Back in the 2000s and 2010s, it was hard to turn on the TV without encountering supernatural dramas, be it vampires, werewolves, or witches. But the reality is quite different now, especially without The CW, which had been the home for vampire stories since The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009. Streaming has brought more shows, but some staple genres, like supernatural stories, have shrunk, with only a handful of shows currently on the air. One of them is an unhinged drama best described as the illicit lovechild of The Vampire Diaries and HBO's True Blood.
This series features some great performances as it tells the story of a centuries-old vampire living his best life. It's no surprise that critics have given it a perfect 100% score, and viewers are also impressed, rating it 91% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. And the series, retitled Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat, is a smash hit, ranked number one on AMC+, its primary streaming platform. Viewers who can't watch it on AMC+ are keeping up with Lestat's exploits on PVOD, where The Vampire Lestat is among the top shows on iTunes.
While its tone is totally unhinged, it's not entirely new. The Vampire Lestat is a dramatic rebrand of the hit series Interview with the Vampire. But instead of focusing on Louis and his volatile relationship with Lestat in interviews with an intrepid journalist, this chapter makes Lestat the king of rock as he forms a band and tours to reclaim his life. Viewers got a glimpse of Lestat in Interview with the Vampire, but this show puts him in the spotlight, and he impresses even more. Overhauling the show, as the production team did, was a risky move that could have backfired, but everyone loves it.
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world's beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what's right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
The Vampire Lestat is Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) at his absolute best, and he can be a lot. That's why Collider's Carly Lane said the show gave her a "hangover." Lane anticipated even more changes in future seasons, saying the show can "certainly reinvent itself again and again without sacrificing its bite," in her review of The Vampire Lestat. Other critics had all-positive things to say, with ScreenRant's Nick Bythrow calling it "one of the best seasons of TV in 2026 so far." Like Lane, MovieWeb's Dan Selcke was positively overwhelmed by the show and had one word to describe the season: bold.
New episodes of The Vampire Lestat debut on AMC+ on Sundays. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
