Vampire ( mythology ) Vampires were mythical creatures that were feared for their dependence on sucking the blood of other beings to survive . One of their common names was Nosferatu . ( COMIC : " The Swords of Kali " ) A wide variety of other lifeforms shared traits with these creatures and either inspired or made use of the legends . Legends . The Doctor ' s TARDIS had records of vampire legends on at least seventeen planet s , particularly Earth , but myths of vampires existed on almost every civilised world . Common traits were that they drank blood , could turn others into vampires , feared sunlight , had no reflections , feared cross es , couldn ' t cross running water and could only be killed by a stake to the heart or beheading . They could supposedly only enter a room or house upon being invited , which was why they were so charming . ( TV : " State of Decay " , " The Vampires of Venice " , PROSE : " Goth Opera " , AUDIO : " Son of the Dragon " , WC : " " ) Vlad III was thought by the people of Wallachia to be a monster , which lead to a popular fictional representation of him ; ( AUDIO : " Son of the Dragon " ) although the popular fictional Count Dracula was also a real person . ( PROSE : " The Dreadful Flap " , " The Found World " ) Vampires were represented differently across various cultures . Chinese vampires had long fingernails . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) In a 1992 survey , the thing that frightened Russia ns the most was vampires , specifically ones that lived on life energy . ( PROSE : " The Left - Handed Hummingbird " ) Vampire - like creatures . The Great Vampire s from the Dark Times inspired many vampire legends . They were also able to turn human s into vampires ( TV : " State of Decay " ) and spawned many vampiric races , including the Saturnyn s ( PROSE : " The Multi - Faceted War " ) and the Mal ' akh , which inspired vampire legends on Earth . ( PROSE : " The Book of the War " ) When human s were transformed into Haemovore s , they became vampiric . ( TV : " The Curse of Fenric " ) Plasmavore s behaved like vampires . ( TV : " Smith and Jones " ) Axos was " a space - vampire , " draining all energy from planets . ( TV : " The Claws of Axos " ) Vlad III the Impaler inspired the fictional vampire Dracula . Bram Stoker , who wrote the novel " Dracula " , was said to be inspired by a Haemovore , ( PROSE : " The Curse of Fenric " ) his wife Florence Stoker , ( COMIC : " Bat Attack ! " ) the Draxis , ( AUDIO : " The Woman in White " ) or tales about the Mal ' akh from his friend Richard Francis Burton . ( PROSE : " The Book of the War " ) A vampiric infection came to Earth in the 19th century , with the first human host being Oscar Wilde . ( COMIC : " Bat Attack ! " ) Several vampiric individuals existed in Europa . ( PROSE : " Managra " ) An alien race customised android s to have all the traits of vampires , including a dislike of garlic . ( AUDIO : " Situation Vacant " ) Dark Space 8 once encountered a sweat vampire in one of their many adventures . ( AUDIO : " Bang - Bang - a - Boom ! " ) The Forge had obtained vampire DNA from South America in 1911 . They attempted to create Vampire / Human hybrids . ( AUDIO : " No Man ' s Land " , " Zagreus " , PROSE : " Project : Valhalla " ) The Vampire Warrior s were another vampire - like species . ( PROSE : " Snowfall " ) Psychevore s were a vampire - like species that fed on the mind / life energy . Datavore s were a vampire - like species that fed on information . ( PROSE : " " ) The Foretold leeched energy on a cellular level from its victims , causing heart attack s as a side - effect . According to Perkins , the Foretold was " not just a mummy , but a vampire as well , metaphorically speaking . " ( TV : " Mummy on the Orient Express " )