Whether you want to find real-life filming locations for your favorite vampire show or soak up the places where they were based, there’s no need to make deciding where to go a pain in the neck. Here are 10 fang-tastic vampire destinations.
LessBram Stoker’s Dracula has inspired any number of big (and small) screen adaptations in the 120+ years since it was first published. However, while the 1931 Bela Lugosi rendition is a contender, none have been quite as iconic as Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 version starring Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, and Anthony Hopkins. Although principally shot on soundstages, this drama takes place between Whitby in scenic North Yorkshire and Transylvania in modern-day Romania, home to Bran Castle.
Sunnydale, California—the fictional setting of Buffy the Vampire Slayer—was mostly filmed in and around real-life California, from Torrance (where you’ll find Sunnydale High) to Downtown Santa Monica (where you’ll find downtown Sunnydale). Glory’s Mansion? Catch the exterior at Castle Green Apartments, or pay a visit to the actual cemetery where Buffy used to patrol after dark: Angelus-Rosedal Cemetery.
The 1987 film that launched the careers of Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Kiefer Sutherland, The Lost Boys is set in fictional Santa Carla, California, but shot mostly on location in Santa Cruz. Make like a teenage vampire and stalk the Santa Cruz boardwalk or pay a visit to the Santa Clarita valley railroad trestle, where the boys dangle off the edge in one scene. Interiors of Grandpa’s house, unfortunately, were mostly filmed on a soundstage.
Panned by critics (hello, 12% Rotten Tomatoes rating!), Vampire in Brooklyn starring Angela Bassett and Eddie Murphy was primarily shot in California, although the crew did do a long weekend of filming in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Brooklyn Museum. So why not use this cult classic as an excuse to tour the Big Apple?
Unlike its fang-tasy forerunner Twilight, Vampire Diaries was set in a fictional town—Mystic Falls, Virginia—but filmed in real-life Covington, Georgia. Grab a cone at Scoops or get drinks at Mystic Grill before stopping by the exterior of Elena Gilbert’s home on Floyd Street. Covington Square will, of course, be instantly recognizable to fans of the show, too, as will the Lockwood Mansion (actually Worthington Manor).
Aficionados of True Blood, the campy, blood-soaked HBO series will know that while it takes place in the American South, we’re sorry to report that the True Blood town of Bon Temps is fully fictitious. You can still explore the real-life Louisiana (exterior) locations featured on the show though. Head to Alex’s Bar in LA to admire that famed Fangtasia awning, and check out the Hotel Carmilla exterior at the Courtyard by Marriott Rhode Island.
The Titty Twister bar from From Dusk Till Dawn is not real. Constructed for the movie in the Mojave Desert, near the Calico Ghost Town, Titty Twister was torn down once filming finished. However, you can most certainly make a trip along the Texas-Mexico border where much of the film takes place. Just don’t expect to run into Salma Hayek—aka Santánico Pandemonium, “Mistress of the Macabre, Epitome of Evil, the most sinister woman who ever danced on the face of this earth”—while you’re there.
Since developed into a Staten Island-based spinoff mockumentary of the same name, the original 2014 film, What We Do In The Shadows, was set in Wellington, New Zealand, and shot entirely on location. Although most of the clubs featured on film have since shuttered for good, you can still follow in the footsteps of Viago, Vlad, Deacon, Nick, and Stu as they traipse through downtown Wellington. Stop by the site of the Unholy Masquerade too—the Victoria Bowling Club.
Never heard of the cult classic Twilight? Where the hell have you been, loca? It just wouldn’t be a vampire roundup without mention of the films that launched a thousand memes. Set in Forks, Washington, Twilight had fans flocking to the city back in 2009 to find the filming locations of their favorite flick. The kicker? Most of the films were shot in neighboring Oregon, including in Silver Falls State Park, and "Forks" is actually Vernonia.