November 26, 1998 (The Washington Post) - Blood-sucking vampires may have their history in disease rather than the supernatural, according to a Spanish neurologist. Dr Juan Gomez-Alonso has put forward a novel theory to explain the Dracula legend - vampires were suffering from rabies. The Neurologist hit on the rabid vampire theory after watching a Dracula film.

Within Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island lies Mercy Brown, a young girl who died on Jan. 18, 1892. Her gravestone had been inscribed "Killed by Vampyres."

May 1, 2003 - A Satan-worshipping baby-faced vampire killer has confessed to beating a hooker to death while high on cocaine and drinking her blood. But Perry Cerf, 20, insists the brutal slaying of Flo Andrade, 47, was "unintentional". Sex offender Cerf, from Bergenfield, New Jersey, has officially pleaded not guilty to murder and rape.

The recent re-release of George Lucas' epic has prompted me to compare Dracula and Star Wars. Although Dracula is an erotic horror novel and Star Wars is a science fiction adventure, there are many parallels between the world's best-selling novel and the most popular movie of all time.

Traditionally, vampires are undead mythological or folkloric beings who feed by draining and consuming the blood of human victims.