Vampires, you will always be famous. Not a year goes by without a new vampire story added to the pop culture lexicon, it seems. But 2022 was especially packed with new bloodsucking shows — three of which premiered in the Fall alone.
For a long while, YA stories dominated the genre, with The CW owning most of the vampire show market with The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, andLegacies. But Julie Plec‘s TVDuniverseended whenLegacies was canceled in June 2022. It wasn’t long before her supernatural catalog expanded with Vampire Academy at Peacock.
For years, one of the only mainstream nightcrawler titles competing with the YA content was HBO‘sTrue Blood, off the air since 2014. But prestige dramas are returning to the genre with Interview With the Vampire on AMC (with the network’s acquisition of Anne Rice‘s literary catalog, it’s making a huge investment in the supernatural — Mayfair Witches is next). And once in a blood moon, we get a vampire comedy likeWhat We Do In the Shadows, which FX has renewed for Season 5 as the dark lord intended.
In honor of Halloween, we’ve ranked all of TV’s current vampire shows, both on networks and streaming. You’ll see some limited series, canceled shows, and recently concluded shows on this list, as streaming keeps things available to watch (in theory). But this is not a “best vampire shows of all time” ranking, so don’t expect anything that ended pre-2021.
Here are nine vampire shows currently on TV, ranked from worst to best — with the top two tied for first.
9
▷ Where to Stream First Kill
2022
First Kill is last because it’s the only show on the list to be canceled after one season. Why Netflix canceledFirst Kill is a heated debate topic among fans, many of whom feel the lesbian-centric YA drama was not given a solid chance to succeed (like Gentleman Jack, far too many networks and streamers are eager to cut shows about queer women).
The forbidden romance between a vampire and a vampire hunter is interesting enough. It largely feels like fanfiction, which is by no means a read, but the plot is at times aimless, chalking up to a perfectly fine concept that didn’t reach its full potential. Could it have with a second season? We may never know.
I support the right of teen lesbians to have bad shows, ultimately.
59%
8
▷ Where to Stream Legacies
2018–2022
The second and last Vampire Diaries spinoff,Legacies, followed the children of characters from The Vampire Diaries andThe Originals, mainly Hope Mikaelson — Klaus Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall’s tribrid daughter (vampire, werewolf, and witch descendant). She and her supernatural classmates are students at The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted (set up in Damon and Stefan Salvatore’s former home in Mystic Falls, Virginia). There, the gifted teens use ancient folklore to learn how to battle their supernatural enemies and attempt to keep balance in the world.
Legacies‘ cancellation after Season 4 seemed largely in part of The CW’s recent overhaul of its catalog, with only shows from Supernatural stars (The Winchesters,Walker, andWalker Independence) seemingly coming out unscathed. Still, Legacies relied on the better shows that came before it to work.
7
▷ Where to Stream Reginald the Vampire
2022–
Another one of 2022’s new vampire shows (and another based on books), the Jacob Batalon-led Reginald the Vampire, has a unique concept. Batalon’s Reginald just wants to have fun and fall in love like anyone else his age, but he has to work against fatphobia at every turn — even when he becomes a vampire.
Reginald the Vampire is generally entertaining with a clear eye for its aesthetic style. And it’s similar to iZombie, in that it requires its main character to carry on with life as usual, even after transforming into an undead entity. The plot’s execution is a little clunky, and fan reactions are a mixed bag. But like First Kill, shows that bring something new to a genre perhaps should be given a little more time to get their footing and build their fan base. There areplenty of shows in the world that weren’t their best in Season 1, and Syfy‘s Reginald the Vampire is perfectly serviceable.
70%
6
▷ Where to Stream Vampire Academy
2022
Plec’s newest foray into the world of supernatural apex predators has the same feel as her CW shows, except this time, humans don’t matter. This world exists outside of human reach and the drama that comes with it, instead focusing on the class system within the royal vampire society, those that protect it, and those that would do it harm — and how it’s being forced to evolve.
