Vampirism is an ancient idea that spans across countries worldwide, from the Americas to Asia. The Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, and Romans all had their own versions of vampiric myths, though they went by different names then. The vampire as we know it today, however, has its roots in 18th-century Europe. Originally, the vampire was used as a folkloric explanation for death, decomposition, and the spread of disease - topics which were not yet scientifically understood in the 18th century. Illnesses and infections were often attributed to supernatural forces at this time. Buried corpses would often decompose in strange ways that made already frightened members of the community believe that the body had risen from the dead. When faced with the unknown, it would have been a comfort to blame frightening things on a slayable creature.

The publishing of Dracula was a turning point for how the public viewed vampires and laid the foundation for future interpretations of vampire lore. Dracula is the Gothic antagonist to Professor Van Helsing's character, who must make moral choices to resist the temptation of Dracula's evil and ultimately defeat him.  The vampire thus became more than a mindless, bloodsucking fiend, but rather a sophisticated villain in a morality play of good vs evil. This evolution of the vampire was a reflection on the societal values of the times and the pressure to live piously. It shows how mindsets were shifting and society was developing. No longer did they need vampires to explain away misunderstood diseases and the secrets of decomposition.

Youth culture began to emerge in the twentieth century. The younger generation was beginning to have a strong influence on lifestyle and culture - from pop music to fashion and media. The modern heartthrob vampire was popularized in the 1997 television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer aimed at teens, in which the title character, a high school student, falls in love with a vampire with a soul. In the young adult Twilight saga, published in 2005, author Stephenie Meyer writes about the forbidden love between a seventeen year old girl and a vampire trapped within a teenager's body. Finally, in The Vampire Diaries, a supernatural teen drama that began airing in 2009, a teenage girl becomes entangled in a love triangle between two vampire siblings. The vampire has become a central figure in young adult romance and, therefore, in pop culture as a whole.

Vampire panic brought people together, as fear often does. Unique folk groups cropped up as members of the community gathered to perform the ritualistic destruction of "vampire" corpses. Mass hysteria even led to the public executions of people believed to be vampires. Members of the folk group would share stories of vampires, developing folklore and cautionary tales around the creature. Many different beliefs began to spread about how one could destroy or defend against a vampire. Stories ranged from decapitation, using a sacred bullet, and burning the body. Members would use ritualistic substances as protection against the supernatural, like salt, silver, or garlic (many of which we now know are actually antibacterial, and would have helped stave off infections and disease). The story of the vampire was flexible and those impacted by the panic could virtually adapt the tale as they pleased, either to frighten others or to make themselves feel safer. This flexibility, as we will see, is one reason why the genre has remained popular even long after the vampire panic faded.

Our changing ethos over generations have further influenced the development of the vampire. The 1960s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows introduced the vampire Barnabas Collins and his development from an evil creature of the night into the show's selfless protagonist. In 1976, Anne Rice published Interview with the Vampire, allowing the vampire a voice and thus bringing forth the idea of the tormented, romantic, complicated, and not altogether evil vampire into the mainstream. The latter half of the twentieth century was a time of great social and ethical change. As society began to shift toward a more liberal mindset, the idea that everything was black and white, good and evil, also changed. The nineteenth and early twentieth century ideals of piety and faith were fading and the vampire was steadily becoming morally grey.

Vampires have evolved and many of them have fans. Since the creation of Dark Shadows in the 1960s, those with a fascination for vampires have come together at conventions and other social gatherings to express their interests with one another. Some of the first organizations dedicated to studying vampires were also forming around this time. One such example is the The Country Dracula Fan Club, founded in 1965 by Jeanne Keyes Youngson and dedicated to Dracula and other works of vampire fiction. A more extreme example of modern vampiric folk groups are "real vampire" communities. These communities exist all over the world and consist of self-titled real life vampires, who perform blood-letting rituals with donors. The development of such folk groups reflects the modern societal value placed on self-expression and self-empowerment.