Common Misconceptions and their realities

* Misconception: Vampires are seductive, powerful, hypnotic creatures
* Reality: Vampires are just like everyone else, although generally tend to have more intense, charismatic personalities.
* Misconception: Vampires don't need jobs
* Reality: Vampires need to earn a living just like everyone else. They hold all types of jobs from the mundane to the exciting, just like everybody else also.
* Misconception: Vampires are physically immortal and/or undead
* Reality: Vampires are physically mortal, with immortal souls. Vampires live normal lifespans and normal lives and have never, at any point in their physical life, died and risen from the grave.
* Misconception: Vampires are repelled by garlic/crosses/roses/etc
* Reality: Vampires can eat anything, are of all religions and the only time they might be repelled by a rose is if the thorn happens to prick them :)
* Misconception: Vampires drink only blood
* Reality: Vampires come in two types: The blood drinking type (sanguivores) and the energy absorbing type (psy-vamps). They, just like any other human, cannot survive without a regular diet of food and drink as well.
* Misconception: Vampires are evil and know what they are doing is evil and wrong
* Reality: Evil is a relative term, and there is no being on earth who can state with any validation what is good and what is evil. There are a great many evil humans out there too, anyway. Furthermore, not all vampires even know they are vampires...let alone contemplating whether their vampirism makes them good or bad.
* Misconception: Vampires can't go out in sunlight
* Reality: Vampires can go out in sunlight, it just generally tends to hurt their eyes and/or give them heat rashes/headaches or illness (to varied degrees)
* Misconception: The only way a vampire can be killed is through sunlight/staking/add other fictional vampire-killing method here
* Reality: Vampires can die of anything from bullets to AIDS to even a stake through the heart...just like any other human being. Sunlight; however, will not kill a vampire...this is a fictional device.
* Misconception: Vampires sleep in coffins/wear capes/have fangs/ are extremely pale/cast no reflection/etc
* Reality: Vampires are just like everyone else, as I've said. Many look, dress and live quite normally. None are borne with fangs (tho anyone and everyone can get fangs surgically implanted)...all cast reflections...and the only reason a vampire might be a tad paler than most is an avoidance of sunlight (if they are sensitive to it).
* Misconception: Vampires are pretentious/arrogant beings who believe they are a superior race and who insist that everyone accept the fact of their existance. Vampires will, if necessary use threats and/or go mainstream (ie: appear on tv shows, in magazines, news casts, etc) to force people to believe in their existance.
* Reality: For the most part, vampires are very easy-going and tolerant...well as much, that is, as any other human being on earth. Many will not force their beliefs on others or share with the world that they are a vampire, unless a specific individual asks and/or is interested in learning. If that individual still doesn't care to believe that the vampire is a vampire (and/or has a difficult time of understanding the concept of real vampirism vs, stereotypical fictional/folkloric vampirism) then the vampire will generally not force the issue further. Real vampires also will rarely go mainstream with their nature...in fact, most, if anything, set about to undo the negative connotations the vampiric community has received by the influence of those alleged "members" of the vampire community (who aren't really members) who have indeed gone mainstream and committed heinous acts of crime, etc. Vampires also will not go around making threats such as "Oh...I am a 400 year old vampire and if you don't surrender to me I will kill you, etc, etc). Most will even seek to debunk such fictionalized stereotypes. Furthermore, vampires generally also do not believe themselves a superior race, just a different race...if anything, they may have more of a deeper appreciation for life than do normal human beings. Basically, vampires tend to live by a "to each his own" motto...they will not judge your lifestyle/values/beliefs etc if you do not judge theirs.

Source: http://www.vampiresamongus.com/vampchars.html