Source of Mythical Creatures

These are some theories
Unicorns are Rhinos
No need to explain that
Vampires are Albinos
Vampires burn in sunlight
so do Albinos (not as exaggerated though)
Vampires have pale skin
so do Albinos
Some Albinos have red eyes
Therefore, back then they didn't know about Albinos and treated them like some kind of monster
Vampires were born
just a theory

Vampires were also thought to have originated from people who suffered
from tuberculosis/consumption; due to the idea that any
blood they coughed up had to be replaced.
Also how quickly it spread, if one person in a household
contracted it, it spread like wildfire hinting at the "vampire's"
craving for blood using the most available targets. Not to mention the
other symptoms/side effects of tuberculosis: pallor, loss of appetite, weight loss
and restless nights which brought fatigue (suggested nightly vampiric activity)

Vampirism is about as old a tale as man kind is, coincidentally tuberculosis
is one of the oldest diseases known to man kind as well; the oldest proof
of its existence was found in the bone marrow of an early Egyptian Pharaoh.

i'm pretty sure Albinos aren't recent either xD
but yeah yours makes sense

two of my favorite things:
the disease tuberculosis
and
traditional vampire lore.

What about albinos with tuberculosis?
it's a rare coincidence, but such a rare anomaly could be the cause for the misinterpretation of a monster

that would be a sight.
I dont think anyone is really sure
where the story of vampire has originated
for each culture seems to have its own representation
of the beast. *shrugs*
We can only theorize, but both I have heard are
plausible explanations.

Just like the werewolf was just a poor individual
afflicted with rabies.

Well, like Inari said, pretty much every culture has it's own very much vampire seeming folklore, so yehh. Tuberculosis, however, sounds very much a pausible cause of some Vampire sort of myths. Say, did you guise know, they actually dug up graves to see who of the deceased is a vampire? The thing is, it didn't matter wich grave they would open if the body was just old enough. When the deceased are buried, they will usually shortly begin to get bloated with gas, wich may cause one to think they have been eating really, really well for they will be rather bulky. They would also, obviously enough, become paler, and as the skin tends to shrink in after dying, it would also seem as if their fingernails and hair has grown a little. One may even have blood on the other side of their mouth, due to veins popping as the result of pressure growing inside of the body as the decomposing gasses build up in the body. Once rumors of vampires would start to appear, the people might actually start snapping the legs of the dead to keep them from rising from their graves as vampires.

As for Unicorns, I surely do not think rhinos. Just some story someone came up with sometime.

Inari wrote:Vampires were also thought to have originated from people who suffered
from tuberculosis/consumption; due to the idea that any
blood they coughed up had to be replaced.
Also how quickly it spread, if one person in a household
contracted it, it spread like wildfire hinting at the "vampire's"
craving for blood using the most available targets. Not to mention the
other symptoms/side effects of tuberculosis: pallor, loss of appetite, weight loss
and restless nights which brought fatigue (suggested nightly vampiric activity)

Vampirism is about as old a tale as man kind is, coincidentally tuberculosis
is one of the oldest diseases known to man kind as well; the oldest proof
of its existence was found in the bone marrow of an early Egyptian Pharaoh.

Actually, Rabies was another illness that contributed to vampire lore - the paleness from exhaustion, new found sensitivity to bright lights, blood from the mouth (Usually from biting their tongues mistakenly), and etc.

And of course, the need for rabid beings to "hunt" down others in their fits of madness. Especially during the night... It was a common illness as well back in the "We Haven't Cured That Yet" days...