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Max Schreck as Graf Orlok in Nosferatu (1922) crouches over a bed, with a bald head, pointed ears, and long clawed fingers, in a dimly lit room. Interview with the Vampire Buffy the Vampire Slayer
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Publicity still from the motion picture film "Nosferatu" (1922); directed by F.W. Murnau. (cinema, movies)
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vampire

legendary creature
Also known as: vampyre
Written by
Alison Eldridge
Alison Eldridge was Managing Editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Alison Eldridge
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
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•History

vampire, in popular legend, a creature, often fanged, that preys upon humans, generally by consuming their blood. Vampires have been featured in folklore and fiction of various cultures for hundreds of years, predominantly in Europe, although belief in them has waned in modern times. Because there is a long history of walking corpses and bloodsucking ghouls in folklore, it is difficult to pin down a distinct set of characteristics consistently attributed only to vampires. Central...

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