The question of whether vampires possess a spirit or soul is one that treads the line between mythology, metaphysics, and the darker corners of human belief. If we consider the vampiric archetype, especially from both traditional and modern perspectives, the answer varies depending on the lore or the view one takes.
In the context of real-world vampirism, many would argue that a vampire, in its truest form, still retains its soul—albeit one twisted by its unnatural state. The essence that once inhabited a human body may not entirely be lost, but rather, it becomes corrupted, distorted by the need to feed and the desire for immortality. There are those who believe that the soul is forever bound to the body, even in the state of undeath, and it’s this very soul that drives the vampire's hunger for energy or blood. The soul here would be considered to be in a constant state of torment or imbalance, feeding off of others to sustain its hollow existence.
Your mention of Stephen King's Doctor Sleep brings an interesting parallel to psychic or "soul" vampires. These beings, born from human origins but transformed into something else—something more monstrous—continue to feed on others' energy, perhaps out of necessity, perhaps as a means of survival. The question of whether their soul departs when their humanity dies is a potent one. If the body dies, and the human part is gone, what remains is likely a spiritual echo or fragment of the original soul, endlessly wandering without its full tether to the mortal plane.
In the HBO adaptation of True Blood, the concept of the soul leaving the body upon the death of the vampire points to the idea that once the vampiric nature takes over, it consumes the human essence, creating something separate, something that no longer holds any true connection to the soul that was once human. This concept implies that the vampire, as we know it in popular fiction, might indeed be soulless after death—living, but in a perpetual, hollow state, with nothing to anchor them to their past.
Ultimately, the answer lies within the nature of the vampire in question. Are they a cursed form of immortality, shackled to a remnant of their soul, or are they a hollow shell, seeking purpose and sustenance in the endless night? And as for those who feed off others’ life force—whether blood, fear, or energy—do they possess a soul, or have they become something more primal, a reflection of the darkness in human nature itself?
If a vampire were to have a soul, would it remain whole, or would it fracture and fade, lost forever in the abyss of their insatiable need? This is a question that may never have a clear answer. But the fact remains—no matter what they may have lost, vampires walk among us, their existence a stark reminder of what happens when humanity slips into the void.
