Are Vampires Real?

Paranormal Romance fans love vampires–we really, really, really love vampires. Why? They are sexy, powerful and stay young and beautiful forever. We love them despite the fact they are undead, cold predators and would make a meal of us.

Vampires come from legends of long ago when people really believed they existed and were to be feared. People were so afraid of them they were willing to dig up graves, decapitate corpses and lynch-mob suspected vampires. So why would people go to such lengths for something that might just be a myth?

Does this mean there are vampires lurking out there; that they have adapted to our modern world and have become experts at walking among us undetected? Are they able to dupe CSI and forensic pathologists to take victims without raising suspicions? Is there really something out there that we should be afraid of?

Let’s take a look…

People who believe that they are vampires
Of the people who believe they are vampires, there are the mentally ill, like those said to have Renfield’s syndrome, a condition named after Count Dracula’s insect eating peon. These vampires do not need blood to live and have no special powers other than those of a great imagination.

There are also those who live in the vampire subculture who believe they need blood to maintain their physical and spiritual health. These are called sanguine vampires and they choose to live and dress like fiction’s immortals. They form clans and covens just like in the stories.

Another type of vampire, the lifestyle vampire, does not take any blood. They play dress up all year round. Many of these modern day vampires play role-playing games or are into fetish and sadomasochistic practices.

Some people believe they are psychic vampires and that they need to feed off of other people’s energy or life force. Technically, these people cannot claim to be real vampires, for what is a vampire that does not drink blood?

History’s vampires
Recent archaeological finds have unearthed vampires. They are not so much proof of a supernatural species, but humans that were killed because they were believed to be real-life vampires. Discoveries in Bulgaria and Italy reveal the macabre methods used to prevent these monsters from coming back to life. If these societies believed in vampires with such conviction, could that mean that they are real or at least existed in the past?

Today’s Real Life Vampires
Judging by the mutilated bodies found around the world, there was a time when vampires scared the daylights out of the living, so where have all the vampires gone?

Have we simply stopped believing because science has made us less superstitious? Or is it because vampires have developed ways in which they can feed on us without leaving a trace? Maybe they are underground, hiding, waiting for the perfect time to rise again.

Whatever the case may be, there is certainly little evidence or real vampire sightings to make the case that bonafide blood-sucking immortals exist. On the other hand, there is no absolute proof that they do not.

So, what do you believe?
Do you know any vampires—lifestyle or real?
Do you want real vampires to exist? Why?
Would you become a vampire? Take this quiz.
Please share in the comments section below.

Meryt Brownstone found out that vampires do indeed exist.
Read the first chapter of Eternal Traces.

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