Vampires have always been a un detachable part of pop-culture for ages now. The concept certainly has grown over time and developed different sensibilities over its evolving nature as a genre.
A lot of shows has defined the genre in the pre-modern era and then in the modern era, we had our fair share of vampire shows and movies defining what it means now.
However, due to the extreme popularity of the franchise Twilight, it was both celebrated and looked down as well.
It always more or less remained in a lane rather than a mainstream genre or something primarily to dabble in.
But with shows like Vampire Diaries, the vampire TV shows gained new popularity and meaning, especially in the teenage and young circuit.
And now more and more shows are coming up with testing new ideas around the concept making this more interesting rather than simply stick to the popular tropes. Overall, both have their place and must co-exist together to grow this genre.
So, let’s see which are these TV shows in the Vampire niche or category that really stood up and established the genre or his category in the ascending order.
Charmed
Charmed is a vampire-based series started back in 1996 and went on until 2006, following the Halliwell sisters.
Piper ( Holly Marie Combs), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Prue (Shannen Doherty) are these three Halliwell sisters who apparently descendent from a long line of witches, and discover themselves to be one as well.
The show surely started out quite campy and more on the fun side focusing a lot about how these three sisters balance their day-to-day lives along with their responsibility towards powers, and fight against evil using their witchy powers.
However, in the later seasons, the show grew to be more mature showing how the women operated in their 20s and 30s. It really did a number on the representation of the women, what they go through, their challenges and lifestyle.
The show was even rebooted much later or sometime ago, in 2018 by The CW, and finished with its final season.
Moonlight
The show is about Mick St. John played by Alex O’ Loughlin, a vampire and private detective using his supernatural abilities to solve cases.
It is a brilliant combination of the crime and vampire genre which is rare to see on television, and that too well done.
Things started getting interesting where one of these murder cases that Mick get to solve leads to Beth, played by Sophia Myles to whom he needs to hide his feelings, so he can conceal his identity.
The story is set in the modern era, in the city of Los Angeles whereas from it is more inspired was set in the ancient era. So, this one was more of an urban twist.
Even though the series was quite short-lived where supernatural shows tend to go as long as ten seasons, it was still successful to gain its own little niche audience that loved the show.
The show was unique in its own way as it won’t be for all sorts of audience. You will see a lot of dark humour. then great chemistry between Mick and Beth and addicting to the storyline as well.
There was a noir feeling to the series with a great blend between supernatural and crime world together without going too far from realism.
The Strain
Guillermo del Toro, one of the highly reputed directors especially in the genre of horror and dark fantasy is the co-creator of this Hulu show called The Strain.
The show completely go against the romanticism around vampires, and the overall genre that surrounds too much around brooding teenagers and relationship dynamics.
Rather like Guillermo del Toro is known for, the show delves into much more brutal, ugly and gory aspect of vampirism biology, and how it goes.
If you are tired of the similar themes around vampires or want to watch more creative takes on it, The Strain is the series for you.
The show is as visually stunning as it is disturbing to watch. Such a masterful combination to crack.
It taps into the deepest fears of humanity regarding vampirism, and their nature. Certainly not for the faint-hearted people to watch this one!
Being Human
This one comes from the BBC Network featuring these very flatmates Annie (Lenora Crichlow) who is a ghost, Geoorge (Russel Tovey) a werewolf and Mitchell (Adian Turner), who is a vampire living together in a human world figuring out things.
Quite an interesting concept to dive into. It completely deviates from the usual tropes you see in such genres.
If you are looking forward to watching shows in the supernatural genre that are unique and different from the mainstream, but entertaining and fun, this is definitely to put in the watchlist.
What’s best about the show apart from its writing, is the chemistry between these characters and sense of comfort and warmth they share with each other even being completely alien to the human world.
The balance between funny moments as well as the violence and gore in the series is brilliantly pulled off.
The USP of the show is basically the relatability of these characters to the audience even though they are vampire, ghost and werewolf. So, under the grab of supernatural, this show has metaphors and relativeness to enjoy.
There is also a US reboot of this show which stream on Syfy on 2011, you can check that too.The final episode of the show was last aired in 2014. With vampire, you are certainly getting werewolf and ghosts in this show.
Penny Dreadful
The show is set in the Victorian era of London.
The primary characters in the show are Ethan Chandler played by Josh Hartnett, Vanessa Ives played Eva Green, Malcolm Murray played by Timothy Dalton and Victor Frankenstein played by Harry Treadway joined their forces together to fight a supernatural evil.
Also, they are an American, a medium, an explorer and a scientist respectively putting together their skillset to fight this evil entity in the ancient era.
The show is inspired by the works of Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and other such writers.
Penny Dreadful remains consistent with its rich storyline and impeccable performances backed by gothic-style production design and good writing.
The show also got a reboot in 2020 under the title ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ which didn’t continue after one season, and ended in the same year.
What We Do In The Shadows
The show What We Do In The Shadows is one of the greatest series FX has come up with, but more importantly, it is the most unique and hilarious one too.
