yes, I would assume they could get sick and/or carry illnesses and spread them to their victims. I've just never had occasion to use such events in any of my stories as yet.

Common Vampires = Of course they do. They are not dead.

- Do they bleed?

True vampires = I don't think they can bleed, seeing how they are dead and all. I've never known any of mine to bleed, so they must not be able to, though I do not have an explanation as to why this would be. It is one of the ways to tell a True Vampire from a Common Vampire.

Common Vampires = Of course they do. They are not dead. It is one of the ways to tell a True Vampire from a Common Vampire.

Tell-tale signs:

How can others tell it's a vampire?

Number one best way: shake their hand. They are colder than a deep freeze. You can probably tell before you shake their hand, as the room gets colder when they enter it, because their body is like it's giving off dry ice.

In Filipino legend, a specially prepared oil of coconut and various herbs would begin to boil if a vampire was nearby. Does this sort of thing ever happen?

Yak Butter turns rancid when True Vamps are around. This weird fact was created by me as a result of a NaNoWriMo DARE. :)

Another sort of vampire caused blights, crops would fail and plants wither in their presence. Does this sort of thing ever happen?

The trees and grass and plants around a True Vamp's house are always dead and brown and shriveled up. I believe this may be largely due to prolonged exposure to the cold air that the True Vampires give off.

Do they cast a shadow? Is it a normal shadow?

I have no idea. They so rarely go outside on sunny days that I never noticed.

Do they show up in photographs? If so, do they show up normally?

The do not photograph. The photos come out a blurred snow haze, and often cameras stop working after they touch them.

- How do animals react toward them? Hostile? Fearful? Submissive?

Depends on the animal and the vampire. Some react violently and try to attack the vampire. Some are terrified and flee at the presence of the vampire. Some are indifferent and don't notice the vampire. Some will follow, obey, and help the vampire. I have no idea what causes the difference, nor do I try to explain it.

Can they cross running water?

I see no reason why they can't. They often do. All my books are set in Southern Maine, where it is next to impossible to go any place without crossing running water of some sort.

Powers/Abilities:

- Do they have magical mystical powers? (Hypnotism, mind control, control animals, shapeshifting, spider climbing, mind reading) Explain how these work. Do they need some sort of focus? (Some vampires had a magical hat, I'm not kidding! How about an amulet or ring of some sort?) - Do they have an unusual method of locomotion? (Hopping? Flying? There's some who split off their upper torso and others who fly around as a disembodied head. Some even have their feet on backwards)

Common Vampires do not have any special powers or abilities. They are just zombie-drone minions of the True Vampires.

"Regular" True Vampires have the following abilities:

Movement Abilities:

-Inhuman Speed
-Unearthly Reflexes
-Vertical Ascension (climbs walls)
-Gliding (with help of cape)
-Bat Form
-Mist Form
-Flight
-Move Silently

Offensive Abilities

-Fangs
-Vampiric Claws
-Enhanced Senses
-Animalistic Frenzy
-Superhuman Strength
-Mind Control
-Wolf Form
-Horrific Transformation
-Glamor

Defensive Abilities

-Fast Healing
-Impervious to bullets
-Intimidation

"Super Powerful" True Vampires (such as Dracula) also have these additional "rare" abilities:

Rare Movement Abilities

-Clown Frenzy
-Astral Projection
-Dodge Daylight
-Spider Climb
-Cat's Grace
-Shadow Conceal

Rare Offensive Abilities

-Pyrokinesis
-Corrosion
-Control Mall Santas
-Ironic Annihilation
-Purge Blood
-Pestilence
-Mummification
-Blood Soaked Vengeance (Carrie)
-Hellfire
-Demonic Familiar
-Bloodletting
-Vampire Lord
-Summon Horseman
-Shadow Transformation
-Bone Spikes
-Demon Summoning
-Telepathy
-Drain Youth
-Raise Zombies
-Invisibility
-Shadow Manipulation
-Blood to Ashes
-Command a Wolf Pack
-Command Rat Swarm
-Cause Madness
-Intoxicating Bite

Rare Defensive Abilities

-Veil of Thorns
-Winged Guard
-Premonition
-Indestructible
-Iron Skin
-Create Illusion
-Immunity to Religious Icons
-Immaterial (can walk through solid walls)
-Resistance to Sunlight
-Immunity to Silver

(This list of abilities was copied from the Zanga Game Vampire Wars, btw) I liked it so I decided to use it for my own vamps.

