But not the sparkly kind.
Vampire stories have been written for centuries for adults. Readers have enjoyed telling and reading scary stories populated by vampires since the tales cropped up in Eastern Europe and moved west. Most vampire stories vary in the details but there are some basic tropes that seem to be requirements for a genuine vampire story. Because children often enjoy blood and gore as much as adults, there are also many vampire stories written expressly for children. They use the same tropes as adult stories, apart from the covert and overt sexuality that is generally one of the main features of an adult vampire story.
Dracula by Bram Stoker takes many elements from earlier works such as TheVampyre by John Polidori and Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan LuFanu. However, Dracula is considered by most people to be the sine qua non of vampire stories. The majority of the standard "must haves" for children's vampire stories come from Dracula.
Important Vampire Elements
The generally accepted method of becoming a vampire is to be bitten by a vampire. Sometimes it requires three bites, sometimes once is enough. Some stories even allow a vampire bat to turn humans into vampires.
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The methods are defending yourself from vampires are generally agreed upon—garlic, crucifixes, rosaries and holy water. There are versions where small objects are scattered because the vampires will have an irresistible urge to count them. This doesn’t damage the vampire, but it does give the victim time to get away. If you can get home, you are safe from the vampire. They are unable to cross your threshold unless you specifically invite them in.
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Identifying a vampire in children’s vampire stories is generally easy. There are the fangs that are absolutely a necessity for a vampire, and there must be blood. The amount and where it is will depend on the age of the intended audience.
Vampires are believed to not appear in mirrors. They must stay out of the sunlight, and in most stories, they sleep during the daylight hours. A vampire sleeps a crypt or grave if they are lucky enough to be able to stay close to home. If they have to travel, they must sleep with dirt from their own graves. You can destroy the power of that dirt by sprinkling it with holy water or placing blessed objects in it. It won’t destroy the vampire itself, but they will die if they are caught out in the sun. Generally, they wear capes. Vampires are unable to cross running water or walk on consecrated ground. A vampire invariable has a widow's peak.
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There are several ways to destroy a vampire, but the standard is a stake through the heart. More serious vampire killers prefer to be thorough and decapitate the vampire after staking and stuffing garlic in the mouth of the head. Burning the body after that makes it even more certain that the vampire is dead.