Why Do Vampires Drink Blood? Fang-tastic Myths Explained For Kids

The myth of vampires and their immortality has been around for centuries now.

They go back to Ancient Greece whose civilization was said to be around 1200-323 BCE. During this time, there were numerous stories of people drinking the bodily fluids of others and attacking them late at night.

People associate vampires with the well-known Count Dracula, the blood-sucking legendary character in Bram Stoker's infamous novel, published in 1897. However, the dreadful history of vampires started much before Bram Stoker was even born.

We all know the general characteristics of a vampire. The main one is their urge to drink human blood. A vampire uses its sharp fangs and drains the blood of a person. The person dies and turns into a vampire. The sun is known to weaken a vampire’s power so they hunt for human blood at night. They are known to have super strength with strong sensual and hypnotic effects on their victims. Vampires not only drink blood for increasing their energy and life force, but also for their pleasure. While most vampires need human blood to survive, some of them started drinking blood from animals as they reject the idea of hurting and killing humans. The vampire myth is also known for the number of abilities it is believed that a vampire possesses. One of their main abilities is manipulating one’s mind. When a vampire looks into a person’s eyes, it can change their thoughts and memories. At least this is what our popular media depicts a vampire as. They can use compulsion and also erase a person’s memory or memories. Another popular fact of a mythical vampire is that it can increase the population of vampires by biting a human instead of draining them, turning the person into a vampire. Mythical vampires can be weakened by running water, garlic, and some objects that are associated with Christianity like crucifixes and holy water. But what is the reason behind vampires drinking blood from humans? Keep reading the article to find out why the legend of consuming blood as a diet has been associated with vampires in the modern world!

To know more fun facts, you may also like reading why do titans eat humans and why do I crave ice.

What happens if a vampire drinks their own blood?

While there are some effects if a vampire drinks their own blood, nothing serious can happen if a vampire drinks the blood of another vampire. This phenomenon is known as auto-vampirism which means a vampire drinking their own blood. This is usually done as a way to sexually gratify themselves. However, vampires cannot survive on their own blood. They are required to drink human blood to get the proper nourishment for their survival. They are also capable of drinking and feeding off the blood of another vampire for their nourishment.

Vampires usually avoid consuming their own blood for their diet as consuming their own blood can affect them intoxicatingly, could aggravate paranoia, and lead to a number of other problems. The concept of a vampire may be a myth, but back in the olden days, anyone who had a mental or physical illness would be labeled a vampire. Researchers have linked this to the disease of porphyria. It is a blood disorder that causes several blisters on one’s skin when they are exposed to sunlight. During the middle ages, the superstition of vampires thrived. This was especially the case when the plague had taken place and decremented numerous towns. People who suffered from this disease had bleeding mouth lesions. Those who were uneducated linked this to be a sign of vampirism. Even after modern science has quieted down the fears of vampires in the past, there are people out there that refer to themselves as vampires. These people look normal and drink small portions of blood every day as a mistaken effort to be healthy. Many of these 'vampires' see this practice as a feeding ritual, where they drink blood in private from donors who have given them the consent to do so. Some claim that they feed off the energy of the blood and others have claimed to feel depressed or agitated if they don’t drink blood regularly.

Do vampires have their own blood?

So we all know by now that vampires need to feed off the blood of human beings to survive and receive the proper nourishment. But it brings us to the puzzling question of whether vampires have blood in their veins? The legendary novelist Bram Stoker who introduced the concept of a ‘vampire’ to many of us always assumed that vampires didn’t have any blood in their bodies. According to him, the reason why vampires feed off blood from human beings was that they didn’t have any of their own.

Another well-known story we all love, the 'Twilight' saga, extended our thinking on this. The vampires that were just born had blood in them which made them so strong in the saga. But their bodies would eventually use up all of their blood which is why they would feed off others. However, neither the 'Twilight' saga nor Bram Stoker can be seen as the inventors of the concept of vampires. Various adaptations out there claim that vampires do have blood in their own bodies. Although there isn’t any particular way to point it out, there are ways for us to see. For example, in the series 'Underworld,' in the scene where the vampire gets ripped apart, one can see that there is blood everywhere. There are also assumptions that a person can only become a vampire if they drink the blood of one. Which points out that vampires indeed have blood of their own. While both these interpretations are for and against a vampire having blood, there is no real knowledge on whether this mythical creature has any blood of its own.