A Common Vampire can not do any these things. Because they are a drone they have no special powers to speak of. It is one of the ways to tell a True Vampire from a Common Vampire.

Weaknesses/Disabilities: Are they repelled by holy symbols? How about Garlic? What about Prayer? How do you kill them? What repels them? Holy water, religious symbols, garlic, wild rose, salt. Some are repelled by pregnant women (Dhampire: Stillborn) or old women (Fillipino myths).

Can only certain weapons or materials harm them? (Silver, cold iron, consecrated items, certain woods? Plants?)

Any weapon can harm them, it's just that those made out of iron or blessed with Holy Water do more damage.

Holy waters: - Can burn skin and temporarily blind, but it depends upon the faith of the person throwing the water. Weak faith = weak effects. Strong faith = strong effects. In other words, in the hands of an atheist, the holy water would have no effect at all, while in the hands of the Pope it may just disable the vampire for years.

This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires.

Silver: Silver is for werewolves NOT vampires. What do you think Dracula's medallion (the one he always wears round his neck on a red ribbon) is made out of?

Iron: Gives of strong energies, which can completely over power a weaker vampire. Even Dracula is effected by it some, though not much. Note that Iron only works on True Vampires, not Common Vampires.

Iron horseshoes are hung over doors in barns to keep vampires from draining the cows and horses (real folklore, which I also use in my books).

Iron boot scrapers are left on door steps to keep vampires out, because if a vampire (who are all extremely OCD) sees a boot scrape he is compelled to clean his boots and touching the iron sends him packing. (another real folklore that I use in my books.)

Coffin nails are made out of iron (more real folklore) to keep a vampire from opening his coffin and coming out of it, thus trapping the vampire in the coffin until such time someone (most likly grave robbers) opens the coffin thus removing the iron nails from the lid.

Any sort of coffin nails iron or otherwise will keep a Common Vamp locked in, because of their weakened state.

Mirrors: Do they have a reflection? If so, is it normal or twisted? Blurred? Inhuman?:

It's not that vampires do not have a reflection. It's that they do not recognize their reflection. When they look in the mirror they expect to see themselves looking as they did when they were alive, and they are always shocked and horrified by their ghastly chalk appearance. Thus they refuse to have mirrors near them and will smash any mirror they see.

Vampires can be deflected from an attack, by showing them their reflection, which causes them to attack the mirror and than run away in horror. This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires, as Common Vampires in their zombie-like state do not see their reflection or anything else for that matter.

Sunlight: Because of their super pale skin, they have no resistance to UV rays and thus get super wicked horrendously awful sunburns, wick, do not kill them, but will weaken them something fierce. They do however get a stronger resistance to sunlight the older they get, so Count Dracula can go out during the day, providing the UV factor isn't too high (ie - on cloudy, overcast, or foggy days).

This applies to both True and Common Vamps, due to their pale skin.

Crosses: Same as Holy Water, but not limited to crosses - any religious icon from any faith will work. Weak faith = weak effects. Strong faith = strong effects. In other words, in the hands of an atheist, the cross would have no effect at all, while in the hands of the Pope it may just disable the vampire for years.

This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires.

Holy Land/Church: Can not enter if the congregation is holy and faithful. Same as Holy Water: Weak faith = weak effects. Strong faith = strong effects. In other words, if the congregation has a lot of hypocrites, sinners, and/or atheists in it, the church would have no effect at all and the vampire could walk right on in with no problems at all, while a congregation filled with super faithful orthodox devotees to their faith could keep a vampire at bay baring him from entering the church and if their faith was strong enough they may be able to weaken and thus disable the vampire for years.

This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires. A True Vamp may send a Common Vamp into the church in his place.

Also, even when entering a church full of unfaithful - the invitation to pass the doorway law still applies. See Doorways, below for more info on this.

Do they have extremely sensitive hearing? Eye sight? Smell? Can these cause complications? (Strong sense of smell may explain the repulsion to garlic for instance. Sensitive hearing leaves them vulnerable to being deafened by loud noises)

Yes. Yes. and Yes. True Vampires have extremely super sensitive hearing, eye sight, taste, and smell. Also their skin is pretty sensitive.

The end result of this is, they can't go outside on sunny days with out risk of severe sunburn and "snow blindness" (temporary blindness caused by bright light). When they do go outside during the day, they wear dark glasses and carry parasols (Chinese rice paper type) to shade their faces.

Their cloths have to be made of soft non-allergenic fabrics which is why much of their wardrobe is made of silk, silk velvet, satin silk, spun silk, ect. in order to avoid skin irritation.

