&lt;![CDATA[Vampires are generally associated with bats, dragons and beautiful woman. The word vampire is believed to have been derived from either Hungarian vampire (witch) or Turkish upior (witch) or from Greek nosophorus (plague- carrier). A group of vampires is termed as clutch, coven, or a clan.

Some common ways people follow to keep the vampires away are: they put mustard seeds on the threshold or hang fishing net on their window to keep the vampires busy counting the seeds or the fishing net?s holes till the sun rise. In ancient times in the Europe, stone monuments were commonly called dolmens were built on the graves to stop vampires from coming back. 

Vampires are not always dead; they are live people suffering from a type of disease. This disease is called porphyria or in common words as ?vampire disease? or ?Dracula disease?. The general symptoms of this disease are discomfort in sunlight or hair in large quantity all over the body. In severe cases the patient might have reddish brown stains on the teeth and finally goes mad. This medical disorder is generally due to haematodipsia, hemeralopia or sensitivity to sunlight termed as day blindness.

The famous vampires known of are Count Dracula, Muppet Vampires etc. The true vampire known for its beauty and attraction was Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Vampires have different tastes and habits. They are fond of blood, skin, flesh, nails and bones. Some grow white hair; change appearances and can even fly. 

Before Christianity evolved garlic, bells, iron, seeds, spades, rowan trees, hawthorn branches, salt, peppermint, running water etc. were used to keep the vampires away but after the advent of Christianity the vampires? repellent included holy water, crucifixes and Eucharist wafers.

Literature in form of folk tales, short stories, comics using mermaids all talk of vampires including movies and serials.  
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