oooh, vampires everywhere :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_folklore_by_region

The folklore extends SO BROADLY across the ancient world, however what I've learnt is that the modern vampire is based upon early 18th century conceptions from Southeast Europe.

Ancient beliefs

Tales of the undead consuming the blood or flesh of living beings have been found in nearly every culture around the world for many centuries.[3] Today we know these entities predominantly as vampires, but in ancient times, the term vampire did not exist; blood drinking and similar activities were attributed to demons or spirits who would eat flesh and drink blood; even the devil was considered synonymous with the vampire.[4] Almost every nation has associated blood drinking with some kind of revenant or demon, from the ghouls of Arabia to the goddess Sekhmet of Egypt. Indeed, some of these legends could have given rise to the Eastern European folklore, though they are not strictly considered vampires by historians when using today's definitions.[5][6]

In my assessment I'm not sure how many cultures I should delve into for the comparative study. I want to be able to display some similarities of where the vampire myth we know today originates from, and some differences and why they might have come about.