What happens if vampires don't drink blood?

A vampire is an immortal creature with supernatural DNA acquired from its living dead body. Because of this, a vampire won’t ever die if they don’t drink blood. The entire purpose of a vampire drinking blood is to enhance their performance and stay at their ultimate level of power. They have a vampire virus within them that is intertwined with their demonic DNA which requires the presence of blood to be at its peak. Blood is not needed for the survival of a vampire.

However, if a vampire is ever locked away or denies itself blood, it will grow weaker over time. It is said that they grow even weaker than a zombie and eventually, a human. The vampire will then enter into a state of deep eternal sleep where it will either have vividly fascinating dreams or the most torturous nightmares ever. When a vampire is deprived of blood, they reach a point where they start feeding off their own blood which will ultimately cause them to lose their mind. They will start having delusional fantasies or enter an imaginary world of their own. Unless the vampire is given a good amount of blood, it will not be in a stable state, both mentally and physically. When a vampire is locked away for many months, it could be seen as a dead person with no respiration or heartbeat. However, they aren’t actually dead but rather in a state of having delusional dreams. Their skin would turn gray and the mass of their body is reduced. It is quite similar to a person in a coma.

How do vampires drink blood?

As per the stories floating around vampirism in various cultures, it is believed that vampires can survive only on a diet of human blood or animal blood and they hunt for their prey like a predator. Remember the 'Twilight' saga where some vampires fed only on the blood of humans while the Cullens and other ethical vampires used to feed on animal blood. Sounds strange, doesn't it!

According to the myths surrounding vampirism, after the vampires get hold of their prey, they dig their teeth in the neck of the prey and drink blood to their satisfaction. Now what happens hereafter is something that many stories and movies have conflicting viewpoints on. As per some stories, it is up to the vampires to either kill their human or animal prey after they are done with their act or they may choose to turn their prey into a vampire. Remember, how Edward turns Bella into an immortal 'vampire' after she was on the deathbed after giving birth to their daughter!

Why do vampires only drink human blood and from the neck?

Bam Stoker's Dracula is probably the most popular fictional vampire ever who fed only on human blood. So why do vampires consume only human blood in many stories? It is stated in various folk stories that vampires consumed blood from humans only in order to get the life energy to carry out their physical functioning in real life. They also believe that feeding on human blood is a cure for their weaknesses. Some mythical vampires feed on blood from animals to avoid killing or harming any humans. A mythical vampire is also known for drinking only from the neck using the fangs because carotid arteries are present there, along with the subclavian vein and jugular vein. They believe that the fluid here is rich, oxygenated, freshly cleansed by the lungs and liver, and is close to the heart as well, giving them the energy to function to their best in real life.

Did You Know...

Do you know that many people in the modern world believe that assuming a vampiric identity can help them cheat death?

If anyone has seen 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer,' they may know how a vampire can turn human by feeding off a lot of their blood and making the human drink vampire blood. In the television show and books of 'The Vampire Diaries,' they kill the human who has vampire blood in their system and that human can either choose to stay alive by drinking human blood or dying. In the 'Twilight' saga movies and novels, a vampire only bites the humans and does not drain them of their blood. These are a few ways vampires are known for expanding their clans.

But when we talk about a vampire reproducing to create more vampires, the answer is no. There are several reasons for this theory. Technically, vampires are said to be dead. The way their bodies functioned when they were alive doesn’t happen anymore in their current form. Vampires can’t digest normal food or have any heat in them. Thus, it is understandable why a vampire cannot produce eggs/sperm to create a child. This explains a lot about why vampires bite others to turn them into vampires. Their bite contains their bacteria which is then transferred to the human through the bite and they eventually turn into a vampire as well. It is comparably much faster than a human who waits nine months to have a child. For a vampire to reproduce, it takes only one of them to do so. However, there are also reasons to believe that a male vampire can reproduce with a human-vampire the traditional way. Only this kind of combination can be possible as the female has to carry the fetus. A lot of the animal species out there, including humans, are known to produce sperm throughout their lives. So even though technically, a vampire is dead, they would still have some active elements in their body. This could result in the child being half-human and half-vampire or more of a human and a vampire from the inside. However, this is just a theory of a possibility that could exist among mythical vampires.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for why do vampires drink blood then why not take a look at why do people live near volcanoes, or why do we die of old age?