4 Shows to Watch Before Interview with the Vampire's Lestat Spinoff

One of the best TV shows of the past few years is about to get a spin-off (or a third season with a different title, if you prefer). The Vampire Lestat, based on the Anne Rice novel from The Vampire Chronicles, will bring one of the franchise’s most beloved characters to the screen in a way we’ve never really seen in movies or TV before, finally telling his story, his past, and his version of the events we watched unfold in the first two seasons of Interview with the Vampire. And it’s going to be a real test, since Lestat has always been the most attention-grabbing character, but also the hardest one to get right. He’s charismatic, cruel, vulnerable, theatrical, and completely driven by his own ego.

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And while we wait for the premiere, can you get yourself ready? Absolutely. Here’s a selection of shows that pair perfectly with what you can expect from The Vampire Lestat. They’re not exact copies of Rice’s world, but they capture something essential if you want to get into the right mood.

4) The Sandman

At first, it might not seem related at all, but The Sandman puts you in the right headspace for The Vampire Lestat because it treats immortality as a burden, not something cool. The series follows Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), the Lord of Dreams, as he tries to recover his stolen tools and rebuild his realm after being imprisoned for decades. And the real hook is watching how he deals with his own arrogance and the damage he’s caused. It’s about a being who’s existed for far too long, and because of that, carries guilt, pride, and a lifetime of consequences.

And if there’s one thing that defines Lestat, it’s exactly that: he isn’t just a vampire, he’s basically a walking disaster of bad decisions (with charm). Morpheus, even as a cosmic entity, gets what it means to be too powerful, too old, and way too emotionally stuck to properly deal with the fallout of his own ego. In the first two seasons of Interview with the Vampire, Lestat never really got the focus needed to dig deep into who he is, but if you want a sense of what to expect now, specifically on that level, The Sandman is a surprisingly strong comparison.

3) Hannibal

Interview with the Vampire is all about intense relationships that feel both romantic and terrifying. But so far, it also feels like the show has only scratched the surface, because Lestat’s life goes way deeper in that department. And what series absolutely nails those themes? Hannibal. The show centers on Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), an FBI profiler with an almost unreal level of empathy, who ends up getting pulled into the orbit of Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), the infamous psychiatrist and serial killer. And don’t assume it’s just murders and stylish visuals, because the real point is showing how someone gets inside your head and starts rewiring you.

What Lestat does to Louis, Claudia, and basically everyone who crosses his path is exactly that (just with a charming smile on his face). And in the same way, Hannibal isn’t built around a simple hunter-and-prey dynamic, but a twisted game of fascination, manipulation, and the need for control. The Vampire Lestat, by diving into the vampire’s story and past, will likely show how all of that started — the relationships and moments that shaped him into who he is. And besides, a lot of people root for Lestat the same way they root for Hannibal for a reason.

2) American Horror Story: Hotel

American Horror Story is an anthology series, with each season telling a completely different story, and each one built around its own theme. And one of those stories tackles vampires in the most stylish way possible, even if it’s definitely not subtle or minimalist. The tone of The Vampire Lestat is going to be very different from Interview with the Vampire, and AHS: Hotel lines up perfectly with that shift. In this season, we’re introduced to the Hotel Cortez, a cursed place in Los Angeles where guests disappear, ghosts roam the halls, and a mysterious figure known as the Countess (Lady Gaga) feeds on blood.

AHS: Hotel is packed with blood, and especially with characters who feel like they were designed to shock and keep all eyes on them at all times — both in the way they look and the way they act. And The Vampire Lestat‘s energy is pure glamour, spectacle, and fashion. Atmosphere-wise, the two match almost perfectly, because the vibe is exactly right: vampirism as addiction, immortality as a prison, and glamour as a mask for horrific things. It’s also one of the most popular AHS seasons among fans.

1) Daisy Jones & the Six

This is another show that might seem like it has nothing to do with The Vampire Lestat — but it only seems that way, because Daisy Jones & The Six makes more sense as a comparison than a lot of supernatural series do. The story follows a fictional rock band in the ’70s as they explode in popularity, while the chaotic relationship between the leads, Daisy (Riley Keough) and Billy (Sam Claflin), becomes both the source of the group’s brilliance and the threat to its future. And how does that connect to Lestat? Well, more than anything, the vampire is a rockstar. He wants to be seen, he wants to be worshipped, and he wants to be remembered.

But it goes even deeper than that, as Lestat also destroys people in the process without always realizing what he’s doing. Daisy Jones & The Six is exactly about that: people who are too talented, too intense, and too emotionally unstable to survive their own spotlight. Overall, it’s a story about charisma as a weapon. The main couple feels like two ticking time bombs trying to exist in the same space. Interview with the Vampire already made it clear how toxic things can get between Lestat and Louis, but imagine that dynamic between Lestat and other vampires too. And on top of that, The Vampire Lestat is also going to follow him and his band on tour.

The Vampire Lestat hits AMC on June 7.

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