Werewolves and vampires are both classic monsters that have survived in myth and fiction for hundreds of years. They have been portrayed in numerous variations, both separately and together.

Popular vampires in America today are almost all ideological decedents of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Bram Stoker created many elements of the modern vampire myth, including abilities such as turning into animals, and weaknesses such as aversion to sunlight. Long before Stoker, however, vampires were portrayed as courtly gentlemen, powerful, possibly rich, and not to be crossed lightly. Many of these classic views may go back to Vlad Tepes, called Dracul, and said to be an inspiration for Stoker. Certainly throughout the middle ages many powerful men in Italy and France encouraged rumors that they were vampires to intimidate their enemies.

Werewolves do not have any definitive source, but for a long time were widely shaped by the European perception of wolves: cruel, vicious, and eternally lusting for blood. It is only in recent years, as wolves have become seen in a more sympathetic light, that werewolves have begun to take on some of the romantic appeal that vampires have had for centuries. While recorded cases of people claiming to be vampires are relatively common,

Vampires and werewolves are both defined by a single characteristic. Vampires have fangs and drink blood. Werewolves are men that turn into wolves (or in rare cases, wolves that turn into men). Everything else is a secondary characteristic.

The commonly cited secondary characteristics of vampires are the need to die before you become one, the return to death during the day, being nearly impossible to kill, but being vulnerable to a stake through the heart, sunlight, fire, or blessed objects, and mind control. Oh, and some can fly. Vampires a generally said to have control over every aspect of their supernatural abilities.

Werewolves are most often believed to turn into wolves during the full moon. When they are in this shape, they are believed to have little or no control over themselves. These days they are commonly believed to be vulnerable to silver, a characteristic which probably developed when one of the Beasts of Gevaudann was supposedly killed with a silver bullet.

Vampires and werewolves are both created in the same manner - a person who is bit by a vampire or werewolf, becomes a vampire or werewolf. There are several variations on this - a common variation for vampires is that they have to exchange blood three times before the change can take place.