Vampire TV Shows That Don’t Suck: ‘Angel’ to ‘Vampire Academy’

These days when you think of vampire TV shows, odds are that thoughts of The Vampire Diaries, The Originals or Legacies come to mind. But the truth is, the concept of vampire TV shows has been with us for close to 60 years with the arrival of the daytime soap opera Dark Shadows.

Since then, of course, vampires have arrived in all shapes, sizes and attitudes. We’ve had ruthless bloodsuckers looking to spread their “influence” around the world (The Strain, The Passage), others who have a guilty conscience and are trying to find some sort of redemption (Angel, Forever Knight, Moonlight) and then there are those who are playing things for laughs (What We Do in the Shadows, Reginald the Vampire).

All told, vampire TV shows have held our imagination for decades and it’s obvious we can’t get enough of their undead “antics.” What follows is a look at 25 of them from over the years.

1

Angel (1999 to 2004): Spin-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer starring David Boreanaz as the title character, a vampire with a soul who attempts to help others as he seeks redemptions for his unspeakable deeds of the past. The darkness, and his alter ego of the soulless Angelus, is never too far away.

Angel is streaming on Hulu.

2

Being Human (UK, 2008 to 2013; US, 2011 to 2014): A vampire, a ghost and a werewolf share an apartment … it sounds like the opening line of a joke, but it’s really the premise of a series that began in England and was produced as a US series as well. Vampire John Mitchell is played by Guy Flanagan in the former, and the undead Aidan is portrayed by Sam Witwer in the latter.

The U.S. version of Being Human is available for free on Peacock.

3

Blade — The Series (2006): The Wesley Snipes film series spawned this television show with Kirk “Sticky” Jones as Eric Brooks/Blade, a vampire hunter who is actually a “daywalker” — a vampire who can walk in the sun. Over the course of the season, Blade takes on the undead House of Chthon.

Blade: The Series is available for free on Tubi.

4

Blood Ties (2007): Private investigator Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox) is assisted in her investigations into paranormal cases by 470-year old vampire Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid).

Blood Ties is available for free on Tubi.

5

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 to 2003): Next to Dark Shadows, this is the most popular vampire show ever. Sarah Michelle Gellar is Buffy Summers, who discovers that she is a vampire slayer and must devote her life to … well, slaying various demons unleashed from the Hellmouth while keeping up with her studies so she can graduate high school. That’s a really simplified description.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is streaming on Hulu.

6

Castlevania (2017 t0 2021): Based on the video games of the same name, the focus is on a trio of characters doing their best to keep the nation of Wallachia safe from Dracula, who has sworn vengeance for the death of his wife, falsely accused of being a witch and burned at the stake.

Castlevania is streaming on Netflix.

7

Dark Shadows (1966 to 1971; 1991): The original aired as a daytime soap opera while the remake was a primetime series. Both focus on the Collins family of Collinsport, Maine, and the release of 175-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins from his chained coffin, after which he passes himself off as a distant relative while secretly seeking out victims for his blood thirst. Particularly in the case of the former, he would evolve into the hero of the series.

The original Dark Shadows is streaming for free on Pluto TV. The 1991 version is streaming for free on The Roku Channel.

MUST-READ: Dark Shadows Remembered — 17 Surprising Facts About TV’s Only Horror Soap Opera

8

Dracula (2013): A fairly unique version of Bram Stoker’s legendary character. The king of the vampires (portrayed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is revived and travels to London, where he pretends to be American entrepreneur Alexander Grayson, telling the populace he is attempting to bring modern science to Victorian England, but in reality is intent on taking down the Order of the Dragon, a group that destroyed his life hundreds of years before.

Dracula is available for streaming via paid subscription with AMC+, available through Amazon Prime.

9

Forever Knight (1992 to 1996): Geraint Wyn Davies is an 800-year-old vampire named Nicholas, who guys by the name of Nick Knight, a modern day Toronto police detective as a means of redemption for his centuries as a murderer.

Forever Knight is available for rental or purchase from Amazon Prime.

10

From Dusk till Dawn: The Series (2014 to 2016): Based on the 1996 Quentin Tarantino-written film, the show picks up where the movie left off, following the criminal Gecko Brothers, the Fuller family and the supernatural mythology presented in it.

From Dusk till Dawn: The Series is available for rent or purchase through Amazon Prime.

