How to Kill or Harm a Vampire. The main ways to kill a vampire include a stake (silver, wood, etc. depending on the lore) through the heart, exposure to sunlight, decapitation, removal of the heart, and contact with fire.

Beings having many of the attributes of European vampires appear in the folklore of Africa, Asia, North and South America, and India. Classified as vampires, all share the thirst for blood.

Spotting a vampire According to vampire folklore, vampires display some tell-tale physical signs of their affliction: pale skin, an absence of a reflection in mirrors, fangs and red glowing eyes. These attributes are commonly assigned to the blood-sucking undead in popular culture.

Their eyes can put humans in a trance, so they obey the vampire’s command. They never age and can live forever. They sleep during the day, often in a coffin. They like to bite a person’s neck to drink their blood!

From avoiding sunlight to using a cloak, here are five classic vampire characteristics that exist in the natural world.

• Drinking blood. The primary characteristic of a vampire is feeding on blood.
• Immortality.
• Avoiding sunlight.
• Heightened senses.
• Morphing.

An energy vampire is a device that continues to use energy and drain power, even when it is turned off. They lurk in your home, taking the form of phone chargers and cable boxes, computer cords and coffee pots. These phantom energy suckers can account for as much as 20% of your monthly electricity bill.

One book has a vampire that turns into a bat. His name is Dracula. Dracula was created by Brahm Stoker in 1897. Dracula has been famous ever since.

Their food source is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy. Three extant bat species feed solely on blood: the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata), and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi).

When these bats were first observed lapping up the blood of cattle in Central and South America they were quickly given the label of “vampires.” This idea was made concrete when Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) depicted vampires shapeshifting into bats.

Common vampire bat

Vampires are typically said to be of pale skin and range in appearance from grotesque to preternaturally beautiful, depending on the tale. Another frequently cited physical characteristic is the inability to cast a reflection or shadow, which often translates into an inability to be photographed or recorded on film.