They like quite neighborhoods away from traffic, children, barking dogs, gangs, etc, due to their overly sensitive hearing. As a result they will often live on the farthest outskirts of town, or in a big well sound proofed house/castle far into the woods or outside of town. When entering a vampire's house, he will always ask you to remove your shoes and wear soft slippers, so that the sound of your shoes does not give him a headache.

Due to their sensitive eyes, they will have only soft light bulbs in their house, if they even use light bulbs at all. They are more likely to use gas lights or kerosene lamps or candles which give off a soft glow. They may have no lights in their house at all, keeping in mind that they can see better in the dark than in the light and so really have no need for lights at all.

Their taste buds pick up even the faintest of tastes with an overwhelming power. When they do eat and drink normal foods, they will choose things with very bland flavors - white bread for example. They avoid all things with a strong taste: garlic, onions, chili peppers, etc.

Garlic: A big bad super wicked extremely powerful no-no for both True Vampires and Common Vampires. But there is nothing magical about it, it's an alergy thing. Due to their heightened senses, vampires (both True and Common) are wicked sensitive to strong smells and strong tastes. All strong smells and flavors cause problems for them, so if no garlic is handy, you can throw onions at them too. Garlic however is different. In addition to the strong smell and flavor, True Vampires are especially allergic to the acidic juices of garlic. Garlic burns the flesh of a normal human, causes watery eyes, and stings the tongue. So when used against the sensitivities of a vampire the effect it a hundred times worse than it is on a human. Garlic itches and burns the skin, causes swollen eyes and sinuses, temporarily blinding the vampire, and over all is pretty much effects them as if you had just taken a bath in poison ivy juice. A vampire's allergies to garlic can put them out of commission and into the sick bed for weeks. Garlic is the number one way to keep a vampire at bay. They simply can not tolerate the "allergy effects". You can disable and extremely weaken a vampire if you can trick them into eating garlic, and if you can get a string of garlic cloves around their neck.

Doorways: Can they enter a home uninvited? What happens if they try to do so? (In Let the Right One in, the vampire literally haemorrhages and bleeds from every orifice if they try it, in Buffy and Being Human, it's like there's an invisible force barring them.) They can't cross if it's personal property unless they are invited in. If the head of the household invites them in, they are able to keep coming back. If any one other than the head of the household invites them in, they must be re invited after each visit, until the head of the household invites them, and than they can keep coming back without farther invitation. This applies only to True Vampires.

In most cases they can if it is public building. Say a grocery store or restaurant where "the public is welcomed" to just walk in. Welcome signs, Yes We Are Open Come In sings, ect, all act as an invitation, thus allowing the vampire to enter.

However, when there is a sign such as "By Appointment Only", they could not enter without an invitation.

There is no magic or special powers involved in any of this. It's an OCD thing and is purely psychological. The vampire simply truly believes he can not enter any place without an invitation and thus you could keep a vampire out of your house simply by hanging a sign on your door that says: "Sorry we are closed, come back later".

This also results in vampires only ever entering a public building during it's open hours. If the sign says open 9AM to 5PM, than the vampire could only enter between 9AM and 5PM, otherwise he would need some one to specifically invite him in between 6PM and 8AM.

Common Vampires, because they are humans in a trance are not effected by the invitation rule, and thus the True Vampire will often have a Common Vampire minion, which he can send into houses and do his bidding, without the need of gaining an invite into the house.

Wood: Is only a minor deterant. Only sacred woods, such as Hawthorn, Dogwood, RoseWood, etc, have any real effect. It's a combination of an allergy thing, and the faith of the believer thing. See Holy Water.

Mustard Seeds, Matchsticks, Sunflowers Seeds, etc: Do they have a form of OCD? (Some oriental vampires had a compulsion to count grains of rice left scattered, this would distract them till morning stopping them from hunting that night)

My Vampires are extremely OCD. It's on the the things you will see EVERY SINGLE ONE on my vampires with. It's like becoming a vampire does something to their mind and fills them to overflowing with all sorts of weird phobias that they have no control over.

Due to a True Vampires, extremely overblown OCD problems, you can easily escape an attack, by grabbing a handful of whatever small object is near by and tossing them into the air. When they scattered across the floor, the vampire will scramble to pick them all up and count every single one of them. Thus it is handy to keep a bag of mustard seeds, matchsticks, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pepper corns, marbles, gum balls, or and other small easily scattered object in your pocket.

This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires.

