One thing I love about vampire stories is seeing various approaches to their existence. Different stories will tweak their strengths and weaknesses in different ways, and I can honestly say that I’m not so hardcore in my own opinions that I can’t appreciate another person’s interpretation (unlike my unwavering belief that zombies should never be able to sprint or do parkour and ninja moves). There may be one or two exceptions to this, but overall, it’s all good.

As I was looking back through some old notes, I came across a very detailed breakdown of what I once wanted out of my vampires. Apparently they could walk around during the daytime and eat food because of… reasons? I’m glad I changed my mind about that, although one of my favorite vampire movies ever—the original Fright Night—featured a vampire who ate fruit, and I was totally cool with that. (Christopher Sarandon explained that it had to do with his character’s genealogy and fruit bats… it made a certain kind of sense.)

Speaking of Fright Night, and getting to the point of this post, here are my favorite vampire movies of all time:

Fright Night (1985). A good, fun vampire movie that still holds up today. There was a remake with Colin Farrell that was actually not half-bad, but nothing beats the original.

The Lost Boys (1987). Kiefer Sutherland, that guy from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the two Coreys, and a kick-ass soundtrack—this movie had it all.

Interview with the Vampire (1994). Does anyone not love this movie? Am I capable of talking about it without mentioning Louis’ angst-filled, undead hotness? No, to both. (But seriously, it’s a great film. I was just as skeptical as most about whether or not Tom Cruise could pull off Lestat, and I’m glad I was wrong.)

30 Days of Night (2007). There have only been two times that I’ve ever been genuinely creeped out by a vampire story. The first was ‘Salem’s Lot, which had me checking under my bed as a kid (yet I still couldn’t put the book down). This was the second. I LOVE the brutality of the vampires in this movie. They have no mercy or sympathy or compassion. They just want to kill. And it’s awesome.