Vampires in History and Culture

Ancient vampirism is the practice of drinking blood. Some Slavic Peoples believed in vampires as early as the 4th Century. In their mythology, a vampire drank blood, was afraid of (but could not be killed by) Silver, and could be destroyed by cutting off its head and putting it between the corpse's legs, or by putting a wooden stake into its heart.
In popular western culture, vampires are depicted as un-aging, intelligent, and mystically endowed in many ways. The vampire typically has a variety of notable abilities. These include great strength and immunity to any lasting effect of any injury by mundane means, with specific exceptions. Vampires can also change into a mist, wolf, or bat; and some can control the minds of others. They typically have extended canines or fangs. It is believed that vampires have no reflection, as traditionally it was thought that mirrors reflected your soul and creatures of evil have no soul.

Destroying and avoiding vampires

A western vampire (which is not alive in the classical sense, and therefore referred to as undead) can be destroyed using several methods, which vary among "species" and between mythologies:

Ramming a wooden stake through a vampire's heart. Traditionally the stake is made from ash or hawthorn and the vampire should be impaled with a single blow. In some traditions, a red-hot iron was preferred. In many western stories and films, impalement with a wooden stake only subdues a vampire and further measures must be taken to destroy the body, otherwise the monster will quickly recover once the stake is removed. This can be done by decapitating the body and burying the head separately, burning, burying the body at a crossroads or moving the body so it would be exposed to sunlight. Some stories extend the idea with vampire hunters using arrows or crossbow bolts made completely of wood to attempt to strike the monster's heart from a distance. If you ram a wooden stake into a vampire's heart three times, the vampire is said to return to the state that it was in before it died.
Beheading - basically as above, but without first using a stake.
Exposing a vampire to sunlight. This varies from culture to culture. Vampires that are active from sunset to sunrise often avoid sunlight as they can be weakened or sometimes destroyed by it. Many species of vampires are active from noon to midnight, and consequently sunlight is harmless.
Removing internal organs and burning them.

Other typical weaknesses of the vampire include:

Garlic or Holy Water repel or injure vampires.
Objects made of Silver, which can keep a vampire away or harm them if they are in physical contact.
Running water, which vampires cannot cross. This varies by tradition with some stories having vampires simply turning into a bat and flying over when faced with this obstacle.
Crosses and Bibles can keep vampires away. One simply holds the object in question in front of the vampire and the monster is kept at distance.
Requiring an invitation to enter a home: Western vampires are thought to be unable to enter a residence unless they are invited inside. After that invitation, they can enter the location freely.
Stealing of the left sock: Gypsy vampires can be killed if their left sock is stolen, filled with garlic or a stone, and tossed into a river. In theory, the vampire will leap into the river to retrieve it and will drown.

According to the belief of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the predominant Christian denomination in Eastern Europe, the soul is not given its permanent place in Heaven or Hell until 40 days after it has been buried. Accordingly, in some places, bodies were often disinterred between 3 to 7 days after burial and examined: If there was no sign of decomposition, a stake was driven through the heart of the corpse.

Species of Vampires

In Eastern Europe, the vampire is said to have two hearts or two souls; because one heart or soul never dies, the vampire remains undead. Until recently, European vampires were thought to be disgusting monsters often raised from the bodies of peasants and other lower-class people.
In Aztec Mythology, the Civatateo was a sort of vampire, created when a noblewoman died in childbirth.
In Malaysian folklore, the Penanggalan was a vampire whose head could separate from its body, with its entrails dangling from the base of its neck. The Pontianak was a female vampire that sucked the blood of new-born babies and sometimes that of young children or pregnant women.
In Moravia, vampires were fond of throwing off their shrouds and attacking their victims in the nude.
In India vampires (known as Yakshis) were beautiful women who seduced men in order to kill or eat them.

Belief in Vampires is still alive today
Belief in vampires still persists across the globe. During January of 2003, mobs in Malawi stoned to death one individual and attacked four others, including Governor Eric Chiwaya due to a belief that the government is colluding with vampires. In Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania there was said to be a clan of vampires called the "Children of Judas" who supposedly were the immortal spawn of Judas Iscariot. Judas was the betrayer of Jesus and was paid thirty pieces of silver for his betrayal. The Children of Judas were said to leave a scar of "XXX" (Roman Numeral for thirty) on the victims they kiss and are noticeable by their red hair, just as Judas supposedly had. In January 2005, it was reported that an attacker had bitten a number of people in Birmingham, UK, and fuelling concerns about a vampire roaming the streets. However, local Police stated that no such Crimes had been reported to them, and this case appears to be an Urban Legend

Drinking blood

There have been a number of murderers who performed this seemingly vampiric ritual upon their victims. Serial Killers, Peter Kurten and Richard Trenton Chase were both called "vampires" in the tabloids after they were discovered drinking the blood of the people they murdered, for example. The crimes of Erzsébet Báthory, a medievel Romanian aristocrat infamous for murdering hundreds of women in bizarre rituals involving blood, helped mold contemporary vampire legends.