SciFi/Fantasy/Horror TV Shows to Watch

Easily one of the darkest shows on the list, Penny Dreadful gets top marks for atmosphere, effects, acting, and writing. It goes to some very dark places, and these places have absolutely no humor or levity to lighten things. This is another mashup series. It gets its name from the 19th century series of pulp fiction stories, often horror in content, that were once sold for a penny and very popular. It is set in Victorian era London and pieces together elements from several classic monster stories, as well as taking a few new directions of its own. My one and only complaint is that I wish the writers would have made the characters slightly more obscure. Too many of them are easily recognizable in their own stories, and that era is ripe with terrific material to draw from. It is fun that despite our familiarity with their stories, however, they are interconnecting in some very unexpected ways. The first three seasons come together to create one of the most outstanding narratives on this list with a full sense of development of the characters and always treating the material with gravity and respect. The third season ended too abruptly. We never got the full treatment we were hoping for and it felt rushed, likely this was because the show was cancelled too soon, but overall, no other shows come close to the quality treatment of the genre as this one does.

I love an anti-hero (a villain) that you still want to root for, and this has one of the best of them in the character of Klaus. A spin-off series of The Vampire Diaries focusing on the original vampire family and a rivalry in New Orleans, it has an intriguing back story for the characters, not to mention two rivals in a power struggle for dominance of a city. The original family were a terrific element in the Vampire Diaries and now they are really given a chance to shine here. The writers have really created a very dynamic cityscape of characters and stories, and have shown so much of it through the almost Shakespearean unfolding drama of the Original family and their constant power struggles, bickering, and damaged souls. There is a real wealth of material for the characters to work with here and the show just continues to grow in quality. Now sadly ended, it was without a doubt one of the greatest additions to the genre.

This is a reality show parody. It's like watching the series Cops with vampires, werewolves, and zombies, and while I'm not a big fan of comedy shows, or parodies, this one really made me laugh. One of the more original shows I've seen and very funny. Alas another one cancelled too soon, but definitely recommended.

With Ben Cross in the lead, this revision of the classic show could have been a spectacular re-ignition of the series if it had not been doomed by interruptions during the Gulf War. This one has Gothic atmosphere and a pretty smart script to keep it going. In fact, it is that classic Gothic story that has propelled it to the top of this list. It starts off a little slow, but about halfway through the first season it starts to become really compelling, and by the end I was totally engrossed in the story. The acting and writing is all really good and the story is just fantastic. One of the many shows that was tragically short-lived. Worth watching if for no other reason than to see the great horror film queen Barbara Steele and a very young (but talented even then!) Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

This is a show that is hit or miss for me. Some seasons are better than others. Only one has vampires (so far). American Horror Story: Hotel is by far one of the best seasons of the series, and is one of the best vampire series. These are classically decadent vampires and it is horror at its best. Outstanding sets, costumes, acting, and story. It is derivative and yet original as so much of the series is. Well worth watching.

Anime is not always easy to love, but this is a slow burning story akin to Salem's Lot. It has some very creepy moments and tells the story of the taking over of a small village and all the many people of it. It has depth. It deals with weighty themes. Like most anime, it has moments that don't ring true, but there is a lot to like about the story. The moral dilemma of the village as things escalate make for a fantastic story. Overall, definitely worth watching, and one of the more interesting anime series.

This show really gets philosophical at times. It really makes you question what is good and what is evil. Are the vampires bad? I am not usually a fan of episodic cop type shows, but the very ambiguous nature of the moral dilemmas in this show really caught my attention, not to mention the unusual sci-fi element that was added to the story. Worthy of its place on this list if for no other reason than for the originality it brings to the genre and the great performances (especially by Stephen Moyer and Idris Elba, who have since proven themselves to be really great actors).

Another P.I. type of vampire show, this one focused more on the who-done-it mystery of its weekly supernatural villain much like Buffy before it (or perhaps WHAT-done-it is more appropriate). The characters and writing are frequently more on the nose than I typically like, but after a while of watching it, I began to really enjoy their ongoing banter. In addition to this, there is one thing about this show that makes it irresistible - and that is Henry Fitzroy, one of the most smoldering of TV vamps I have seen yet. The relationship between the P.I. Vicky Nelson and the 500 yr. old vampire Henry Fitzroy are what keep this show interesting. The sexual tension between them is frequently palpable and the intense flirting is always fun to watch. Kyle Schmid makes a fantastic vampire, and by the time the show ended I was really saddened to have to let the characters go.

This is a very violent anime series, but I just can't help liking this one for its interesting storyline. I'm not a huge fan of anime, but this has really nice artwork and pacing to go with its story and I found myself caught up in it and wanting to watch more. The dialogue and relationships are all frequently subtle too, which just adds to its appeal. A good series. The story was retold in a video series in 2006 called Hellsing Ultimate, which is also supposed to be really excellent.

