Here's a new twist on vampirism: albino, parasitical, redwood trees.  Weird mutations, they lack chlorophyll (!).  Instead, "[t]hey are pale (everwhite instead of evergreen), and they survive by sucking the life from other trees."

These things are enormously rare.  "Only about 25 of these trees are known to exist around the world..."

Even more Gothic:

When times get tough, the parent tree withdraws all support and the seedlings perish, turning brown. In times of abundant rain, they sprout again, flourishing. “They come and go, like ghosts,” Kuty said. “They starve to death and shrink back. Then they reappear.”

(thanks to Justin Beckham)