I think not. There has to be some exaggeration in everything, but what is true and what is not?

Now, that is the question.

It is practically impossible to verify any of the legends, and legends are just that: legends, mutated by centuries of storytelling, one storyteller adds a little detail here to give the tale more impact, another changes it in another way and it's like chinese whispers.

When researching Vampire tales, historians and scholars tend to give more credence to official documents and trial records: things where there were lots of witnesses, and an official record written up. That's no guarantee though: for example, there are plenty of documented witch trials, and we know that there were probably no witches, just people who made easy scapegoats for society's ills. You cannot trust the perceptions of the past. We can only ever guess.

The fact that Vampire Tales are reported all over the world and have persisted in the human consciousness for centuries are the only real reasons we have for our continuing curiosity. Maybe we recognise something about the idea of the vampire in ourselves - it's a symbol of the human psyche.

The answer to your question: no-one knows. Science has not found anything other than vampiric tendencies in Humans, and has explained away many so-called Vampire symptoms as the once misunderstood processes of death and decay.

Who knows *Shows fangs* I do

It is sad that we know more about outer space than we do about our own planet. Who knows what resides alongside us.

When you say "old stories " I can only guess that you mean the stories about people opening graves to find corpes still alive and stuff.
I is true that during the years of vampire scares that many ,many graves were opened to make sure that the dead were really dead. I think papal records show as many as 2,000 graves being exumed in one year alone ( 1599).This fad was very popular right up to the French Revolution ,after which, it quietly died out .
I hope this answers your question .

That's a real good question. How much of the Myth is real? Researchers spend years and years trying to answer that question. I tend to feel that most Myths and Legends are based on some sort of fact. Although exactly what the originating factor was is unknown - in some cases. Oral legends tend to grow or be embelished as time goes on. So I would say the answer is - nobody knows . . .yet. ^_^

Hopefully, someday soon (i tend to be impatient when it comes to knowledge and information) they will find some conclusive evidence to in some way prove something!

I agree with MesPtah, nobody knows, but all myths and legends stem from fact.

i'm afraid to say this cookie, but unless one stands on top of the leaning tower of piza and shouts out 'I AM A VAMPIRE' and then jumps off, and flies away to bite some people, there will probably never be conclusive evidence. sorry.

The world may never know the truth. One just has to believe that there is something very very cool in this dull dull place. Besides girls .

Alot of the old stories you hear are made up fantasys. However, many of them are true. I was there.

Of course you were. No claims please: if you HAVE to stamp your unlikely mark on our collective consciousness, go to real vamps in Modern Vamps, please.

I think, sometimes it just depends on what you wish to believe is the truth or not.

And, now that I think about it, I highly doubt all of the old stories are true.

Here's a question for you: If being a vampire meant that you could live forever, having extrasensory powers but not have to kill anyone or drink blood to survive, would you still want to do it? I'm thinking that the most intriguing aspect of vampirism is not the blood, its the immortality. I would still want fangs, however, because fangs rock.

Blood is supposed to be an addiction, like alcohol, drugs and sex...