Knots and Shoelaces: Once again, due to a True Vampires, extremely overblown OCD problems, you can easily escape an attack, or otherwise slow down a vampire by hanging knotted ribbon or ropes in their path. A common real modern day myth/practice it to tie a pair of sneakers together and than throw them over the telephone wire in front of your house or place of business, to keep vampires out. (Ever wonder why you always see a pair of sneakers hanging from telephone wires in the city - well now you know.) If a vampire is chasing you and you have time, take off your shoes, tie them together and throw them over the nearest wire or tree branch.

The purpose of this action is similar to scattered small objects. A vampire, due to his OCD, is compelled to stop whatever he is doing and focus all of his attention on untieing the knots and than placing the ropes, ribbons, or shoes in order, all lined up in a neat row.

This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires.

What happens when they're destroyed? Do they turn to dust? Do they revert to the age they should have been had they been mortal? Do they rapidly decay? Do they just remain looking like a human corpse?

True Vampires can not be destroyed - they are immortal undeads, people whom have already died.

Common Vampires on the other hand: Because Common Vampires are not actually dead, they can be killed, however, they usually don't need to be killed to break the spell they are under. All you really need to do is undo the hypnotism that the True Vampire did to them, and than put them on bed rest and give them some blood transfusions. However, people are too stupid to ever think of doing this, and usually react by thinking the only way to protect themselves from the Common Vampire, is to stake it's heart, cut off it's head, and bury it's body face down in a coffin that has had the lid nailed on with iron nails.

The hypnotism will wear off on it's own if you can keep the victim away from the True Vampire that is controlling them. The best way to do this is to put the Common Vampire in a small cabin full of mirrors, with mustard seeds scattered on the roof of the cabin and the floors inside it, and have the Common Vampire wear a crown of garlic on their head and another around their neck. Than, never invite the vampire in, replace the mustard seeds every time he starts removing them, replace the mirrors as fast as he breaks them, and make sure she never removes the garlic cloves from around her neck. After a week or so of this the Vampire Master will give up and look for a new and less well protected victim and the spell will be broken, thus the Common Vampire will come out of their trance and return to their old normal human self again.

Can vampirism be cured? If so, how? (In the Lost Boys, killing the head vampire would cure those who had not yet tasted human blood.)

See my last answer.

- Do they feel pain?

Yes, but they are more resistant to it, thus can take quite a bit of pain before the pain becomes unbearable enough for them to back down.

Common Vampires, being entranced, feel nothing and will not stop coming at you until you kill them, which is not too hard to do.

- Can bullets hurt them? What about other normal weapons? Can they be suffocated or drown?

Anything can hurt True Vampires, it just takes a lot more of whatever it is, to do the kind of damage it would do with a human. But, being immortals, their wounds no matter how severe they are, will never kill them.

Blood/Manner of feeding; The all important question of blood:

- Do they feed on blood or life force? Do they also eat flesh?

In my children's books, the vampires are never actually seen to be drinking blood or attacking humans. It's hinted to, and every one knows that is what the vampire does when he goes out at night, but it's never an on screen action. My goal is a scary bedtime story for children, not terrorizing them into sleeping with every light in the house on.

A vampire gone on a frenzy, will eat the flesh as well as drink the blood. In my rather violent (and written for adults) Twighlight Manor series, feeding frenzies are common place, with the vamps going into rabid-like fits attacking their victim and tearing them to pieces, gorging themselves on the blood, drinking it straight from the heart itself after tearing open the chest and ripping out the rib cage, than relishing the heart, eyes, and brain far above all else.

In either case, blood is what keeps a vampire going. They won't die without the blood, but they will dry up like old brittle bones if they don't keep drinking it. They will also age and start falling apart (like the CryptKeeper) if they don't get enough blood. Blood keeps them young, soft, and youthful.

Common Vampires do not eat or drink unless told to by their "master" the True Vampire. Likewise they will only drink blood if told to do so by the True Vamp that controls them.

- Do they need to drink blood to survive? Or are they simply addicted? (Being Human)

See my last answer.

- What happens if they don't feed?

See my last answer.

- Will animal blood suffice or does it need to be human blood?

Blood is blood, they'll take whatever is handy at the moment. Human blood is preferred, but whatever is handy will do if no humans are around. Though, my vamps never go after animals in my children's books, because when I was about 12 I read a vampire book for kids, which had a vampire go after the MCs dog and turn the dog into a vampire, and I had nightmares for weeks after that. So I never write vampires going after animals in any of my children's stories, and rarely do I do so in my adult stories either.