It is much recently running show to watch currently on Hulu based on the movie with the same name.
The show follows this group of vampires along with very familiar Guillermo trying to live and adapt to this modern new era.
You are getting outright hilarious and lovable characters with such off-beat sensibility with the narrative in the show, something you haven’t seen ever.
Then, the show also registers some real moments of violence that is true to its nature, not messing around. Because essentially, this show is a horror comedy and the show is highly successful balancing the the horror as well as the comedy aspect of the genre without cancelling out each other.
The audience find this show to be consistently funny and goofy with genuine horror elements to it. The performances in the show are highly appreciated as well.
Supernatural
One of the most popular supernatural TV shows ever has to be about Supernatural from The CW, about these two brothers hunting supernatural creatures.
The story is about Winchester brothers named Sam, played by Jared Padalecki and Dean, played by Jensen Ackles who start this journey to find their missing father, but along the way they started encountering supernatural beings they need to fight with.
The story just keeps on progressing bringing more and more creatures into this world. This CW show proves its mettle by breaking records of one of the longest running shows with 15-year run time and ten seasons.
Supernatural is the show where you are on this road-trip with these brothers exploring the world of supernatural and, so the audience as well.
The story gets complicated and more intricate as progressed, also there is a whole mythology of the show created by its own line of characters and world-building.
Angel
This is a spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is centred around this character Angel played by David Boreanaz who is a vampire with a human soul.
The plot of the show is about this vampire with human soul relocating to Los Angeles to fight the supernatural evils in the city that hurts people, with the help fo his friends.
This spin-off show is way different than its predecessor in terms of the tone. This one is much grittier and darker.
Even though there was many doubts regarding this spin-off from the Buffyverse, still the show proved to be consistent with its quality with its long runtime with starting in 1999 and ending in 2004.
The show proves that it can standalone with its compelling storytelling and well-done character development.
And the lot you see in this show from the Buffyverse are basically the best characters from the show put together in the one, with a great plot line to work towards.
For Buffy fans, there are also the cameo appearances of Buffy and even the Sunnydale characters throughout the series.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Undoubtedly, one of the best supernatural shows, and simply one of the most memorable TV shows ever that has become part of the entertainment history.
The show features Buffy Summers, a teen girl who is destined to become this badass slayer teams up with her friends Xander, Willow and also with her mentor Rupert to fight supernatural evil in her town.
Buffy is played by Sarah Michelle Gellar whereas Nicholas Brendon helms the character of Xander. Willow is played by Alyson Hannigan. Yes! the How I Met Your Mother’s Lily whereas Anthony Head plays the role of Rupert, Buffy’s mentor.
The show was highly entertaining and addictive with unforgettable and quotable dialogues, and also shows great writing as well.
Buff the Vampire Slayer is one of the Vampire TV shows that sets pretty much the teenager supernatural concoction that we see today gained popularity with shows like The Vampire Diaries.
True Blood
True Blood is one of the highly notable Supernatural TV shows today to watch that began in 2008 and ended in 2014.
The series features Sookie Stackhouse played by Anna Paquin who is a waitress falls in love with a vampire named Bill Compton played by Stephen Moyer.
Nothing different, right? Well, the twist is this love story between a human and vampire is set in the world where humans and all the supernatural creatures co-exist together as true blood, a substitute for human blood is discovered.
This series is everything you would want it to be. Sometimes its quirky, sometime sexy and lot of times completely over the top but never short in entertaining.
Like its out-and-out over the top drama, the show doesn’t shy away to showing political metaphors to make their case into the plot.
Since the characters of the show are quite intriguing and interesting, it makes up for a great series to go through.
The Originals
You must have seen this series coming! The Originals is basically the spin-off of the popular CW series The Vampire diaries but it is known to be even better than its predecessor in many areas.
It follows the journey of the original vampires Klaus (Joesph Morgan), Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Rebekah (Claire Holt) who appeared in the Vampire Diaries as antagonistic force to Salvatore brothers.
However, apparently, they came out to be having their own story going on. The Original vampires are basically the firstborn vampires, and the series is about them coming back to their hometown New Orleans and gaining control.
The Originals is dark, moody and often humbly gore, something you can expect from an vampire show.
This show is also popular for its characters and their dynamics with each other. There is a lot of focus on family and brotherhood.
The Vampire Diaries
Vampire brother Stefan played by Paul Weasley and Damon played by Ian Sommerhalder, come back to their hometown, Mystic falls where we follow their journey in the town.
Stefan, more brooding, morally upright and sane brother falls in love with teenager Elena played by Nina Dobrev and so his brother Damon as well.
So, with this underlying love triangle and a lot of drama going on, they also have to face a lot of threats in the city, sometimes from other vampires, humans or other villains as well.
The show is heavy on the drama part where the characters are really something to fall in love with.
The love and hate relationship turning into the ultimate brotherhood between Stefan and Damon is a delight to watch. Then, even though it is vampire show, more and more supernatural bring in as we go in the series from dopplegangers to supernatural hunters.
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