In the last few years, thanks to the Twilight Saga, Hollywood has attempted to reimagine Vampires in a new light. They have gone from being something terrifying to being more of a romantic and misunderstood figure. Come on, vampires that glitter in the sun?

Sure, I have favorite Twilight moments too, and I read all the books more than once, but you have to admit that if it wasn’t for the vampire angle, this is just romantic teenage fluff.

I will admit, though, that the moment at the end of Breaking Dawn Part 1 when Bella wakes up as a vampire for the first time is pretty epic. It’s even better when you read it in the book, and hear her narrating what it is like to wake up with vampire senses for the first time.

Still, no matter what you think about Twilight, it isn’t going to make the cut on my list of the scariest vampire movies.

10. Van Helsing (2004) Starring Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing the vampire hunter, this movie is a version of the story of Dracula. This is his journey to capture the king of all vampires, as well as his brides. Although this is a familiar tale, it is well played and takes unexpected turns in its interpretation. According to IMDB, Van Helsing is in the world to rid all evil, even if not everyone agrees with him. The Vatican sends the monster hunter and his ally, Carl, to Transylvania. They have been sent to this land to stop the powerful Count Dracula. Whilst there they join forces with a Gypsy Princess called Anna Valerious, who is determined to end an ancient curse on her family by destroying the vampire. They just don’t know how!

9. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) This movie features a teen cheerleader who finds out that she is destined to be a vampire slayer. In between her cheer practices, she has to take on her new destiny and rid her high school of the vampire menace. The movie was so popular that it later spawned an entire series of the same name. According to IMDB, Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson) has the lifestyle any young woman could want. Cheerleading, dating the Captain of the basketball team, and copious amounts of time spent shopping with friends. She had no idea of her true calling until a mysterious man named Merrick (Donald Sutherland) approached her and told her that she is the Slayer; one woman called to defend the world from vampires. Reluctant to concede to the fact, Buffy soon learns that Merrick speaks the truth and so begins to take her new life seriously while trying to maintain the sense of normality her life had once been. With her best friends slowly abandoning her, Buffy finds solace in the town outcast, Pike (Luke Perry), who knows very well the terrors that have arisen. Together, they combat the forces of the old and powerful vampire, Lothos (Rutger Hauer), who has his eyes set on Buffy.

8. Blade (1998) This is a unique vampire movie, in that it is about a vampire who hunts down other vampires. It is exciting to watch Blade, played by Wesley Snipes, chase down other vampires and kill them with swords and other futuristic weapons. A must-watch for any vampire movie fan for its unique take on the vampire underworld. According to IMDB, In a world where vampires walk the earth, Blade has a goal. His goal is to rid the world of all vampire evil. When Blade witnesses a vampire bite Dr. Karen Jenson, he fights away the beast and takes Jenson back to his hideout. Here, alongside Abraham Whistler, Blade attempts to help heal Jenson. The vampire Quinn who was attacked by Blade, reports back to his master Deacon Frost, who is planning a huge surprise for the human population.

7. The Lost Boys (1987)

This is a vampire movie that is set in the 1980’s, and stars a young Kiefer Southerland as the leader of a gang of vampires. It has an interesting take on vampire lore, and even shows the vampires hiding out of the sun and hanging upside down. It also stars a very young Corey Haim as a vampire hunter. Also it keeps you guessing right until the very end, with things taking an unexpected turn. According to IMDB, A mother and her two sons move to a small coast town in California. The town is plagued by bikers and some mysterious deaths. The younger boy makes friends with two other boys who claim to be vampire hunters while the older boy is drawn into the gang of bikers by a beautiful girl. The older boy starts sleeping days and staying out all night while the younger boy starts getting into trouble because of his friends’ obsession

6. Interview With the Vampire (1994) In this movie, based on the novel from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, we follow the story of Louie, who is turned into a vampire and his life in New Orleans. This story explores how vampires came to the new world from Europe, but doesn’t uncover their origins. Even though this isn’t the scariest vampire movie, it is my favorite by far. The star power of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and a young Kristen Dunst makes this a must see. According to IMDB, Against the backdrop of a gloomy San Francisco, the nearly two-century-old vampire, Louis de Pointe du Lac, recounts the unbelievable story of his eternal transformation and a life worse than death to the sceptic reporter, Daniel Molloy. Spanning two hundred years of cruel betrayals, extreme solitude, and unquenched thirst, Louis’ grimly fascinating tale pivots around his perpetually regrettable decision to embrace the dictatorship of blood, and, above all, his maker: the seductive blonde aristocrat of death, Lestat de Lioncourt. Is Louis’ mystical epic of bloodshed genuine? Is this, indeed, an interview with a vampire?

5. Dracula Untold (2014) This movie chronicles the story of Dracula’s origins with the story of Vlad the Impaler. It is an interesting new look at how the first vampires come into being. Even though the story comes to an expected conclusion with the advent of Dracula, the path there is not what we would have thought. According to IMDB, At the turn of the century, the young lord Vlad and his family live a peaceful life ruling over their small kingdom, but when a Turk warlord demands from Vlad a thousand boys and his son to create an army Vlad seeks a terrible power that will allow him to protect his kingdom and family from the Turks at a terrible cost.

