Who doesn’t love vampires? If you want to write about vampires, but you’re low on fresh ideas, check out this list for inspiration! These prompts can be used to inspire short stories, novels, roleplays, comics, and more, but you can also use them for warmups and practice!
Short Vampire Writing Prompts
- No one told you vampirism came with amnesia. Or…. maybe they did. You wouldn’t have remembered anyway.
- A vampire works as a bartender at a cocktail bar for vampires—meaning the base for all the drinks is blood.
- A renowned vampire hunter is turned during one of their hunts. Do they continue hunting vampires for revenge, or do they have a change of heart now that they can relate to the struggles?
- A vampire cradles their dying human friend in their arms. They have a limited time to convince them to let them turn them into a vampire. What is their conversation like, and does the vampire manage to convince the human to become a vampire to save themself?
- A newly turned vampire develops a lisp after their new fangs grow in. Ashamed of this, they practice speaking when home alone, and avoid speaking at all when out in public.
- A vampire unknowingly drinks from an intoxicated person, and becomes intoxicated themself!
- Create a new kind of vampire. How are they different from traditional depictions of vampires, and how are they similar? Keep the primary conventions of vampirism (such as having to leech off humans to survive), but make things a bit more interesting!
- You always assumed all vampires would automatically gain a good fashion sense and a flawless memory. As it turns out, that’s not the case, as evidenced by your many decades of dressing like a slob and never being able to recall what you had for lunch yesterday. You haven’t even bothered to learn any new skills in that time either. You can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed and intimidated when you attend vampire gatherings.
- There has been a vampire sighting in a nearby town. You and a few other amateur vampire hunters flock to the area for fun, but are soon in over your heads when you come face to face with a real vampire.
- As it turns out, vampires make excellent nurses.
- Rather than drinking blood, some vampires are sustained by the thoughts, memories, and energy of those around them. One vampire consumes the nightmares of their lover with PTSD.
- A coven of witches have managed to make themselves immortal, but it requires drinking human blood regularly to work. To supply themselves with blood, they regularly abduct humans to sacrifice.
- Have an old vampire recounting the truth of a particular historical period, from the perspective of what life was like being a monster at that time.
(For tips on researching a historical period, you can check out The 10 Best Ways to Research for a Story!) - Rather than having large fangs, vampires have a long, sharp, proboscis-like tongue for drinking blood. Aside from that one feature, it is impossible to tell the difference between a vampire and a human.
Vampire Story Prompts
- Your main character has been falsely accused of being a vampire. Now, they have to hide from both vampires and human vampire hunters, while trying to make a case to prove that they aren’t the monster people think they are.
- Vampires are real, but they aren’t much of a threat. The real threat is the ruling political party, which has been accusing political opponents of vampirism to have them executed for years now. They are able to stay in power by capitalizing on the public’s overwhelming fear of vampires.
- A rookie vampire hunter is taken on a hunting mission with some more experienced vampire hunters. However, when it is revealed that the “menacing vampire” they came to kill was just a small child, the rookie has second thoughts. They are unable to stop their comrades from killing the child, but the experience inspires them to switch sides and advocate for the rights of vampires.
- Many different types of vampires coexist within the same world. Some are averse to garlic and the sun, some have super strength or speed, some are strictly nocturnal while others don’t mind being out during the day. Some need to drink frequently, while others only need a pick-me-up every now and then. Some resemble undead monsters, while others are classy and charismatic. Some can even turn into bats. When two different types of vampires have a kid together, the results can be… unpredictable.
- It didn’t take long for society to realize that vampires are just the superior life form. They’re powerful, immune to disease, can live forever, and look good doing it. Soon, everyone wanted to be a vampire. The rich and powerful in society started paying vampires to turn them, while those who couldn’t afford it were forced to stay mortal. Now, several centuries later, the ruling vampires are still alive, and charging the humans a monthly blood tax in exchange for being allowed to live.
- Half vampires, known as “dhampirs,” are not immortal, not strong, and still reliant on human blood to stay alive. Essentially, they get all the drawbacks and none of the positives of being a vampire. The only way for dhampirs to become true vampires is if their vampire parent turns them. If any other vampire tries to do it, it won’t work. Two dhampir siblings embark on a mission to find their estranged vampire parent, so they can finally become true vampires.
- An elder vampire ends up caring for a human child. They want to give the kid the best possible life: a chance to go to a good school, a social life, extracurricular activities, and much more. However, they have to try to provide all of this while staying out of sight, lest a vampire hunter finds them and tries to hurt them.
- Almost everyone is a vampire now. An alternative was found for human blood, so humans are not required to sustain vampires. However, many rich vampires still believe human blood is a luxury and a delicacy. The few humans that are still alive are kept on a farm, where their blood is routinely harvested throughout their lives to make a profit. The protagonist is a human who has grown up on one of these farms, and is determined to make a change.
- Before burial, it is customary to remove the heart of the deceased and burn it, to ensure they don’t return as a vampire. One family who just lost their daughter doesn’t like the idea of mutilating her body, and buries her privately to keep it a secret from the authorities. Three nights later, her body is gone, and only a small trench of loose soil remains where she used to be. The family must now hunt down the monster they created before she can hurt anyone, and before the townspeople realize what they’ve done.
(This plot also works well with zombies. Check this out for more zombie writing prompts!)
Writing About Vampires
Vampires have a long history of being used in fiction. From the ancient folklore vampires who could remove their heads to the classic tale of Dracula and the infamous Twilight series, vampires have been the uncrowned king of monsters for some time—and this trend doesn’t seem to be dying off any time soon. Vampires continue to evolve with each new story that comes out, so even though it may seem like every story about vampires has already been told a million times, there will always be room for innovation.
Have fun with these, writers!
