HBO's fantasy-horror series True Blood premiered in 2008 and ran until 2014, during which time it was nominated for several awards. The series stars X-Men's Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, a waiter with telepathic abilities whose world is turned upside down when she meets vampire Bill Compton. Bill, who is played by Stephen Moyer, is the one person whose mind Sookie cannot read.
The events of the series take place after the discovery of a substance called "Tru Blood," which serves as a feasible replacement for human blood and allows vampires to stop feeding on humans and assimilate into their society. With this development comes a host of issues, and the vampires must constantly fight for acceptance and equal rights. Despite its unique approach, True Blood remains just one in a host of popular supernatural dramas, and fans of the series are spoilt for choice when it comes to seeking out similar shows.
The Vampire Diaries
Although True Blood and The Vampire Diaries align in their depiction of vampires living alongside humans in the present day, both shows are visibly different in their approach. The CW's The Vampire Diaries presents vampires as individuals who live in secret and have minimal relations with humans, aside from feeding on them.
The series follows vampire brothers Damon and Stefan Salvatore as they meet human Elena Gilbert, who strongly resembles Stefan's first love, Katharine. The brothers build a relationship with Elena, all the while trying to suppress their natural desires.
Angel
Angel is a spin-off of what could be deemed the original vampire television, series Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It follows the title character as he attempts to navigate the world as a vampire who has been cursed with a soul, and as a result, does not fit into either the world of vampires or of humans.
The spin-off was an interesting deviation from Buffy in the sense that the latter revolved around a teen vampire hunter who's purpose in the world was to destroy vampires, and the former follows a likable and sympathetic vampire.
Penny Dreadful
The Showtime/Sky production Penny Dreadful takes its name from the cheap comic-like literature that provided supernatural and sensational stories to readers in Victorian England. The series intertwines multiple canonical supernatural characters, such as Viktor Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll, among others.
Penny Dreadful follows Eva Green's character Vanessa Ives, who teams up with Ethan Chandler and Sir Malcolm, played by Josh Hartnett and Timothy Dalton respectively. The three characters set out to track down a murderer and encounter various unusual characters along the way.
Midnight, Texas
True Blood is based on the book series The Southern Vampire Mysteries, written by Charlain Harris, who also happens to be the author of Midnight, Texas - the book series that was adapted to the NBC supernatural drama series of the same name.
The Midnight, Texas television series may have been canceled after two seasons, but that does not detract from its appeal. The show follows Manfred Bernardo, a young psychic who travels to the town of Midnight, Texas, where he is told he will find like-minded individuals who may be able to help him.
Hemlock Grove
From the mind of horror master Eli Roth came the horror series Hemlock Grove in 2014, which premiered on Netflix and ran for three seasons. The series centers around the fictional town of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, which seems to hold many dark secrets.
After a terrible murder takes place in the town, 17-year-old Peter Rumancek sets out to clear his name and discover who is responsible for the murder. Throughout the course of the show, Peter's true nature and that of many other inhabitants of the town are revealed.
The Gifted
The superhero television series The Gifted is based on Marvel's X-Men comics and stars True Blood's Stephen Moyer as father Reed Strucker. Strucker discovers that his two children have mutant abilities, and takes them to join a community of mutants in an attempt to keep them safe.
The Gifted is quite similar to True Blood in the sense that humans are aware of the existence of mutants, and the mutants wish to form a truce with the humans and to find a way that the two can live alongside one another in peace. The series ran for two seasons and was largely well-received.
The Order
The Netflix horror-drama The Order follows teen Jack Morton, played by Jake Manley, as a college freshman at Belgrave University who joins a secret society. Jack has learned about the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose from his grandfather, and he arrives determined to become a member.
As a member, Jack discovers that there is much more to the society than he originally thought, and is thrown into the world of magic and werewolves. The series also features Sam Trammell - who plays Sam Merlotte in True Blood - as a university professor in the opening episodes of the show.
Supernatural
The longest-running live-action fantasy TV series of all time, Supernatural first aired in 2005 and finished in November 2020, with a total of 15 seasons. The show follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, as they hunt supernatural beings.
The Winchester brothers have been taught how to fight monsters and demons by their father from a young age. Sam and Dean travel across the US together seeking out paranormal occurrences and saving innocent people.
Dracula
The 2013 British-American television series Dracula revives the original vampire tale and presents Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the Transylvanian Count Dracula. After being mysteriously revived, Dracula travels to London to exact revenge on those who ruined his life.
Under the alias of American entrepreneur Alexander Grayson, Dracula enters the high-society of Victorian London and impresses his peers with modern science. Dracula also meets a woman by the name of Mina, who bears an uncanny resemblance to his ex-wife, Ilona.
Lost Girl
The Canadian supernatural-drama Lost Girl follows Anna Silk's bisexual character Bo, who unintentionally kills humans, and as such has spent her life running. Bo knows nothing of her origins, or of the dangerous abilities she possesses.
Bo is contacted by a group called The Fae and discovers that she is a succubus, a creature that feeds on humans. Bo then sets out to find out more about herself and the world that she has been unwittingly thrown into, and experiences multiple romantic encounters along the way.