Description: Vampire: (n) One who preys on another. (vām'pīr')
When said like that, it sounds ominous, dangerous; it could be anyone, anytime . . . anywhere. That is not a comfortable idea to people; their neighbor, their co-worker, their friend . . . could be a vampire.
If you add a supernatural element, such as increased strength, faster speed, and the fact they rose after being slain to feed on the blood of the living . . . people are happy not knowing they exist. They give the vampires weaknesses that make them easier to handle, a fear of holy symbols and water, stakes, fire, sunlight and garlic and people will sleep better at night.
Once they make that jump, it's simple to call them a myth, a superstition, a story told to scare children. Surely, they reason, in this time of modern technology and science such ancient things cannot survive in this world.
Wrong.
Vampires are very real.