The cast of What We Do in the Shadows shares their favorite vampire films, books, and more

The fourth season of What We Do in the Shadows, Jemaine Clement’s vampire horror mockumentary, premieres tonight on FX. The horror comedy TV collection starring Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, and Mark Proksch as 4 hapless vampire roommates going about their every day undead lives and having numerous misadventures in New York City.

Polygon had the alternative to speak with the cast of What We Do in the Shadows to speak about their favorite items of Vampire media, from Anne Rice and Sheridan Le Fanu’s formative items of vampire literature to the lasting affect of Clement and Taika Waititi’s authentic movie.

The Twilight collection

Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) scowls at Bella Swan (Kirsten Stewart) in Twilight.

Stephenie Meyer’s mega-popular Twilight collection is amongst Natasia Demetriou’s favorite items of vampire media. “I was obsessed with the books, mainly,” Demetriou informed Polygon. “I read all the books. And so yeah, that was the first time I was like, [exaggerated inhale] Ooooooh, yes. And then I’m also a fan of like human vampires, you know, like, I think Cher’s a vampire and Barbra Streisand is a vampire. So, you know, fans of them.”

What We Do in the Shadows

It ought to come as no shock that Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s horror mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, apart from inspiring its TV collection counterpart, could be a distinguished favorite amongst the cast’s most beloved works of vampire fiction. “The [What We Do in the Shadows] movie, that was really what sparked my interest, you know, because I loved the film when it came out,” Matt Berry informed Polygon. Demetriou shared the sentiment, describing Clement and Waititi’s authentic movie as “absolute gold.”

What We Do in the Shadows is obtainable to stream on Kanopy with a library card.

Christopher Lee’s Dracula films with Hammer Horror

Christopher Lee with bloodshot eyes and bloodied fangs in 1958’s Dracula.

While not particularly a fan of vampires previous to his work on What We Do in the Shadows, Berry cited Hammer Horror’s iconic run of Dracula movies as some of his favorite vampire films, significantly Christopher Lee’s iconic flip as the blood-sucking Count. “The only things that I would have been interested in were the Hammer Horror films from the ’60s and ’70s. With Christopher Lee, playing Dracula, that’s about as far as I’d have gotten into.”

Dracula (1958) is obtainable to stream on HBO Max.

Interview with the Vampire (the e book)

Tom Cruise as Lestat in Interview With the Vampire, with long curly blond hair and blood dripping from his mouth

Anne Rice’s bestselling 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire, which might later encourage Neil Jordan’s 1994 film adaptation of the similar identify, is one of Harvey Guillén’s favorite works of vampire literature. “I’ve always been fascinated with vampires, monsters, and all that,” Guillén informed Polygon. “But like, Anne Rice’s books, and Interview with the Vampire in particular, I thought was really great growing up. And when I got this role, I got to just revisit that classic love for vampire lore.”

Carmilla

In addition to Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles collection, Guillén additionally has an affinity for and love of older works of vampire literature, significantly the 1872 Gothic novella Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. “[The book] was kind of pushed aside, because it was taboo,” Guillén informed Polygon. “It was about a vampire, but it was a female, and then she was queer. That’s another story that I really like. And people have been like, discovering it.”

Ed Wood

While Bela Lugosi is finest recognized for his function as Count Dracula in 1931’s Dracula and Ygor in 1939’s Son of Frankenstein, it was Martin Landau’s efficiency as the iconic actor in Tim Burton’s 1994 biographical comedy-drama Ed Wood that first sparked Kayvan Novak’s curiosity in the mythos of vampires and the historical past of those that painting them. “Apart from Interview with the Vampire, I wasn’t really interested in vampires. I wasn’t even into The Lost Boys,” Novak informed Polygon. “But the film Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi, and learning about his portrayal of Dracula. The tragic story of his life after that really kind of sparked my interest more into the actors that would play ghouls and, you know, Boris Karloff and that age of ghoulish cinema. And then what happened to the actors after that era was kind of more interesting for me. That sparked my imagination more than [exaggerated Transylvanian accent] Draaacula!”

Ed Wood is obtainable to hire for $3.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu.

Count von Count from Sesame Street

Vampires comes in all types, shapes, and sizes, and whereas Count von Count from Sesame Street will not be horror royalty, the character is actually one of the most iconic representations of vampires in well-liked tradition and a pure favorite of What We Do in the Shadows’ Kayvan Novak.

Sesame Street is obtainable to stream on HBO Max.