- Can they drink packaged blood? Or does the anticoagulant make it unpalatable? Do they need to have fresh living blood?

Blood is blood, they'll take whatever is handy at the moment, but warm, fresh, pulsating blood from a still beating heart is strongly preferred. Cold, stale, unfresh, unpulsating, packaged blood is a last resort if nothing else is available.

- Do they have to drink the blood or can they inject it? Will a blood transfusion work just as well if not better than drinking?

Blood is food, injections will not work.

- Can they eat normal food? What happens if they do?

Though they don't need to and thus don't eat normally, they can eat in order to keep up appearances. For example if an unsuspecting human invited them over for a dinner party, they could ea whatever was served (providing such things as garlic and onions or any thing else they are allergic too, were not served).

True Vampires can eat and drink regular normal foods, but these do not seem to sustain them well. The nutrients are not absorbed the way they were when they were alive. As a result they drink blood to get the nutrients, because for some reason it's the only way they can. No idea why that is, I don't know much about medical/biology stuff so I didn't bother to work out all the details. I simply said it and thus that made it so and my readers will just have to take my word for it.

Common Vampires do not eat or drink unless told to by their "master" the True Vampire. Likewise they will only drink blood if told to do so by the True Vamp that controls them.

- Do they bite? Where? (Neck, upper thigh, wrist? Chest?) If they don't bite, what do they use instead (Fingernails/claws? A knife? A straw)

Neck. The True Vampires almost always, they go for the neck. No. Always. I don't think I've ever written a True Vampire that DIDN'T go straight or the neck.

I did once consider having a vampire that lost it's teeth, using a straw to drink the blood. I'm guessing the straw would have been sort of a thin metal pipe to stab them in the neck with first. I never wrote that one though, just considered using it for a really elderly vampire that had lost it's teeth.

Though in my Twighlight Manor series, feeding frenzies are common place, with the Phookan Vamps going into rabid-like fits attacking their victim's chest and tearing them to pieces, gorging themselves on the blood, drinking it straight from the still beating heart itself after tearing open the chest and ripping out the rib cage and lungs, etc.

How they Bite:

Exactly like Bela Lugosi did in Dracula: Mesmerize victim with flashy wow factor.

*Runs down stairs flapping huge satin cape while jumping from the stairs pretending to fly like superman.* (Or in my more adult books, they do a Tim Curry and flash their sequined underwear at you.) :)

Now that he's got your attention (and you are wondering what the hell a grown man is doing running around in sequined underwear and flapping his cape at you) - hypnotize them.

"Looook intwo mah eyezzzzzz. You a undah mah conwrol. Ah vant your blood."

While you stand there wondering what the heck this guy is saying, he takes the opportunity to grab your neck and bite. :)

I just love overblown over the top theatrical vampire stunts. :) I especially love it when they run by flapping their capes. I got a thing for guys in capes (and sequined underwear). :)

So the whole thing is basically "Look at the weird gorgeous guy in the cape running circles around me, I wonder what he's doing, I wish I could understand what he saying, oh wait, why his biting my neck? Help, he mesmerized me with his flashy cape so long that I didn't realize he was about to tear my throat out! AAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!. . . . yes . . . master . . . . anything you say . . . master.. . . I'm . . . coming . . . master."

I love Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Any vampire that doesn't act like Bela Lugosi isn't a real vampire in my book. Unless of course he's acting like Tim Curry's Dr. Frank-N-Furt, than it's okay to not act like Bela Lugosi's Dracula. ;)

If they hunt, how do they do it? Do they have a specific sort of person (only women, only blonds etc etc) or animal they prefer?

I explained this a ways back, but basically all True Vampires are males and all their "Common Vampire) victims are females (unless the True Vampire is gay).

- How often do they need to feed? (every night? Every fortnight? Once a month? )

Depends on the story and how the plot is going. Usually True Vamps need blood every night or at the very least every once every three days.

So, vampires drink blood, but where does it go?

Uhm . . . in their stomach??????????? Seems like the logical place for it to go.

Do they use the bathroom?

I would assume they must. It never occurred to me to think about it.

How much blood are they drinking, anyway?

Who the hell knows. As much as they vant.

Killing One:

You can't. I sort of already explained that back when I was talking about how they are created.

Society:

How do vampires function politically and socially

True Vampires are pretty much loners and keep to themselves. Because you got to be pretty darn wicked to become one, there actually are not too many True Vampires out there. You are not likely to meet more than one in your entire life time, and there would rarely be more than one in your local town.

