7 Near-Perfect Vampire Shows On Netflix

Published Sep 20, 2026, 7:45 PM EDT

Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant's Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones. 

You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, "Movie Monsters of the Deep."

Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant. 

Netflix has been carving out a place for itself as one of the best streaming platforms for horror, and with spooky season coming up, there is no better time than now to start looking at the most exciting vampire TV shows to watch. Already a legend long before the existence of streaming, or even TV, it is hardly surprising that vampires have been one of the most enduring and popular of all the great horror TV show monsters. From terrifying creatures to tragic romantic leads, TV has put a new spin on vampires which continues to this day.

Vampires are a surprisingly versatile subject, with even Sesame Street featuring the cuddly purple vampire, The Count, who teaches children about numbers. The success of Twilight turned vampires into sparkly young adult love interests, and Blade brought them into the action genre. This enduring popularity has led to some of the best vampire TV shows of all time being extremely creative, and while classic stories like Dracula will never die, more recent shows have brought some new life into an old genre, with some vampire TV shows deserving more attention.

Dracula

Netflix has some perfect horror miniseries for spooky season, and topping the list is 2020's Dracula, which stars Claes Bang (The Northman) as the titular character. The series is mostly faithful to the premise of Bram Stoker's iconic novel of the same name, if not the exact plot, with the three-part miniseries taking a slightly different direction as it continues. Bang clearly understands the assignment, portraying the legendary Count as charismatic, funny, and scary, often switching between the three within the same scene.

Dracula was created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt, who also created BBC's Sherlock, with Gatiss playing Mycroft Holmes.

While Robert Eggers' Nosferatu leaned into the horror of the vampire myth, Netflix's Dracula takes some of Nosferatu's tone and introduces more of the campy horror that makes modern vampire stories so much fun. The story follows Count Dracula's story beginning with the events in Bram Stoker's novel and ending in a laboratory over a century in the future, which introduces a touch of sci-fi but still keeping the darkness and tragedy of most Dracula adaptations. With episodes lasting around 90 minutes each, it is the ideal TV series for binging on a gloomy day.

Castlevania

Castlevania is one of the animated TV shows that best proves that not all animated projects are made for children. The hyper-violent and blood-soaked reimagining of the Dracula story centers on Trevor Belmont, the last survivor of his clan, as he pits himself against the dangerous and grieving Vlad Dracula Tepes, who has built himself an army of demons. With Dracula getting ready to further purge the world of humans, Belmont and his found family race against time to stop him. Castlevania set a new standard for video game adaptations and has a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Two of the show's four seasons have perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes scores, and the series has been remarkably consistent, even improving in quality since the first season. Castlevania's best episodes combine the best of its signature aesthetic with perfect character writing, and the show has one of the best voice acting casts of any TV series. Richard Armitage (The Hobbit) stars as Belmont, with Graham McTavish (House of the Dragon) playing Dracula, with both being praised for their performances. Castlevania also features Theo James, Jaime Murray, Peter Stormare, Jason Isaacs, Bill Nighy, Malcolm McDowell, and Titus Welliver.

A Discovery Of Witches

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Netflix's three-season A Discovery of Witches is perfect from start to finish, and is the ideal show for people who like vampires to be a part of the story rather than the entire focus. A Discovery of Witches is about a vampire and a witch, who must overcome their distrust of each other and work together to uncover the secrets of an enchanted book. A British fantasy show set in the city of Oxford, the series may look familiar to people who enjoyed His Dark Materials, and it has been compared to Shadow and Bone for its various secret factions.

That said, A Discovery of Witches is very much its own story, based on the bestselling All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, and featuring elements that do not always fit into the fantasy genre, like time travel. The series has some frightening scenes, but rather than being a horror as many vampire TV shows are, A Discovery of Witches instead focuses more on the forbidden romance aspect, making it more of a cozy romantasy that happens to include vampires.

Midnight Mass

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With just seven episodes, Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass was designed to be binged, with the series cementing his status as one of the best horror directors of the past 15 years. When a mysterious but charismatic priest arrives on an island with a devout Catholic community, supernatural events start to plague the town. A signature of Flanagan's work is that the most terrifying parts are not always the obvious, and Midnight Mass takes this to an entirely new level, with its main characters becoming monstrous through their unquestioning faith, appearing not to recognize the evil among them.

Flanagan's pacing has divided the show's viewers, with some feeling that it started too slowly, while others praised its slow-burn first couple of episodes, which take their time in revealing the horror of the story. None of the characters in Midnight Mass appear to know the word "vampire," but the title gives away a major clue as to the show's theme. Midnight Mass works best when treated as a long movie rather than separate parts, and it has been compared favorably with The Haunting of Hill House, the series that put Flanagan on the map.

First Kill

MovieStillsDB

Based on the short story by Victoria Schwab, First Kill follows a forbidden romance between vampire hunter Calliope and vampire Juliette. The "star crossed lovers" angle is given a new twist here, with both women needing to establish their legacy by making a kill, but increasingly reluctant to kill the other. The series might not have impressed critics, but fans gave it an 89% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Essence praising the angle as "a relatable coming-of-age love story."

The series attracted enough attention that some felt that First Kill could have replaced The Vampire Diaries, with its mix of themes and side plots that looked set to make the series into a sprawling and epic tale with the potential to last for years. Unfortunately, First Kill was canceled after just one season, leaving viewers with a cliffhanger that threatened to separate the central couple. With so few shows centering on same-sex romances and still very little in the way of Black representation, First Kill should have been given the chance to win over critics with a second season.

Castlevania: Nocturne

Image via Netflix

Castlevania: Nocturne is a sequel to the enormously successful Castlevania, set during the French Revolution about 300 years after the events of the original series. This means that the central group of characters is different, while the theme continues. Richter Belmont (Edward Bluemel, A Discovery of Witches) is descended from Castlevania's Trevor Belmont, and it is his duty to stop the rise of a vampire messiah, continuing his family's legacy. The series is a rare sequel that is even better received than the original, yet Castlevania: Nocturne appears to be in development hell.

After two extremely highly-regarded seasons, it seemed as though it would only be a matter of time before a third Castlevania: Nocturne season would be announced, but it appears that Netflix quietly canceled the series after 48 episodes. There may still be hope for the franchise, with both series being extremely popular and Castlevania: Nocturne drawing praise for the way it shows vampires exploiting the more monstrous parts of human history. Still, whether this is the end for the show or not, it remains one of the best vampire shows on Netflix and is well worth watching.

Interview With The Vampire

Anne Rice's novel of the same name is one of the most iconic must-read books for any vampire fan, and while the movie adaptation featuring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and a young Kirsten Dunst is still fun and campy, the TV show took things to the next level. Interview with the Vampire took the subtext to Louis and Lestat's relationship and placed it front and center, while including some of the goriest scenes in any Anne Rice adaptation. The show fully embraces the horror and romance of vampire legend, while incorporating some fan service without these moments feeling unnatural.

The two seasons of Interview with the Vampire
Season	Year	Rotten Tomatoes critics' rating	Rotten Tomatoes audience rating
1	2022	98%	73%
2	2024	100%	84%

It is a testament to the show's success that Interview with the Vampire has not only impressed fans and critics, but acclaimed horror directors. Mike Flanagan gave Interview with the Vampire a glowing review, with the most recent installment, The Vampire Lestat, attracting rave reviews as the series builds into a full franchise. Of all Netflix's great vampire shows, this is the one to watch for people who want to get stuck into a rapidly expanding world that "still has life in it yet," as Lestat would say.