Real vampires are not anything like what movies, tv, and the fictional books portray. Those stories may be entertaining but very little truth can be found within them. You're also going to find lots of books out there that claim to know the truth but are written with prejudice and fear. That doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with reading or watching any of them but make real opinions based on your experience of interacting with real vampires that you've met here, in other online groups, or for real in person. Also, keep in mind that not everyone hold to the same ethical codes. There are going to be vampires just like there are humans who have no regard for the life or feelings of others. On the other hand, you will find that there are vampires that have good hearts and act much like everyone else.....you wouldn't know they were vampires unless they told you or showed you. Having said all that...... there are two basic kinds of real vampires. That's not to say that there aren't variations of both with different names attached to what they do and how they do it. There are Blood vampires and there are Psychic vampires.

Blood Vampires

Blood vampires are those who thrive on the blood of other living things. That doesn't mean that they will necessarily die without blood but for them to be healthy and vital, they must feed ever so often. They also do not need to kill to feed...... a small amount of blood from a donor will meet the need. It differs from vampire to vampire how much and how often this is required.

Psychic Vampires

Psychic Vampires are those who must feed on the energy of living things. This can be emotional energy, psychic energy, life force energy, and sexual energy. As the blood vampire, it is a need and without it, they become sick and withdrawn. Sometimes people find this kind of vampire more fearful because it's not something that you can physically defend against. Psychic vampires are probably very misunderstood and you will find that most if they have learned to control their abilities, will only take from those who are willing to share or from energy that was already given away. It is true that some take whatever they want without regard to others and some take just because they haven't learned to control it or are not aware that they are a psychic vampire yet. Like I said, judge each person, not simply because they are a vampire or hold a particular belief system.

Goths and fetish blood drinkers

Simply living a gothic lifestyle or drinking blood does not make one a vampire. There are people who simply enjoy the excitment of a dark lifestyle or like the taste of blood as a part of their sexuality. It is not a need for them to drink blood. I have nothing against those who follow those kinds of lifestyles. I just want to point out that dressing in black and drinking blood are not all there is to one being a vampire.

Roleplayers

They are not real vampires and are only pretending to be vamps in fictional games. Some of these games are very complex and realistic sounding but playing a game, certainly won't make you a vampire. Being a vampire is something that you are and not something that you can fantasize yourself into being. It is not all fun and games or full of exotic sexual encounters.

I can not take credit for this information, this info is from, http://groups.msn.com/NightfiresRealVampireHaven/whatarerealvampires.msnw