What is Vampire?
[[Image:Burne-Jones-le-Vampire.jpg|thumb|260px|''The Vampire'', by Philip Burne-Jones, 1897]] A '''vampire''' is an [[undead]] creature in [[legend]]s and stories. The first vampire stories were told in Eastern [[Europe]], but much of how modern people see vampires was created by [[Bram Stoker]] in the famous novel, ''[[Dracula]]''. Few people believe that vampires are real, but they are still very popular in movies, television, and books. Vampires were once people but have a [[supernatural]] [[curse]]. Some vampires must drink blood to survive. They do this by biting people or animals on the neck with their two long fangs. People who are killed by having their blood drunk by vampires may also become vampires. Others can live off the life energy of people. In many stories, vampires can change into other animals, usually [[bat]]s, though also [[wolf|wolves]], [[cats]] or [[rat]]s. Depending on the story, vampires may have some or all of these characteristics: * They cannot go out in sunlight, so they sleep during the day. * They can only be killed in certain ways: ** being [[beheading|beheaded]] ** having a stake driven through their heart **or being sprayed or washed with [[Verbenaceae|vervain]] ** being set on fire * They can be weakened by [[Christian cross|crosses]] or other religious symbols, [[garlic]], [[holy water]], and [[silver]]. * They cannot cross the ocean unless they are in a coffin surrounded by soil from their homeland. *If vampires click their fingers they can disappear in the blink of an eye. * If a bag of rice, grain, seeds or other similar substance is spilled on the ground, a vampire will have to count every grain. * They have no [[reflection]] in glass, mirrors, or other things. * Vampires have photographic memory. * Vampires are cold blooded. *They can survive at the deepest point of the ocean. == Vampires in fiction == [[File:Vampyr ill artlibre jnl.png|thumb|right|A vampire]] Dracula is the most famous vampire in fiction, and many movies have been made about him, many with [[Christoph