Vampires, creatures who became popular in the 19th century as a part of gothic fiction, have been scaring people for centuries. Despite the fact that they arouse from the folklore of different nations, Croatian as well, they owe their popularity to literature, and later film and other forms of popular culture. As we already mentioned, vampires have brought us a word vamp, but also some of the medical phenomena, such as Renfield's syndrome, are related to them. Vampires can also be found in nature, among bats who feed with blood. Regarding the ones from the literature and folklore, they can be recognized by teir paleness, long, sharp teeth, sleeping in the coffin, unability to stand in the sun area, and thirst for blood. Also they have different supernatural powers, and some of the most known are metamorphosis and hypnose of a victim. A motifs which are also linked to vampire stories are ghostly locations such as cemetaries and ruins which create the atmosphere of melancholy. The analysis of novels Carmilla, Dracula, The Historian, Twilight saga, The Vampire Castelli and Vampire proves that some of the most common elements have been retained in these stories during the centuries. Besides retaining the elements which repeat, we have also determined which brand new elements are being used and whether they are positive or negative. We have come to the conclusion that Stephenie Meyer is the author who brought most changes, but at the same time retained several traditional elements. Changes that are made in these works have brought about a change in the way of perceiving vampires which lead us from feeling of fear to feeling of lust which makes us fell in love with vampires and sympathize for them.