4. Underworld (2003) Underworld features the rivalry between Vampires and Werewolves, brought into the modern day. It puts a unique spin on the story of vampires and their history. Featuring Kate Beckinsale as the heroine of the tale, Underworld will keep you guessing until the end. According to IMDB, Against the backdrop of an unseen centuries-old war between the sophisticated Vampire clan and the brutish clan of lycanthropes, the Lycans, the lethally alluring vampire assassin and member of the elite “Death Dealers” squad, Selene, has devoted her existence to eradicating the earth’s scattered pockets of remaining werewolves. With the death of the Lycans’ supreme overlord, Lucian, the vampires’ victory seems near; however, when their arch-enemy takes a special interest in the seemingly harmless human doctor, Michael Corvin, Selene will unearth a long-standing conspiracy. Now, treason, deceit, and conflicting feelings stand in the way of truth, forcing Selene to break protocol for the sake of the vampire race. Can a forbidden relationship put in jeopardy her noble quest? Is this the beginning of a new era, and an entirely different war?

3. Queen of the Damned (2002) In this adaptation of the Anne Rice novel of the same name, we follow the story of Lestat, after he awakes from years of slumber in the modern age. In this tale of magic and mystery, we see the awakening of one of the oldest vampires the Queen of the Damned, played by Aaliyah. The terrifying rise of this oldest of vampires is well played and brings to life Anne Rice’s characters fantastically. According to IMDB, After losing interest in immortality, vampire Lestat goes to sleep, awakening after a long time to the sounds of punk rock. Taking up as the leader of an undead band, Lestat gains fame but exposes vampires, drawing the attention of vampire enthusiast Jesse. His music also awakens the queen of the damned, Akasha the first vampire, who decides to make Lestat her king. After learning of her bloodlust, and designs to take over humankind, Lestat teams with the other vampire nobility to take her down. Lestat then turns Jesse into his undead mistress to spend eternity together.

2. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) This is Quentin Tarantino’s take on a vampire film, and in his notable style, it blends legend with story in a way that sends chills down your spine and keeps you on the edge of your seat as the plot twists and turns. Probably the bloodiest of all the vampire movies I have seen, this is not for children! According to IMDB, After a bank heist in Abilene with several casualties, the bank robber Seth Gecko and his psychopath and rapist brother Richard Gecko continue their crime spree in a convenience store in the middle of the desert while heading to Mexico with a hostage. They decide to stop for a while in a low-budget motel. Meanwhile the former minister Jacob Fuller is traveling on vacation with his son Scott and his daughter Kate in a RV. Jacob lost his faith after the death of his beloved wife in a car accident and quit his position of pastor of his community and stops for the night in the same motel Seth and Richard are lodged. When Seth sees the recreational vehicle, he abducts Jacob and his family to help his brother and him to cross the Mexico border, promising to release them on the next morning. They head to the truck drivers and bikers bar Titty Twister where Seth will meet with his partner Carlos in the dawn. When they are watching the dancer Santanico Pandemonium, Seth and Richard fight with three bodyguards. But soon they discover that the bar is a coven of vampires and they need to fight until dawn to leave the place alive.

1. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) Even as a long-time lover of all things vampires, this movie scared me about half to death the first time I saw it. And I was in my mid-twenties at the time. In my mind, this is the scariest vampire movie of all time. Gary Oldman is magnificent as Dracula, in this take that is based closely off of the book. Keanu Reeves as Johnathan Harker is perfectly wimpy and fragile, and Winona Ryder is masterful as Mina. According to IMDB, This version of Dracula is loosely based on Bram Stoker’s classic novel. Young barrister Jonathan Harker is assigned to a gloomy village in the mists of eastern Europe. He is captured and imprisoned by the undead vampire Dracula, who travels to London, inspired by a photograph of Harker’s betrothed, Mina Murray. In Britain, Dracula begins a reign of seduction and terror, draining the life from Mina’s closest friend, Lucy Westenra. Lucy’s friends gather together to try to drive Dracula away.

Bonus: Scariest Vampire Series on TV — Supernatural (2005) One of the most popular series on the subject of all the things that go bump in the night, this series aired for 15 seasons. Starring two brothers playing Sam and Dean Winchester as demon hunters, you watch them kill vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons and more. Just when you think you have seen it all, they change it up and show you something completely new.

According to IMDB, John Winchester raised his two sons Sam and Dean to hunt and kill all things that go “bump in the night” after his wife Mary was murdered by an evil supernatural being when the boys were little. 22 years later the brothers set out on a journey, fighting evil along the way, to find their recently-missing father; when they finally do he reveals he knows what demon killed their mother and has found a way to track and kill it. Meanwhile, Sam develops frightening abilities such as seeing visions of people dying before it actually happens. These visions are somehow connected to the demon that murdered his mother and its mysterious plans that seem to be all about Sam. When their father dies striking a deal with that very same demon, the brothers determine to finish his crusade. But disturbing revelations about Sam’s part in the demon’s apocalyptic plan are presented when John’s dying last words to Dean are revealed.

Hopefully watching all of the scariest vampire movies will help you get in the Halloween spirit this October! Let me know in the comments which vampire movies are your favorites. Any new ones this year that I should check out?