Sink your teeth into these vampire TV shows
Vampire TV shows have been around nearly as long as TV has. They’re as popular & prevalent as vampire novels & movies. Vampires offer that balance of fear, humanity, and sexuality that appeals to all kinds of audiences. Though they’ve always been around, more vampire TV shows started popping up after the success of the vampire series Twilight.
There are some old-school shows from the 60s that feature vampires, like The Munsters and Dark Shadows. There are also plenty of teen vampire dramas, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Vampire Diaries. There are also the sexy, “grown up” vampire shows like True Blood, and some totally comedic vampire shows, like the mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows.
While many vampire TV shows focus solely on vampires, most incorporate other supernatural creatures into the mix. The shows we recommend also feature witches, werewolves, and the occasional energy vampire (Colin Robinson, anyone?). Each show takes different pieces of vampire lore while ignoring others.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
Nowadays, most people think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when they think of vampire TV shows. The protagonist kills vampires, but she also falls in love with a few, all while going to high school. Buffy was doing the teen vampire thing before Twilight or The Vampire Diaries, and remains popular to this day. The series is still available to watch on Hulu.
The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017)
The Vampire Diaries is one of the most popular vampire TV series of all time. It follows protagonist Elena Gilbert (at least until Nina Dobrev left the show in season 6) in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. Of course, there’s a love triangle, with Elena caught between the Salvatore brothers, vampires Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder).
In addition to vampires, the town of Mystic Falls is full of werewolves and witches. Season 2 introduced the concept of werewolves when Tyler Lockwood turned, and one of the main characters throughout the series, Bonnie (Kat Graham) found out she was a witch back in season 1.
The television series is based on the young adult book series by L.J. Smith and J.R. Miller. It’s now available to watch on Netflix.
The Originals (2013-2018)
The Originals is a spinoff from The Vampire Diaries. The “original” vampires, Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah return to New Orleans, the city where they used to be the head of the vampire community. They first appeared on The Vampire Diaries in season 2 (Rebekah not until season 3), and were mostly the antagonists, but later allied with the heroes. They left the show in season 4.
The Originals carries over the complicated mythology from The Vampire Diaries. If you’re already familiar with The Vampire Diaries, you won’t have any trouble keeping up with The Originals. Or you will, because really, who actually understands how the mythology on The Vampire Diaries works?
What We Do in the Shadows (2019- )
The FX series What We Do in the Shadows follows three regular vampires and one energy vampire as they try to live covertly in Staten Island. Colin, Lazlo, Nadja, and Nandor are assisted by their familiar Guillermo. The series is based on the mockumentary movie of the same name starring Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement. Waititi shows up as his character from the movie on the television series from time to time.
What We Do in the Shadows isn’t just the funniest vampire TV series – it’s one of the funniest series on television today. We highly recommend it, whether vampires are your thing or not.
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What do you think? Have you seen any of these series? Which one is your favorite? Should we have included Dracula (the series), From Dusk Till Dawn (the series), Legacies (another TVD spinoff), or True Blood? Let us know!
