The Scream of the Crop: Top 10 Vampires of Popular Culture

To celebrate a very spooky Halloween season, Chessington World of Adventures is hosting their spooktacular Halloween Hocus Pocus event this 26 October — 4 November. And no Chessington family break would be complete without a phantom-tastic thrill on the famous Vampire Ride! So in honour of Chessington’s hair-raising rollercoaster, we’ve opened the vaults and made a collection of some of the most famous vampires that ever lived… forever.

10. Mona the Vampire

Everyone’s favourite supernatural crimefighter with the world’s biggest imagination, Mona the Vampire comes in at number 10! Schoolgirl by day, Mona dons a set of fangs and black cloak to assume her alter ego and save the world from all sorts of supernatural bad guys and villains. With the help of her trusty sidekick Fang the cat and her two best friends Zapman and Princess Giant, there’s never a dull moment!

9. The Little Vampire

This little-known German export was originally a children’s book in the late 70s. It then made the crossover to TV and aired in the late 90s here in the UK. Nearly twenty years since its first publication, the franchise inspired a film of the same name, and starred Richard E. Grant in August 2000.

8. Count Duckula

If you don’t remember this one, then you should probably ask your parents and look it up on YouTube because you are missing out on a classic! With the vocal talents of the wonderful Sir David Jason, Count Duckula was a spin-off of equally popular Danger Mouse. The opening sequences see a dynasty of evil and vicious vampires from the Duckula family, and Nanny and Igor are performing a ritual to try and resurrect the notorious Count Duckula, only instead of blood they revive him with ketchup... As a result, the newest incarnation of the vampire is a fame-hungry vegetarian!

7. Stefan and Damon Salvatore

Sibling rivalry takes a whole new meaning with these two. In life, brothers Stefan and Damon fall in love with the gorgeous Katherine. Then to complicate things further, she turns out to be an evil vampire and eventually turns them both into bloodthirsty creatures of the night as well. Fast forward hundreds of years and across the continent to present day and the Salvatore brothers are still fighting over the same girl, this time the human Elena Gilbert who just so happens to be the spitting image of their old flame Katherine. The question everyone wants to know the answer to: who will she choose?

6. Blade

Not really one for the kids and technically not even a vampire, Blade’s mother was bitten by an evil vampire whilst she was pregnant with him and as a result he adopted all of their strengths, and none of their weaknesses… bar one: the thirst for blood! Blade is one of the darkest superheroes to come from the Marvel Universe of comic books and remains a firm favourite amongst comic book fans, especially when he was made famous by Wesley Snipes in the hit movie franchise.

5. Nosferatu

Pronounced Nos-fe-raa-too, this German creation mirrors many characteristics to Bram Stoker’s version of Dracula. So much so, in fact, that Stoker’s wife Florence sued for copyright infringement and won shortly after its release. Now even today, the widely recognised pale and balding Count Orlok with piercing white eyes, pointy ear and prominent front teeth has a cult following.

4. Angel and Spike

You get 2-for-1 with this entry since there was once a girl named Buffy, who met a boy called Angel who turned out to be a vampire cursed with a soul. The inevitable happens and they fall in love, until he loses his soul and becomes a murderous monster. Being the heroine, Buffy saves the day by killing the love of her life to stop him from destroying the world, although the story doesn’t end there since good Angel is magically brought back whereupon they rekindle their relationship until he leaves for good to let our favourite heroine fulfil her destiny. Buffy eventually moves on, but her arch-enemy Spike (also a vampire, but the traditional soulless type) has developed feelings for her but she rebuffs his advances and so he goes away. Its not until after some literal soul searching and hopes of redemption that Buffy starts to view him differently. In the final battle Spike sacrifices himself to save her which allows her to go on and save the world. And since then fans have been split over who was indeed Buffy’s soul mate. Angel had the good looks, caring sensitive soul (when he had it) only to turn out to be the most vicious and evil villain Buffy ever had to face. However, Spike with his bleach-blonde hair, love of guy-liner and leather was monstrous and slightly sleazy, but he did have a truly wicked sense of humour and showed promise even when without a soul.

3. Count Von Count

One… ah-ah… two ah-ah… three ah-ah… and so on and so forth. Perhaps the vampire with most awareness for child numeracy and a craving for counting rather than blood, this Muppet creation for Sesame Street is loved the world over. Since the early ‘70s the Count has been counting his way through all sorts, whether it’s elevator floors, telephone rings or the many bats that live in his castle. This vampire is definitely one for the kids.

2. Edward Cullen

Stephenie Meyer’s romantic representation of modern day vampires completely shuns centuries of myth and superstition by spinning the traditional conventions on its head. This particular version of blood-sucker has proved very popular amongst teenage girls (and some older girls), whilst fans of the traditional monster have shunned and ridiculed Edward and the Cullen Clan. Although in Twilight most of the vampires are still very dangerous and have a lethal thirst for blood, they aren’t allergic to garlic, a crucifix won’t keep them at bay and they can walk freely around in daylight without burning to a cinder. In a nutshell, Meyer took one of culture’s most fearsome fictional monsters and made them into vegetarian glitter balls. However, that being said, Edward Cullen does have great hair, he’s incredibly rich and does pull off a very convincing American accent.

1. Dracula

No list of top vampires would be complete without this ultimate bloodsucker! It’s been well over a hundred years since Bram Stoker’s famous novel first curdled the blood of polite Victorian society, and even today it stands as one of the best Gothic stories ever. Now whilst Stoker didn’t invent vampires, there’s no denying that he set the tone for the modern day vamps and influenced everyone in the top 10 in some way or other. Despite his supernatural powers and dark hocus pocus, his hypnotic glare, plus control over the elements and dark creatures like wolves and bats, this famous fiend has a severe allergy to garlic and hates crosses, he can’t enter your house unless you invite him and only comes out of his crypt at night time. Dracula is one of popular culture’s most recognised monsters and has been portrayed in many different film, literature and TV adaptations over the years. However, the scariest fact from this chilling bio is that Dracula was supposedly based on Vlad the Impaler, a real person…

So the next time you’re riding through the air on the thrilling Vampire Ride, be sure to think of these fangtastic vampires that we all know and love. Sleep tight, and don’t forget to eat plenty of garlic!