Vampires can be traced all the way back to Ancient Greece, if by "Vampire" you mean "Formerly human creature that feeds on human blood or life force to survive".
The way I see it, there are a few major forms of Vampire:
The Gaki is the Asian Vampire, and comes in a relatively wide variety. While many feed directly on blood, others have more esoteric means of feeding. One specific type (actual legend) feeds on the color in a person and all they are wearing, drawing out their imagination, creativity, and life force. This does not occur in a single feeding, but over a period of time where the victim wastes away. When he dies, he eventually becomes a Gaki. Others feed on intelligence, or any other form of quantifiable attribute (prior to RPG's).
Ephemeral vampires such as the Lhiannon Sidhe straddle the line between spirits and corporeal vampires. A Lhiannon Sidhe will seduce a bard or musician, and slowly drain their life away, while simultaneously driving them to new heights of skill and artistry. Others simply slowly drain the life force of their victims, almost never seen until their victim is near death - at which point they, themselves, become visible and corporeal, and possible to kill. Almost all forms of Ephemerals can be affected by holy symbols or water if wielded by a man of faith, as it is an ability of faith and not a vulnerability of the creature. The type of faith doesn't matter - a pious priest has the same chances as a good Buddhist monk, or a noble Rabbi, as long as the strength of their faith is the same.
Pacific Islander vampires, such as the Pennangalan, are among the stranger of corporeal vampires. Often looking and behaving as a normal human during the day, at night their head or upper torso detatches from the rest of their body, and they attack the same type of person they were in life - a former pregnant woman attacks pregnant women, and so on. According to the tales, they are NOT undead - the condition of being a Pennangalan can actually be cured in the myths. Thus many of the 'typical' methods of control do not work, but they can also be killed by sufficient physical trauma.
Vampyr, as I call them, are the Classic Vampires, with the full gamut of weaknesses and powers (NOT SPARKLING!). They burn in the sunlight and at the touch of holy symbols or water, cannot stand the smell of garlic, cannot cross running water, must sleep in the soil of their homeland, cannot enter a home uninvited, and can be killed by beheading or a stake through the heart. If their coffin is nailed shut with silver nails and turned upside down, they cannot escape, and eventually devour themselves. However, they have unnatural strength and speed, a hypnotic gaze, the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or a bat, control lesser creatures such as rats and others that disturb the average human, turn into mist or assume a spiritual or ectoplasmic form, and can turn a victim or not at their pleasure. Older Vampyrs can begin to resist the sunlight, though in sunlight they have no special abilities and are as vulnerable as normal men. A perfect example of a Vampyr is Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Voordalak (a Rumanian word for Vampire) are the monstrous vampires - savage and bloodthirsty, as well as hideously fast and strong. They tend not to have the full gamut of powers as a Vampyr, but also do not have the host of weaknesses (save sunlight, beheading, and a stake - those are always present). Some turn every victim they fully kill, others require special rituals to turn. A good example would be the vampires from Thirty Days of Night.
Nosferatu are demonic vampires a la Buffy - not truly undead, but rather a demon inhabiting a corpse, with access to the host's memories and a facsimile of the original personality. As with Voordalak, some turn every victim they fully kill, others require special rituals to turn. Their powers and abilities can vary, much like the Voordalak, but they show a MUCH stronger vulnerability to faith-based objects, to the point of destruction if the faith is sufficient or the object is inescapable (such as a fire hose pouring out holy water, or being impaled by a sliver of the One True Cross - even if only in the pinky toe).
Nosferatu, Voordalak, and Vampyrs all MUST feed on blood to survive, the amount and frequency carying by the specific sub-type. For example, one Vampyr of the lineage of Vlad Dracul may only require one victim per week, which they slowly drain little by little every night until they fade away, whereas another of the lineage of Varney might kill a single victim every night. Some may be able to get away with animal blood, though at greater quantities, while others must ONLY feed on humans (especially the demonic types).
Now, here's the big deal:
Twilight doesn't have vampires. It has unseelie fae folk. That's right, the frickin' sparkly "vampire" is really a faerie. After all, the Red Caps were unseelie, and they murdered people to drink their blood, and dye their caps red in it. So yeah. Take from that what you will.
