vampire

Table of Contents

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

The chemistry of mummies, ghosts, and vampires

For Students

Dracula

vampire summary

Read Next

Max Schreck as Graf Oriok "Nosferatu", Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922), directed by F.W. Murnau

Can Copyright Infringement Kill a Vampire?

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431-1476), oil on canvas painting from the second half of the 16th century; in the collection of the Ambras Castle, Innsbruck.

Was Dracula a Real Person?

Poster one-sheet from "Frankenstein" (1931) with Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, and Boris Karloff, directed by James Whale.

11 Famous Movie Monsters

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Britannica's Book Bingo. Take our reading challenge! Books range form greatest, banned, and counterculture.

Britannica’s Book Bingo

Discover

winter ice melting salt on the ground, pattern as background

Why Does Salt Melt Ice?

In this aerial photo, structures are damaged and destroyed October 15, 2005 in Balakot, Pakistan. It is estimated that 90% of the city of Balakot was leveled by the earthquake. The death toll in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 is believed to be 38,000 with at least 1,300 more dead in Indian Kashmir. SEE CONTENT NOTES.

6 of the World’s Deadliest Natural Disasters

Shah Jahan. Taj Mahal. Mughal architecture. Emperor Shah Jahan fifth Mughal Emperor (reigned 1628-1658) India, Himachal Pradesh, Basohli or Jammu and Kashmir, Mankot, circa 1690 Drawings; Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper (see notes)

6 Important Mughal Emperors

Odissi Indian classical female dancer on white background. (Indian dancer; classical dancer; Indian dance)

6 Classical Dances of India

Secret Service Agent Listens To Earpiece

Secret Service Code Names of 11 U.S. Presidents

Parsons Weems' Fable, oil on canvas by Grant Wood, 1939; in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Catalog entry: The historian Mason Locke Weems, commonly known by his clerical title, Parson Weems, pulls back a curtain to point at 6-year-old George Washington. Bearing an adult head and holding an axe, George gazes blankly up at his father, Augustine, who questions his son while holding a partially cut cherry tree. All of this takes place in front of a 20th-century brick building, which Wood modeled after his own home in Iowa. The scene illustrates the fable of Washington and the cherry tree, which Weems invented in 1806 for the first president's biography. Wood playfully suggests the artifice of the tale here, presenting the story in the manner of a costumed stage play rather than a real event. Amid the action, two Black figures pick cherries in the background, a reference to Washington' slaveholding past and a reminder of of what often gets left out in historical mythmaking.

Did George Washington Really Say, “I Can’t Tell a Lie”?

Fish. Lionfish. Lion-fish. Turkey fish. Fire-fish. Red lionfish. Pterois volitans. Venomous fin spines. Coral reefs. Underwater. Ocean. Red lionfish swims by seaweed.

10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Fish

vampire: Media

legendary creature

Videos

The chemistry of mummies, ghosts, and vampires

The chemistry of mummies, ghosts, and vampires

The chemistry of mummies, ghosts, and vampires.

Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

Dracula

Dracula

Bela Lugosi with Frances Dade in Dracula (1931).

Courtesy of Universal Pictures; photograph, The Bettmann Archive

VIEW MORE in these related Britannica articles: