hmmm.... am in the process of trying to set out a chapter for one of my fics and have stumbled on a bit of a technical issue. Can a vampire grow their hair and / or a beard?

I know vampires are dead, but I've heard that hair, fingernails etc continue to grow after death (not sure if this is a myth or not). If this is true, then technically it should be possible. However, I've read other vamp literature where any difference to appearance is not possible.

Not sure how this fits into vampires, Luxe, especially in the Moonlight mythology, but if I remember correctly, in real life hair/fingernails only appear to grow after death. I think it's the skin receding or something that makes them "longer."

Well, Mick obviously grows stubble, and he obviously cuts his hair from time to time...because we saw that on TV. So in my mind, that makes it canon, and vampires can grow hair and beards. Thus they have to shave and get haircuts. And probably cut their nails, too...

Q: I heard that hair does not stop growing once you die! I'm just curious is this true, if so, how long does it keep growing afterwards?

A: This is actually a myth. While it is true that when the heart stops beating and a person is declared “dead” the cells of the body may still be alive, even the most long-lasting cells on a corpse will only live on for a few days beyond the declaration of death. While this can technically mean that there is growth beyond the point of death, the actual amount of growth would be negligible.

What actually happens, and what results in the idea that the hair (and nails) continue to grow is that after death, the skin begins to retract and degrade. The end result is that the hair and nails appear to get longer after death. This is why many people think that the hair continues to grow after death.

****Cells need nurishment to continue to live. They get their nurishment from blood circulating through the body. Does a vampires blood circulate? I thinking when we see them shot or stabbed they bleed so I'm thinking that their blood is somehow slowly circulating-perhaps through electrical conduction in their system or because their hearts really do work but at an extremely low rate. Barb

Canon-wise, considering when J (and the other older ones like Lance, etc.) were born, they have to be able to at least cut their hair. Men didn't wear their hair short 400 years ago, and most of them wore beards.

If it didn't grow at some point, too, then it would make it that much harder to blend in.

I'd lump hair growth in with cellular regeneration of their bodies. So long as they're capable of healing, they should be able to grow hair.

Other vampires vary--in some cases, hair can be cut, but returns to the "pre-vamp" state every night.

In Stoker, the appearance of hair, etc. varies with how well fed the vamp is...Dracula has white hair when he is hungry, and appears older. When fed, his appearance reverts to a more youthful looking state.