Vampires

A **vampire** is a creature from folklore that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form

of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighborhoods they inhabited while they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century.

Vampiric entities have been recorded in most cultures; the term *vampire* was popularized in Western Europe after reports of an 18th-century mass hysteria of a pre-existing folk belief in the Balkans and Eastern Europe that in some cases resulted in corpses being staked and people being accused of vampirism.[1] Local variants in Eastern Europe were also known by different names, such as *shtriga* in Albania, *vrykolakas* in Greece and *strigoi* in Romania.

In modern times, the vampire is generally held to be a fictitious entity, although belief in similar vampiric creatures such as the *chupacabra* still persists in some cultures. Early folk belief in vampires has sometimes been ascribed to the ignorance of the body's process of decomposition after death and how people in pre-industrial societies tried to rationalize this, creating the figure of the vampire to explain the mysteries of death. Porphyria was linked with legends of vampirism in 1985 and received much media exposure, but has since been largely discredited.[2][3]

The charismatic and sophisticated vampire of modern fiction was born in 1819 with the publication of "The Vampyre" by the English writer John Polidori; the story was highly successful and arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century.[4] Bram Stoker's 1897 novel *Dracula* is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and provided the basis of the modern vampire legend, even though it was published after Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novel *Carmilla*. The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, television shows, and video games. The vampire has since become a dominant figure in the horror genre.

## Members

* Griffin Maddox
* Yoshi Yoshiro
* Randy Olson
* Sebastian Hale
* Sheila Mavis
* Dustin Cullen
* Mr. Maddox
* Wendy Jennings

## Abilities

* Immortal – The power to never age and recover from almost any injury.
* Unnatural Strength – The power to exert great strength.
* Unnatural Senses – Vampires have uncanny senses. They better sight, smell, hearing, taste, and sense of touch.
* Unnatural Speed – Vampires can move at faster than the human eye.
* Unnatural Healing – To heal rapidly from any physical injury.
* Flight – Fly without any outside influence. In the *Blade* series, vampires lack the ability to fly but in *The Lost Boys* they’re able to.
* Shapeshifting – Shapeshifting for a vampire can range from taking on the appearance of other people to changing into a bat. In *A Vampire in Brooklyn* Maximilian was able to take on the appearance of the victims he feed from.
* Animal Control – Some vampires have exercised the ability to control animals; bats, wolves, rats, etc.
* Telepathy – Vampires can sometimes read/sense another person’s thoughts, communicate with them mentally and/or influence their minds/thoughts.
* Telekinesis – Manipulate objects/matter with the mind.
* Vision – Most vampires have night or heat vision but there have been instances of blood flow vision, the ability to see the flow of blood of any living being.