Once in a while, a dictorial vampire will come a long and he'll pretend to be a mortal so as to work his way into politics and take control and use his power to kill lots of humans. (Adolf Hitler for example, in my books, would have been very likely a Vampire, which would explain how he had gained such power so fast.)

Do these vampires have a social hierarchy? How is it sorted? (By age? By power? By merit or by eliminating your rivals? Are they ruled by committee or government or by a single individual? How are these leaders selected or are they self-appointed? How structured is their society?)

Nope. They are loners. If you did find a few that banded together it would be sort of like a tribe or a gang. They would pick the strongest/wisest/whatever to be the leader, and they would create whatever survival of the fittest type laws they could think of to live by.

A note here, that when vampires start moving in packs, they are likely to be pretty dangerous and far more animal like in their attacks. They are more likely to go into frenzies, and they are more likely to act out of brute violence. They would be harder to reason with and harder to drive out of your town.

Vampires are pretty territorial though, so banding together into groups is highly unusual and would only happen in rare instances. If more than one vampire showed up in the same town, they would more likely fight like a pair of pit fighting roosters and whom ever was more powerful would take over the territory while the other would flee to a different town.

- Do they have laws? What are they? How are they enforced? Is it regional? International? Is each city independent or are their overall laws that all vampires across the globe adhere to? (I.E is there a masquerade law (Vampire: The Masquerade) preventing vampires from revealing their existence to the mortal world?)

See my last few answers.

How is the creation of new vampires dealt with? Is it restricted or regulated? What are the punishments for creating a vampire without permission? What are the prerequisites for creating a new vampire (What sort of person do they select? Why?)

This question does not apply to my vampires.

Upon creating a vampire, does the sire remain with the new vampire and teach them or is it normal for them to be abandoned and left to fend for themselves?

This question does not apply to my vampires.

Is the relationship between sire and childe/fledgling close? Do they have any mystical connection to each other?

This question does not apply to my vampires.

Are your vampires solitary creatures or do they form groups/Covens? How do they get along with other vampires? How about other supernaturals? (Werewolves for instance)

I just answered this a few questions back.

Are your vampires territorial or nomadic? What happens when another vampire strays into their territory?

I just answered this a few questions back.

One Final Added Note: In my adult books (which are very M rated adult books and no publisher will touch them so I have self-publish them) my True Vampires are the same as everything else on this list, except the have the added feature of looking, dressing, and acting uncannily like Tim Curry's Dr Frank-N-Furt (and the rest of the crew) from Rocky Horror Picture Show. (My second fave vampire movie, after Bela Lugosi's Dracula.) So in my children's books, my vampires stay more Dracula style, but in my adult books my vampires toss their cloths aside in a very Transylvania Transvestite Vampire gone Mad Scientist insane sort of way. :) I love Tim Curry's transvestite vampire almost as much as I love Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Heck, I love all drag queens and crazy cannibalistic, rock signing, mad scientist, vampire drag queens are even better. :)

Plus, I'm a huge Liberace` fan, and I've always thought of him as looking like a glittering vampire, so my adult book vamps got a touch of Liberace-ism in them too. :)

In NaNoWriMo 2009 I broke down a wrote a vampire NaNovel. Well, I'm still writing it seeing how it's only two days into the contest as I write this post. :)

I had an outline. It was awesome. I loved it very much, and was likewise excited to start writing. I spent 2 months planning my outline, creating characters, building the world they lived in, planning what was going to happen. I had a 30k word outline when I got done. There was not a vampire in sight.

Than Halloween came and I stayed up all night watching Vincent Price and Bela Lugosi movies while waiting for midnight so I could start writing. Midnight came just as The Devil Bat ended and Abbot & Costello Meets Frankenstein was going on. With Bela Lugosi on the brain, my plot, characters, and outline went out the window, and when the clock stuck midnight I started writing Bela Lugosi/Dracula fan-fic instead of my planned outlined plot.

Now I'm going outlineless, characterless, and plotless by the seat of my pants and I have absolutely no idea where this story is going to go or what is going to happen next.

It's the attack of the NaNoDare thread - I'm doing a NaNovel heavy on the Dares this year, and I know lots of you guys are doing the same, so here's a thread to crash on and shout out each time you completed one of your dares!