As a fan of the Blade movies, I was really skeptical of this show, but I was pleasantly surprised. It seems that fans of the films stayed away because of Wesley Snipes not being in the lead performance, but that is really too bad. The characters, and performances of the actors were so good that I found myself really engaged in the story immediately in the pilot and the show only got better from there. What I found really great about this show is how it does not just include Blade's story, but really has some compelling vampires in the story too. It is sort of a spy show, the "Alias" of vampire shows, if you will, and that is an unusual and fascinating take on things. Another show sadly canceled too early, but definitely one of the best of the genre.

This was a difficult series for me to fairly judge. It's a great story, excellently written, with a strong cast, and is very different from all the other entries here. The problem, however, in judging this one is that the first part of the show is so similar to the film that it is drawn from (although many aspects of the story and characters are developed in much greater detail here) that it was hard not to occasionally be frustrated with the story progression as the unfolding plot was already pretty well known to me. It is hard to judge a remake fairly, even if it is in a different format (film vs. television), without continually comparing it to the original. Even so, I did enjoy this, and I thought it was very well done, and in many ways superior to the film. The second half amps up the action (as does the film) and also amps up the story taking it into new and unexpected directions. The first season was overall pretty terrific and if you are unfamiliar with the original film, be prepared for a really fun ride.

While Herman Munster was the main character of the Munsters and was not a vampire, Grandpa, Lily, and Eddie all had vampire traits and were meant to be vampires. This show had success largely for recognizing that the outside world considers the Munsters to be freaks, but within their own zany home life, they consider the rest of the world to be rather freakish. They present their life to the audience with a very wholesome ignorance of their own strangeness and this produces some of the best jokes of the show. One of the earliest frontrunners for vampires on television, The Munsters is a very funny show even for today and so it endures. Easily still one of the best.

I find this one hard to fairly judge. Often the production value is low, and I am not much of a fan of episodic television, preferring ongoing storylines, not to mention cop shows are not really my thing, so that is several things against it. All the same, the show had pretty good writing, interesting plots wherein the main character Nick Knight deals with both his past and his present as every episode has the character flashing back to memories of his extensive history (800 years) and paralleling that storyline in the current cop mystery. Also, the lessons learned by the character continue to propel him forward on his quest for humanity and that leads to some quality human drama. Gotta give it props for being groundbreaking in a lot of ways and ahead of its time, since this was the first detective vampire series, a formula that has since been repeated with moderate success. The first season is hit or miss, but the quality of the episodes increase greatly as the show continues. Overall a decent show. One I wouldn't mind at all seeing remade.

VAMPIRE ELEMENTS ONLY - Supernatural is a terrific and engrossing show with intricate plots and two great main characters with elaborate and interesting histories. The fact that it has had as many seasons as it has is a testament to the strength of the story. It is mostly episodic, although there is an engrossing long narrative that is interesting as well, the focus here is on demon hunters and the battle between heaven and hell, but vampires and other creatures find their way into the story as well frequently enough for the show to be considered as relevant to those interested in watching vampire TV. A truly great show worth watching, even if the vampire narrative is not as substantial.

I wanted to love the Strain, and there are things that are really quite great about it. The way the virus spreads, the transformations, and the progression of the plot are all terrific, but it took quite a long time for them to develop characters that captured my interest. Many of the characters do really stupid things, and as sometimes happens with horror, they fall into predictable behavior patterns, and have levels of skepticism and denial that are annoying to watch. Most of the season I found myself irritated with the majority of the characters or otherwise not particularly caring about them or for them one way or another, which is really too bad because this could easily be the Walking Dead of vampire shows, but it never quite got there. It's still a really good horror show, though, and one of the more original shows on this list.

What's interesting about Hemlock Grove is that the supernatural elements sneak up on you a little bit. I went into this series not really knowing anything about it, just hearing comparisons to Twin Peaks (a not altogether bad comparison), and having low expectations, but was happily surprised. The first season revolves around the murder of a girl. The season takes some unexpected and interesting turns, and unlike most of the shows on this list (except perhaps True Blood and Being Human), I went through this series in one day, it was that compelling. This one definitely carved out a niche for itself in that the first season was one well constructed storyline and by the end the story felt pretty complete. Subsequent seasons lost focus and a clear storyline and continued to dwindle in quality, but overall a pretty good series, with the first season well worth watching.

Based on a popular graphic novel series, Preacher has a very interesting premise and fantastic writing. One of the main characters is a vampire, but otherwise the story and plot has no relevance to vampirism. It is however an compelling plot and while very dark and violent, its unusual and original storyline combine well with the writing to make it well worth watching, as long as you can stomach its nihilistic and violent elements.

The art and concept for this are fantastic. Based on the classic video game, this does a good job of creating a solid story and utilizing characters from the game. The second season is stronger in story than the first, but drags a bit in the middle and perhaps focuses too much on supporting or minor characters and not enough on the main trio. This is a weak spot in the story as it fills a but like filler to make the plot last the length of the series, but overall a good addition to this list. Worth watching if you can stomach the ongoing vulgarity and expletives of the characters and anti-religious themes.