It’s been over 100 years since Nosferatu was introduced to the world. The silent film from 1922 was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula and remains a classic, influential horror film setting the stage and many of the rules for telling a vampire tale.

Countless films and TV shows have touched on the subject: from Count Orlok (Nosferatu) to Count Dracula and Blade to Edward (Twilight), so there are a plethora of possibilities when it comes to interpreting and changing what it means to be a vampire.

Vampires are like any other major subgenre – it’s been done. The job of the screenwriter is to take this concept and make it unique in a way that clicks with the audience in a fresh way. Robert Eggers, the auteur writer/director of The Witch and The Lighthouse, is enough to build intrigue and becomes a big part in drawing in audiences. Eggers doing Nosferatu? Say no more.

But not everyone has name recognition or reputation, so it’s on the individual writer to find that twist. Here’s a look at several takes on vampires and what has made them stand out.

Lots of Vampires

When it comes to vampire movies, there is often either a main villain like Dracula or a whole threat of blood-sucking creatures like in From Dusk Till Dawn or 30 Days of Night. These movies often have a small group of individuals who find themselves in unfortunate circumstances.

In From Dusk Till Dawn, the film follows two criminals who end up at a truck stop bar only to discover it’s filled with vampires. In I am Legend a virus has transformed most of the population into vampires who run amok in Manhattan as an individual struggles to survive.

These movies, as well as ones like Underworld and 30 Days of Night, are about surviving an overwhelming force from vampires – they’re similar to movies with zombies where the focus is generally on people trying to make their way out of a perilous situation.

Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) & Johnnystein (voiced by Andy Samberg) in 'Hotel Transylvania' (2012)

Non-Scary Vampires

Not all vampires need to be scary. Sometimes they sparkle in the sunlight (Twilight) and other times they’re an animated Dracula who operates a resort for other monsters (Hotel Transylvania). These films take an initially scary concept and spin it to become more mainstream and well below an R rating.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for example, could have been created as a darker tale with more violence and bloodshed, but instead it leaned into its high school cheerleader/hero’s journey vibe and built itself such a cult following that it was turned into a TV series that ran for seven seasons.

Hotel Transylvania and even TV shows like Vampirina play to the elementary school crowd while Twilight had a massive following in the Young Adult section of bookstores before its five films grossed over $3 billion. They weren’t scary, just a tamer take on familiar tropes.

The Vampire is the Main Villain

Another type of vampire movie puts the dark prince in the lead villain role. Dracula, Blacula, Nosferatu and the neighbor in Fright Night are all examples in which the cursed creature must be stopped. It’s no question that the vampire wields enormous power and has dark intentions. But just like any villain, they aren’t infallible, which means the hero must gain the knowledge, courage and persistence to take the vampire out.

Wesley Snipes in 'Blade' (1998)

Pop Culture-ish Vampires

Vampires have also played a role in pop culture appearing in everything from Scooby Doo episodes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Blade, starring Wesley Snipes, was considered one of the few successful comic book movies at a time when Batman was the only one bringing in big box office numbers. It spawned a few sequels and even delighted fans when Snipes returned to the role 26 years later in 2024’s Deadpool and Wolverine.

Vampires even appeared in the alternative history novel-turned-film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter about the 16th president’s attempts at eliminating vampires after witnessing his mother getting killed by one when he was a boy.

Pop culture-type vampires often forego the horror element and place themselves into a familiar world, like the 2005 animated movie The Batman vs. Dracula. After the success of Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) followed by Interview with the Vampire (1994), Mel Brooks took his brand of comedy and created Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). While the vampire maintains their respective tropes (fangs, bloodsuckers, turns into bats, etc.) the overall scares are minimal.

Characters in the Vampire Universe

Dracula isn’t the only character to come out of the Bram Stoker novel. Any number of characters have had their chance to win over audiences, often becoming heroic beyond their original conception. Van Helsing was Universal’s attempt to keep their monster universe churning after the success of The Mummy films. Recently, Renfield, whose title character was the caretaker under control by Dracula, wants to break free from his toxic relationship. The horror/comedy starred Nicolas Cage as the count who wants to rule the world.

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu

102 years after the original silent film, Robert Eggers’ adaptation of both Dracula and Nosferatu updates the horror film and brings to theaters the chilling tale from the mind behind such modern auteur classics The Witch and The Lighthouse.

Here are 4 lessons screenwriters can take away from Nosferatu.

1. Take Notice of the Stories that Stick in Your Mind

Robert Eggers had the idea of making Nosferatu for years. In fact, he wrote the script quite a while ago and has fine-tuned it over the years. It wasn’t until after he wrote and directed The Northman that he felt confident in his abilities to make Nosferatu.

Eggers also goes deep in research for his films, which is why The Northman and The Witch have high levels of authenticity. However, the research doesn’t get in the way of storytelling. It’s common for writers to use research as a procrastination method. Don’t forget that narrative films are not documentaries, so while research is important, it shouldn’t get in the way of storytelling.

If an idea sticks around for a while and you enjoy the research, then it’s obviously something you want to share with the world. Just don’t let perfection get in the way of good storytelling.

2. Nosferatu: We All Know the Story

Nosferatu and Dracula have the same beats and, with 100s of vampire stories out there in the world, most people are familiar with the basic myths. So, if you want to tell a story about Dracula, it must be unique in some way.

Unless you’re a film buff, Nosferatu is lost to history so this was a great entry point to retelling a classic tale. Eggers changed the familiarities of the story and the look and feel of how it has traditionally been told. One example is that Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) isn’t the Lothario-esque charmer and seducer that has become the norm. He’s grotesque in form and uses mind manipulation to make people do as he pleases.

As more familiar stories enter the public domain, should a writer choose to take one of these stories and retell it, they must find a way to make it fresh.

3. Setting Up the Scare

Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) has traveled to Transylvania to complete a real estate deal with the eccentric Count Orlok. As he embarks on this journey, things start to go awry as if they are warning signs he should turn back – unfortunately, he needs the money and confidence so he refuses to heed the warnings.

Hutter enters a small village where its visitors and citizens don’t speak his language and then laugh at him for unknown reasons. He dreams of these villagers digging up a vampire and shoving a stake into its body, then there’s the haunted carriage.

Before Hutter even reaches the foreboding castle, the audience is primed to be scared, which makes the experience even more heart-pounding. Screenwriters can observe how Eggers set up the discomfort and eeriness that makes audiences want to scream for Hutter to turn back, and yet they must follow him into the dreadful scenario.

4. When Simple Dialogue Works Well

The dire trek to meet Count Orlok becomes Hutter’s first encounter with the vampire. Count Orlok’s words are brief, his sentences short. The dialogue is quite simple yet powerful so that the word “sit” becomes ominous. “Have something to eat” engages the audience to wonder what might be in the food, or is he simply offering his guest something nourishing.

Writers could create long-winded dialogue with powerful impact in this first meeting, but sometimes simple is better.

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There is no lack of creative ways to tell the story of a vampire, whether it’s the famed tale of Dracula or a new way for the bloodsucking vampires to wreak havoc. Take inspiration from your favorite films, watch a few new ones you’ve never seen, and write the vampire story you want to see on the big screen.