5 best vampire shows on Netflix to watch and 2 to skip

Vampires are back in vogue these days between hit shows like the AMC+ series Interview With the Vampire and Netflix’s Castlevania: Nocturne. Even when they’re not at the forefront, people can’t get enough of sexy bloodsucking fiends.

Surprisingly, Netflix has a lot of vampire shows and movies available to watch, including hits like the aforementioned Castlevania, Legacies, and lesser-known shows like the BBC One’s Dracula.

While the vampire movies aren’t as good, there are a few fun ones streaming, like Blood Red Sky and Day Shift, though you’d be better off skipping Night Teeth altogether. When it comes to vampire shows, the quality is a little more diverse. That’s why we’ve curated a list of the best vampire shows available on Netflix and the ones you can probably skip.

Vampires

WATCH! – Released in 2020, this French horror show follows a group of teens, but it’s surprisingly gory and violent. The six-episode series is quite addicting, centering on a young woman who tries to suppress her vampiric tendencies by taking special pills. You can imagine how well that works out.

Vampires does leave a lot of plotlines unresolved, but it’s still a fun watch, especially around Halloween. Hopefully, we’ll get more episodes in the future, though it seems unlikely given how long its been since the first season came out.

V Wars

SKIP! – You might be tempted to watch this series because it stars The Vampire Diaries‘ alum Ian Somerhalder in the lead role. If you’re having Damon Salvatore withdrawals then V Wars might seem like the cure.

Unfortunately, V Wars was canceled after just one season, so it’s not worth getting invested. Beyond that, it’s a fairly forgettable series with a plot that’s been done better in other films and shows.

Legacies

WATCH! – Speaking of The Vampire Diaries, Legacies is actually set in same universe and a direct spinoff of the flagship series (well, technically a spinoff of a spinoff—The Originals, but I digress). Even though Somerhalder never appears on the show, Damon’s presence is still often felt. Many of the characters from the parent series get shoutouts or references throughout Legacies.

The show is really fun overall, with plenty of lovable characters and cameos from the overarching universe. Following Klaus Mikaelson’s daughter, the tribrid (witch, werewolf, and vampire) Hope Mikaelson as she attends the Salvatore school for supernatural kids (which is set in the old Salvatore boarding house), Legacies doesn’t take itself quite as seriously as its predecessors. It enjoys channeling Buffy the Vampire Slayer with campy, fun, monster-of-the-week episodes.

First Kill

SKIP! – Listen, I wanted to love First Kill. I’m always on the look out for new sapphic series, but sadly this one just wasn’t good, though the star-crossed relationship between Juliette and Cal is great.

Actresses Sarah Catherine Hook and Imani Lewis have fantastic chemistry and their scenes together were often a highlight, but the writing was poor, the CGI even poorer, and overall, First Kill just felt very much like an old network series that would have been canceled quickly, and Netflix did just that, making it hard to feel a watch is worthwhile when the show ends on so many unresolved cliffhangers.

Midnight Mass

WATCH! – Even though the word “vampire” is never actually used in Midnight Mass, the spirit of the bloodsucker is certainly invoked and plays a big part in the show’s overall lore and universe.

From the brilliant mind of Mike Flanagan comes another suspenseful gothic horror series set on the mysterious Crockett Island where a young man returns after serving time in prison at the same time that a charismatic priest arrives, bringing with him a sense of renewed religious fervor and something much darker.

Dracula

WATCH! – If you’re looking for a more classic take on vampires then you can’t go wrong with the 2020 BBC series starring Claes Bang in the title role. Dracula is based on the iconic novel by Bram Stoker, so you can’t really get more traditional than that. At just three episodes, Dracula is a quick watch, but certainly worth it. It’s well-made, with lush production design, and excellent performances.

Castlevania

WATCH! – With the release of Castlevania spinoff series Castlevania: Nocturne, the dark fantasy shows are a renewed topic of conversation. Even if you aren’t typically a fan of animated shows, you should give Castlevania a try. It’s a very adult show based on the popular video games of the same name, though you don’t need to know anything about the games to enjoy the show.

The main Castlevania series follows the legendary monster hunter Trevor Belmont as he faces off against Dracula’s army alongside Dracula’s son Alucard and a magician named Sypha Belnades. Nocturne is a standalone sequel following Belmont clan descendant, Richter Belmont.