I'll go first -

I'm 4 hours and 2,964 words into my novel and already I've got dare shout outs coming left and right. Here's what I've done so far:

- my MC is wearing yellow socks with pink bunnies on them

- his mom is making garlic bread out of rancid yak butter

- his best friend keeps saying "Oh my strawberry Pop-Tart of joy and spectacularly worn T-shirt of sexiness" at the end or beginning of every sentence

- a famous celebrity has made a cameo appearance - my celebrity of choice was Bela Lugosi

- the villain (Bela Lugosi) just sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at an unexpected moment

yep - the dares are coming along fine, and surprisingly, so far they have all made perfectly logical sense for my story! YAY!

- the first line of your story must be: "Where the hell are my pants?"

It was through my MC looking for his pants, that he ended up accidentally putting on his sister's yellow socks with pink bunnies on them, so I ended up using 2 dares in one with that! YAY!

and an update on the rancid yak butter - part of the dare was to use it as a weapon, well, I haven't used it as a weapon yet, but the fact that my MC's mom is using it to make Garlic Bread in a story about vampires - yeah, there's a good chance of my using rancid yak butter as a weapon at some point before Nov 30th rolls around! YAY!

I couldn't find the original rancid yak butter dare, and I couldn't remember which year's archive it was in, but at the Saco meetings we've been talking about a million and one ways to use rancid yak butter - it's like been the main topic of discussion at every meeting so far! LOL!

We've talked about using it to build Igloos with, filling the White House with it instead of jello ;), ways to use it as a weapon, etc.

I couldn't figure out what to do with it until last night when midnight struck and I started writing. My plot I was going to write was about Jack Frost and a Frost Zombie apocalypse. But it was Halloween and my shelves are full of Vincent Price and Bela Lugosi DVDs and I spent 3 days watching nothing but.

I was still watching them when midnight rolled around and I got to start typing. And that's when something strange happened - I found myself writing about 3 kids who saw this box being delivered to a deserted house and it turns out to be Dracula's coffin, and they meet up with Bela Lugosi and for some odd reason one of the boy's mother has joined a Tibetan yoga group that is lead by a monk that raises yaks and makes yak butter and so, the kids come home from discovering that Dracula has moved in next door to find their mom cooking garlic bread with rancid yak butter! LOL!

OMG! I have no idea where any of that came from, except I spent 3 meetings talking about rancid yak butter followed by three days of vampre movies and ended up writing that. I think the kids are going to end up fighting Dracula with Rancid Yak Butter Garlic Bread - and the way it's going right now, rancid yak butter is going to be a MAJOR plot element this year! LOL!

I must rush back to the Dare Thread and find more dares. OMG! I love Dares, I'm going to try to have at least one dare on every page of my entire novel this year. :)

This bit here is just me ranting on what I like and dislike about vampires. Maybe it will give you some ideas for your vampire story, maybe it will not.

Lately the book world has become overloaded with vampire stories. I stopped reading the new vampire books in about 1993 or so, because they had become so cliche` and lovey-dovey. Lesat started out great, but than Lesat got boring. Than all the Lesat wanna-be stories started cropping up. Than along came Angel. Angel the show was pretty good. Angel the books were dull and boring. After Lesat and Angel, vampires began to run rampant in every novel, for the sake of having a vampire in the novel. Vampires became cliche` and boring to me.

I like vampires. I am a huge fan of vampires. Vampires are my favorite monsters.

Yes, vampires are monsters, not blood drinking humans. Vampires do more than drink blood and look good.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing and a good thing becoming corrupted and no longer being good. That has happened in the past few years with vampires and fiction.

I like vampires in fiction only once in a while. Dracula was good. I like Dracula: the book, the movie (Bela), and of course the costumes.

I like when you read a mystery series (Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, etc) and one volume has them run across a vampire.

Vampires are monsters. Soulless zombie-like monsters. Vampires should never be personified into acting like humans, because vampires are not humans. Vampires do not take human lovers.

I like the fact that vampires are very rare creatures and only one or two of them can exist on the world at a time.

I dislike seeing vampire stories were vampires run a muck everywhere and vampire nations are rising up and doing battle against other equally rare creature (werewolf, zombie, etc.) nations. Goes against the whole vampires are rare theory.

I dislike vampire romance where vampire girls are falling for vampire boys and vise versa. Why? Because vampires are so rare that the likely hood of them meeting in the first place in unlikely. And even if they did meet, vampires are emotionless, thus they are not going to start mooing over each other!

Vampires are mean, cruel and emotionless.

Vampires eat meat, humans are meat. Vampires don't make love to or marry their food supply.

There you have what I dislike about modern day vampire stories.