It’s got a definite cringe feel to it, but in the same harmless way ofThe Vampire Diaries universe, for which there is clearly a huge audience. To its credit, fans of the books it’s based on are happy with the adaptation. And it’s a rare vampire show that centers a female friendship over any romance (though of course, it has them). Overall, it seems this show could improve with time if it gets more, but it still has that signatureTVD feel. Whether that’s good or bad is in the eye of the beholder, but it’s definitely a more unique premise than others in the genre.
77%
5
2022
Let the Right One In takes a different dive into the novel it’s based on and the subsequent film adaptations. At its core is the story of a vampire child and the bullied human boy she befriends, but Showtime‘s interpretation changes up the characters’ backstories for its tale, taking it from a horror story to more of a crime drama.
In this version, Eleanor has only been a vampire for about 10 years, turned around the age of 10-12 years old. She and her father, Mark, have been on the run since moving from town to town in a desperate goose chase to both find more vampires and find a vampirism cure. The vampire who may have turned her, Peter Logan, is the son of a scientist also trying to develop a cure before his terminal illness runs out his clock.
68%
4
▷ Where to Stream Castlevania
2017–2021
Castlevania is an animated series based on the video game series of the same name that succeeds in crafting a better tale than the original source material, a rare accomplishment for a video game adaptation. It uses notable characters, iconography, and other things about the franchise to tell its own vampiric tale. And as the seasons and popularity of the show progressed, it was a pleasure watching the animation improve to the point of becoming one of Netflix’s best-looking shows.
94%
3
▷ Where to Stream Midnight Mass
2021
Midnight Masslanded at No. 1 in ourranking of Mike Flanagan TV shows and movies for good reason. Without ever saying the word vampire, the limited series uses the creatures to deliver a chilling metaphor about religious extremism and those forcing those beliefs onto communities. Here, vampirism is used as a metaphor for revitalizing a community that is unaware of the dark prices they’ll pay. With rich dialogue and compelling characters, Flanagan delivers one of his best works yet, and a unique nosferatu tale.
87%
2
▷ Where to Stream What We Do in the Shadows
2019–
Hopefully, What We Do In the Shadows Season 4 (truly, its best yet) will get this show the Emmys it deserves, but trophies aren’t what make a show great. What We Do In the Shadows boasts one of the best ensembles on TV and is an excellent addition to the mockumentary genre.
Each character has iconic bits, like Laszlo’s unmatched line deliveries (and Jackie Daytona, normal human bartender); Nadja’s vehement hatred of witches; Nandor’s, well, Guillermo; Colin Robinson’s energy-sucking boredom (and in Season 4, childlike wonder); and Guillermo, Nandor’s loyal familiar-turned-bodyguard who happens to be a Van Helsing descendant. Based on the Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi film of the same name, it’s a top-notch example of how to adapt a movie into a TV show.
97%
1
▷ Where to Stream Interview With the Vampire
2022–
AMC’s Interview With the Vampire is not only the best vampire drama in years but also one of the best book-to-screen adaptations in recent memory. Complain about the changes all you want, but adaptations can and should tweak things from the source material for the new story to be an artistic reflection of the time period in which it was made.
The series nails the atmosphere of Rice’s prose and captures the essence of her beloved characters with skill. And the cast is more than equipped to bring these characters to life. We’ll come out and say it: Interview With the Vampire the show is better than Interview With the Vampire the movie. (If you want to talk about adaptations betraying the source material, the movie completely ignores the romance between Louis and Lestat that Rice made clear.)
To rankInterview With the Vampire andWhat We Do In the Shadows against each other brings up the question: are dramas inherently better than comedies? Our answer to that is no. In a world packed with vampire dramas, What We Do In the Shadows cementing its place as one of the genre’s best while being one of its only comedies is a true feat. Both of these shows have earned the top spot.
