10 Iconic TV Vampires, FromAngeltoThe X-Files

We are very excited to see awkwardvampirestake NYC onWhat We Do in the Shadows , which debut tonight on FX . But the show is merely the latest spousal relationship ofTV and lamia , a pairing that has yield some of pop culture ’s most memorable bloodsuckers . From a immense field of undead competitor , here are our 10 favorites .

1. Count von Count, Sesame Street

yield , the Count is far more interested in teach number to youngster than he is bite anyone ’s neck opening , but there ’s no deny he ’s a fauna of the night — just take care at those fangs and that cape ! His first visual aspect on Sesame Street was in 1972 , which imply he ’s been innovate young viewing audience to the idea of maths - savvy lamia for nearly 50 year . And of course , he has n’t senesce a mean solar day .

2. Barnabas Collins, Dark Shadows

Not the godawful Johnny Depp - Tim Burton interlingual rendition from the movie . The true Barnabas Collins is the one play by Jonathan Frid on the gothic goop opera , which ran from 1966 to 1971 on ABC . Originally an eighteenth - century fancypants , Barnabas was turned into a vampire after breaking off his affaire with a vengefulwitch , and after pop up in the show ’s present - day mount after a gem hunter opened the casket that had been gaol him for generations . Dark Shadows is a corny show , as all soaps tend to be , but Barnabas had a unique blend of spell , threat , and gravitas that made him an inst fan favorite — and also helped move the show through some of its more delightfully derisory storylines .

3. Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Buffy ’s baeproved such a compelling character that he got his own twist - off . Angel hunt down for five season and transplanted the 18th - hundred vampire - with - a - soul from Sunnydale to Los Angeles , where he started a detective agency and promptly got embroiled in all style of supernatural shenanigans . Angel wasalmost alwaysa crusader for in force — but since he was a lamia , he had that build - in bad son magical spell that Buffy ( and all his subsequent partners ) found difficult to defy .

4. The Countess, American Horror Story: Hotel

year before she was an Oscar winner , pour down sensationLady Gaga dipped into TV to play the Countess , the fiercely stylish vampire who rule the roost at American Horror Story : Hotel ’s age Los Angeles high - rise . It presently became open that she was n’t just there as a answer of stunt casting;Hotel took the time to dig into the character ’s surprisingly layered backstory , which trace her foreign journeying from Hollywood flapper to prize wife to creature of the night / couture muse / child - snatcher , and ( eventually ) ghost . Along the agency she also provide Hotel ’s link to American Horror Story ’s first season , bring down the “ murder house ” circa 1926 to unsuccessfully abort her not - quite - human Logos .

5. Eric Northman, True Blood

manifestly True Blood had a issue of authoritative vampires hanging around , but Eric Northman ( Alexander Skarsgård)—1,000 - yr - quondam former Viking ; on - again , off - again love interest of Sookie Stackhouse ; witty , sometimes to the detail of being wittingly goofy ; and almost ridiculously well-heeled on the eyes — inspired the biggest tsunami of soda - culture passionateness . Was there anyone who did n’t have at leasta teeny crushon this dude at the pinnacle of straight roue mania ?

6. Cassidy, Preacher

We ’ve hadmixed feelingsabout Preacher , which has a fourth season on the room , but one thing it ’s consistently gotten right-hand is its reading of Irish vampire Cassidy — the most severely - live undead dude on this satellite since his transformation in 1916 . He ’s spent decades running from vampire huntsman , though Cassidy does n’t generally act like a typical leech ( he does , however , salute origin ) ; he ’s also had his fairish share of agonize personal troubles . But he is a loyal admirer , an enthusiastic partier , a hell of a attack aircraft , and a rooter of Justin Bieber — although not of The Big Lebowski . Do n’t hold either of those last two facts against him , though .

7. Dracula, Penny Dreadful

The most famous lamia of all expend most of his time on the Showtime series in the charming form of Dr. Alexander Sweet , a zoologist working at the London Natural History Museum who woo Vanessa James Merritt Ives , hoping their marriage will hasten his tax return to heaven . ( In this apprisal , Dracula is Lucifer ’s blood brother , wander out of heaven to Earth while his chum was banished to Hell . ) She eventually figures out his horrify true identity , and as a lead - in to the series’surprise finaleat the last of season three , she ends up have in to him — though she eventually choose decease and redemption rather than connect with him to decree over humankind ’s last daytime .

8. Dracula, Castlevania

Yep , another Dracula . The version in this animated Netflix show , based on the beloved video game , is in a class of his own , though , have all fashion of bedlam and havoc after his dear married woman , a talented scientist , is accused of practicing witchcraft . He ’s a lineament driven by vengeful ire but alsomelancholy and grief , though he ’s also highly well - armed with his own devil hordes to help work through all that rage . His sovereignty of terror is only halted thanks to another spunk - wrench mob tragedy , as he allows his boy , the lamia - human hybrid Alucard , to stake him before he does any more impairment .

9. Grandpa, The Munsters

Obviously the great Grandpa had to make this listing . A master of sarcasm , wacky inventions , and wizard potion , the fictitious character ( portrayed by Al Lewis ) was the firstborn member of the macabre family whose sitcom first shoot the airwave in the mid-1960s — Lily Munster , his daughter , was also a vampire . Grandpa was born in 1367 , and his advanced age meant he ’d brush up against literal - life historical figure , some of whom pop up on the show on occasion , thanks to the wonders of time travel . And even though everyone always refers to him as “ Grandpa Munster , ” that ’s actually faulty ; his full name was “ Vladimir Dracula , Count of Transylvania . ” And yes , he might endeavor to chomp on your arm … just for jape , though !

10. Ronnie Strickland, The X-Files

What with all the extraterrestrial being , political science conspirators , and far eldritch monsters already pinballing around , The X - Files did n’t attempt too many vampire episodes . But one of them — time of year five ’s cheeky “ Bad Blood”—is a series highlight . It mostly exists to counterpoint the divergent POVs of Agents Mulder ( who believes he ’s encountered a lamia in the form of pizza delivery guy Ronnie Strickland ) and Scully ( who ’s like , “ Mulder , you just gage a random human being to death ” ) , but it has a pot of fun with vampire mythology , like the too - rarely - used idea that a lamia will have to bar and count anything spilled in their track ( like , say , Mulder ’s scatter sunflower seeds ) . “ Bad Blood ” features a guest - starring turn by Luke Wilson as a genial sheriff who knows more than he ’s countenance on , but it ’s The Sandlot alum Patrick Renna as the glow - eyed , pointy - toothed Ronnie who really leave behind an impression .

Honorable cite : The Salvatore brothers , always trail after the same woman on The Vampire Diaries ; Matthew Clairmont , brainy donnish vampire who falls for a brainy academic witch on A Discovery of Witches ; and Count Burns , a vampire who looks an awful set like a blend of Mr. Burns and Gary Oldman ’s prominent - screen door take on Dracula , in The Simpsons ’ “ Treehouse of Horror IV . ”

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