are vampires real?

Well, if we really existed we couldn't tell you because of the masquerade.

Vampires are most certainly not real, my dear little kine, you would be wise not to permit the superstitious myths and any particularly convincing horror stories frighten you into believing in such absurd notions.

In all sincerity however, the concept of the vampire is ultimately an intricate and multi-faceted allegorical concept rooted in the events which have occurred throughout human history, various cultural traditions, human spirituality and religion, and the contemporary reality and circumstances of our world. Vampires may be viewed as being "real" in a myriad of forms, and these forms are precisely what the World of Darkness and Vampire: the Masquerade itself is based upon, (or any serious vampire setting for that matter), albeit with the addendum of overt supernatural elements.

For instance, one of the most important aspects of vampiric existence has always been, as the World of Darkness explores in rich detail, the continuance of a shadowy presence which influences the world of mankind and their affairs in secrecy and obscurity, and which vies and schemes against opposing shadowy presences for dominion and control over both the mundane and supernatural world, and this is certainly an aspect of society which exists in a rather eerily similar fashion within the real world, wherein clandestine power struggles waged between individuals or groups often entirely unknown to common perception are waged for the sake of what may ultimately be immensely high stakes and influence over the fate of human civilization, if not sheer survival, and many of these power struggles have been perpetuated throughout several decades if not centuries by the endeavors of multiple generations.

This is virtually no different than the Jyhad of Vampire: the Masquerade, except that the players in the "game" of the real world, if you will, perpetuate their role within it by means other than the indefinite preservation of their lives.

On the note of the Jyhad, there is likewise by extension countless secret wars which have raged throughout the course of civilization and since the very beginning of recorded history, be these ideological wars between religious faiths and political concepts, tangible wars of influence and power between organizations and governments, conflicts of espionage, or the clashes of peoples and cultures altogether which occurs on a level beyond the immediate and obvious.

Within the World of Darkness, the only difference is that those who possess the driving and leading roles to play in all of these secret wars are described as "vampires".

It is these conflicts within both the seen and unseen realms of human existence and their resulting events which were in the first place responsible for the creation of the myth of vampires beyond mere human superstition, sexual fantasy, wonder, or fascination with the darker side of man and nature.

One might argue therefore that vampires are real insofar as civilization and it's affairs make them out to be. As the World of Darkness demonstrates at any rate, if vampires were to exist, very little would truly be so different from our current reality.

(By the way, I've moved this thread into the Off-Topic Discussions category, as it is not related explicitly to VTMB.)

Vampires aren't real. Unless you mean metaphorically, then yes but they're commonly known as landlords and lawyers.