A vampire is a mythical creature that feeds on the vital essence of living people (usually in the form of blood). Vampires are undead creatures who visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighborhoods where they lived when living, according to European legend. They wore shrouds and were described as bloated, reddish, or dark-skinned, in stark contrast to today's gaunt, pale vampire, who dates from the early 1800s.
Vampiric beings have been documented in most civilizations; the name vampire became common in Western Europe after stories of a mass frenzy in the Balkans and Eastern Europe in the 18th century.