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11

The Gates (2010): When Nick Monahan moves his family from Chicago to The Gates, considered to be an upscale community, it isn’t long before he realizes that thee are strange happenings going on around them, most notably the fact that their neighbors are actually vampires and werewolves.

12

Interview with the Vampire (2022-): Based on the Anne Rice novel of the same name (previously adapted as a 1994 film starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt), its first season on AMC focuses on Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) reflecting on his troubled relationship with Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), the vampire of the title.

Interview with the Vampire can be streamed via subscription at AMC+.

13

Kindred — The Embraced (1996): Inspired by the role-playing game Vampyr: The Masquerade, the focus is on San Francisco Police Detective Frank Kohanek (C. Thomas Howell), who discovers the fact that the power brokers of the city are several clans of vampires. Think of them as the Mafia … with fangs.

14

Let the Right One In (2022-): Preceded by a novel of the same name as well as a 2008 Swedish film and 2010 American version, the focus is on a father who is dedicating his life to protecting his daughter, a vampire.

Let the Right One In is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

15

Midnight Mass (2021): This is one that you don’t want to say too much about, because it’s filled with twists and surprises, most of which spring from a young priest who is bringing renewed life to a community that had been dying out on Crockett Island. Highly recommended.

Midnight Mass is available for streaming on Netflix.

16

Moonlight (2007 to 2008): Private Investigator Mick St. John (Alex O’Laughlin), who was transformed into a vampire by his wife on their wedding night more than half a century earlier, finds himself attracted to Internet reporter Beth Turner (Sophia Myles) while dealing with Los Angeles’ underworld of vampires. From Ron Koslow, creator of the 1980s TV version of Beauty and the Beast.

Moonlight is streaming for free on Tubi.

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17

The Passage (2019): Federal Agent Brad Wolgast (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is tasked with bringing the young girl Amy Ballafonte (Saniyya Sidney) to a facility known as Project Noah. Instead, he takes her on the run as the lab is experimenting with elements of vampirism that threatens a global apocalypse. Based on the novels by Justin Cronin.

The Passage is available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime.

18

Penny Dreadful (2014 to 2016): This Showtime series masterfully interweaves a variety of public domain characters in Victorian England that are based in the horror genre, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Christian Camargo), established here as the brother of Lucifer.

Penny Dreadful is available for streaming on Paramount+.

19

Port Charles (1997 to 2003): A spin-off of General Hospital, this series started off as a medical soap, but went through some evolution. This included the “Tainted Love” story arc, which focused on vampire Caleb Morley (Michael Easton), obsessed with a woman who looks just like the love he lost. Storylines got even weirder, earning the show the description of being the Dark Shadows of its time.

20

Reginald the Vampire (2022-): Jacob Batalon (best known as Ned Leeds in the Tom Holland Spider-Man films) is the title character, who is made a member of the undead to save his life. Syfy describes the show this way: “In a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires, Reginald tumbles into it as an unlikely hero who will navigate every kind of obstacle and discovers he has a few unrecognized powers of his own.”

Reginald the Vampire is available for streaming on Hulu.

21

The Strain (2014 to 2017): From filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, the series chronicles a war between a group of scientists and a rapidly-spreading virus that inflicts its victims with an ancient strain of vampirism.

The Strain is streaming on Hulu.

22

True Blood (2008 to 2014): From The Southern Vampire Mysteries written by Charlaine Harris, the setting is the town of Bon Temps, Louisiana and this is a world where vampires are known to exist by humanity and, in fact, lives among them thanks to an artificial blood product known as “True Blood.” Much of the show, especially early on, focuses on the relationship between telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).

True Blood is available for streaming on Max.

23

V Wars (2019): Obviously having not tired of the undead world he was a part of in The Vampire Diaries, but taking on the other side, Ian Somerhalder is Dr. Luther Swann, who leads those attempting to stop a future war between humans and vampires, the latter created by a biological infectious agent.

V Wars is available for streaming on Netflix.

24

Vampire Academy (2022): Based on the novels by Richelle Mead, the focus is on the students at St. Vladamir’s Academy, in particular the human-vampire hybrid — known as as Dhampir — named Rose Hathaway (Sisi Stringer).

Vampire Academy is streaming for free on Peacock. 

25

What We Do in the Shadows (2019 to 2024): A comedy-horror mockumentary based on the 2014 film from New Zealand about four vampires who have spent centuries living together in Staten Island. The documentary get in their daily (or, actually, nightly) activities.

What We Do in the Shadows is streaming on Hulu.

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