Mythological creatures often roam our world in secrecy. Humans aren't to know about them otherwise certain doom is sure to follow. I'm taking that rick though and exposing these creatures for who they are. Today is a vampires day to burn in the spotlight.

Often vampires are thought to be undead, blood-sucking creatures of the night. They are created by another vampire who changes them by injecting some fluid into their blood.

Two books that popularized vampires are John Polidori's The Vampyre and Bram Stocker's Dracula. Recent books that contain vampires are the ever-popular Twilight series, the House of Night series, and the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod.

Dracula, one of the most famous vampires, can do many things. He can change into an animal, control weather and he is stronger than many men. Downfalls to his vampirism are that he cannot enter someones home without being invited in, cant cross water unless carried and is turned powerless by daylight. Ruthven, the Vampyre, possessed normal vampiric powers such as super-human strength, shape shifting, and controlling vermin and wolves. He could also be revitalized by the moonlight.

Then in Twilight, their representation is changed completely. The go from creatures that burn at the very contact of sunlight to ones who sparkle. They still suck blood, but they can also survive on animal blood, not just human blood. They can run at the lightning-fast speeds and read minds or have other abilities. Their natural enemy: Werewolves. They have super human strength and their main "base", the place where they originated from is in Italy.

Then in House of Night, they are humans who are marked. Vampires live among humans, and anyone can know about it. Marked humans go through a change in their body and die then are reborn essentially. No contact with another vampire is needed. Hen they are still fledglings, or just changed, they have an outline of a crescent moon on their forehead. Once they are fully changed and have reached maturity, Their moon fills in and tattoos appear that go around their face or body. The red fledglings, a different race of vampire, behave much like a traditional vampire. They can use mind control on humans, drink blood from humans, and need permission to enter a house. They also burn in the sunlight and fall asleep as soon as the sun rises. These vampires also have some sort of unique ability like visions of the future, control of an element, or communicating with animals.

In Vladimir Tod, the main character is a half-vampire, birthed by a human mother. He can go out in the sun, but needs sunscreen, drinks from blood packs from the hospital, and likes raw meat. Their society, Elysia, is a giant community of vampires. Full blood vampires burn in the sunlight and drink from the source, a human. They also have a seal on their wrist that is their name and connects them to another member in that society. They earn this seal at birth. Later on once they earn more powers, they can use this seal to close things off to humans or to mark their territory and show what they want to protect. If they inject their blood into a victim then depending on the intent the vampire has, they can turn that human into a drudge, slave, or a vampire.

As you can see vampires across a few books have common traits and few differences. Reactions to sunlight, thirsting for blood, and some large society that includes all vampires. Next you're out for a walk at night you better watch you back because a vampire might be right behind you. Don't turn into a vampire, it sucks.

If you have any particular creature you would like to see a more in-depth view on then just say so in a review or PM. It would be helpful of you give me some source to start from that isn't online. A book or movie would be fine.