He is one of 300,000 or so people worldwide who consider themselves practitioners of a vampire religion. Three of his 14 brothers are also vampires. It's a good time for vampires in pop culture. Los Angeles has one of the largest concentrations of vampires, but many also live in Japan, Rome, Vienna and London. India has a sizable following of vampires devoted to Kali, the Hindu goddess of creation and destruction.
Vampires experience a calling to the darker forces and an affinity to a nocturnal lifestyle.
Many claim psychic powers and the ability to leave their own bodies and take up residence in others. Some say they can actually fly and enter people's dreams. A few vampires say they suffer from porphyria, a rare metabolic disorder whose symptoms may include reddening, pain and blistering of the skin upon exposure to sunlight. Strathloch has malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer caused by excessive exposure to the sun's radiation. Vampires consider themselves immortal.