I dislike people saying vampires are Goth. Vampires are not Goth.

I'm Goth. I don't wear black. I don't look like a vampire. I get so sick of what people call Goth. Gothic actually gets it's name from the Gothic time period, because it means a revival of wearing Gothic Period clothing. It actually has nothing to do with the color black or gloomy emotions or vampires, that is EMO, not Goth, please do not confuse the two, they are nothing alike.

Gothic clothen is clothen that was worn from 500AD - 1300AD (the original Gothic period). The first Gothic movement started in the 1850's and lasted until the 1930's. This period is known as The Gothic Revival Period, and it's when people tried to dress in fashions that mimic those of the original Gothic period.

Today's Gothic movement started in the 1970's but didn't take full hold until the late 1990's. The Modern Gothic Period or Goth Movement means to wear the cloths worn during The Gothic Revival Period (1850's - 1930's).

So few people know this and it always frustrates me, when people say: *You're Goth? But why aren't you wearing black and cutting your wrists?*

ARGH!

EMO is not Goth!

Vampires are not Goth!

Vampires usually dress in current fashion and look just like everybody else, that's how they blend in to find their food (you).

Black is not Goth!

Historical reenactment IS Goth.

An 1850's vampire wearing 1850's cloths is not Goth.

Anachronists are Goth.

If your 1990's vampire is dressed in 1850's attire, than he is Goth because he is anachronist.

END RANT

Way back in 1978, I start a series of short stories, which for a while were being written at a rate of one or two a month. Not popular beyond a few local fans, these stories are hailed as too graphic and too violent for the mass media, and thus remain small press published. Odd thing is that people call it a vampire series. In my own stories my characters are not vampires per say, but rather they are more vampire-like. Roderic esp. However, my stories are usually considered *vampire stories* even though there are no actually vampires in the. Odd. Made me wonder how that could be.

First off is the house: The Twighlight Manor. It's a huge old fortress that's been considered by humans to be haunted. Humans avoid the place like the plague, telling others stories of vampires, ghosts, zombies, and demons. Wild stories of how no one who's ever entered the Manor ever came back out or their bodies were found but never their heads.

Than there is the family. The Swanzen family whom never comes out of the Manor. No one ever sees them, no one knows what they live on, no one dares speak in the presence of AlKeeme, Roderic, or Melaca, and if it wasn't for EelKat and Etiole, no one would even know any one lived in the Manor at all. The Swanzens want nothing to do with the humans and gladly slaughter any human that enters the Manor. Of course, here's where the whole vampire confusion comes in: The Swanzens are aliens from another planet. They eat meat. Humans are meat. If meat wants to willingly walk through their front door and offer itself to them, they will not refuse the offer.

Than there are the Phookas. Mean, bloodthirsty, evil beyond evil. A band of shapeshifting demonic creatures, who can turn themselves into anything or anyone. They can become your best friend, your husband, or ever you sweet little dog; and they do it for one reason and one reason only: to get close enough to humans to be able to kill them quick and drain their blood without any fuss at all. My Phookas are prime evil.

What genre do I write? It's a horror-sci-fi cross over, heavy of the romance, and thick on the graphic gore (M rated for extreme bloody violence). Not a vampire in site. So what classifies it as a vampire story? The fact that the Swanzen family eats humans, and the Phookas relish in human blood, is what gets my Twighlight Manor series classified as a series of vampire stories.

The content of this lens was created by Wendy C. Allen compiled in part from posts on Star Log Pink, Star Log White, EK's Writing Blog, EK's CosPlay & Sewing Blog, Xavier's Nest, and EK's Business Blog, the official blogs of author and artist Wendy C. Allen, a.k.a. EelKat. Reprinted here on Squidoo with permission.

EK's Star Log and it's sister sites Copyright © Wendy C. Allen 2004-2008.

Star Log, Space Dock 13, The Twighlight Manor Press, Moonsnails, Buried Treasure, Copper Cockeral, Black Bobcat Fashions, Purple Peacock Patterns, The Rabbit Hole, and Xavier's Nest Copyright © Wendy C. Allen 2003-2008.

Twighlight Manor, EelKat, White Rock Asylum, Planet Ptarmagin, Crystonite Chronicles, Etiole, Sir Roderic, The Swanzen Family, and all other related characters, info, writings, names, images, and content Copyright © Wendy C. Allen 1978-2008. Reuse of these names, characters, writings, and images of the Twighlight Manor and TM characters are not allowed without prior authorization.

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