One thing I've always loved about vampire stories is that there are no hard rules. Vampires can be whatever the author wants them to be as long as they're internally consistent within the story. This makes them extremely versatile monsters that can be constantly re-invented and none of them are "wrong".
For example, sometimes all it takes to turn into a vampire is to be bitten by one. And sometimes you have to drink the vampire's blood to turn. Or, sometimes a vampire can just drain your energy without transferring any blood at all.
Of course, the rules can also get a bit ridiculous. Maybe the vampire is required to obsessively count grains of rice first. Or maybe they're required to hop around with their arms out (the chinese Jiangshi). Maybe they can turn into a wolf, a bat, or... fog.
So what's the most ridiculous rule or type of vampire you've come across?
(For the image on this post I wanted the most ridiculous picture of a Jiangshi I could find. I went with a shot from Robo Vampire which has a really fun RiffTrax. The only other Jiangshi I'm aware of is in the NES game Phantom Fighter... because I've never watched any of the Mr. Vampire movies)
Not ridiculous but unexpected is the story of the TV show "Caro Nostra".
This story is about ogres, not vampires but at the same time it is definitly a vampire story. The vampire who want to be close to the human world, the girl that is somehow special, the forbiden love story that cause a broken balance in the equilibrum of the vampire world, the police looking at a weird murder spray that seems to go back to 50 years ago, the old acquintaince that actually grow old... This is definitly a vampire story.
But at the same time, since it is not vampires, the mythology behind the monster feels totally new and that's very catching.
Hehehe, "murder spray".
I have no idea how this is wrong, sorry (T_T) How do you write this?
Murder spree. I like your version, though! ๐