Everyone Has a Weakness

No longer do traditional means of vampire slaying apply. More often in popular media the stereotypical vampire repellants (i.e. garlic, holy water, crucifixes) have no effect. Many other stereotypes are also discarded, including the absence of a reflection and even the inability to go out in sunlight. The characters in Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' Den of Shadows series can go out in the sunlight and can even go inside churches with no negative side-effects. The vampires on The Vampire Diaries can go out in the sunlight with magically spelled daylight rings. They have reflections and are unaffected by garlic or holy water. However, a wooden stake to the heart, removal of the heart or head, and sunlight when not wearing a daylight ring are all fatal. Also, vampires are severely injured and impaired by an herb called vervain. If a person has vervain in their system or has it on them ( inside of a locket for example), they are safe from a vampire's compulsion. In the book/movie Twilight, vampires have no weakness, save being torn apart by another vampire or werewolf and then the pieces being burned. These changes to the vampire myth have allowed the modern vampire characters to further blend into society.