Buffy The Vampire Slayer

With True Blood premiering this weekend, I was inspired to take a look back at the hottest bloodsuckers to grace the small screen. I have little doubt that TB’s own fanged Bill will be joining this list in the coming weeks, if they stick at all close to the smokin’ hot books (which are filled with seriously smutty vampire sex... and I mean that in the best possible way), and judging by the first two episodes they kind of are. So here’s a look at the other cold-blooded creatures that can make your blood boil... with or without the help of those fancy glamor things.

1. Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel)

Loyal, sexy, smart, romantic and just a little bit dangerous makes for a delicious combination. His tortured relationship with his soulmate Buffy served to make him even hotter. And then he ditched Sunnydale for L.A. and became a badass detective out to take down the man (well, evil demon man), while fiercely protecting his employees and singing badly. Swoon. And I swear he doesn’t top my list just because we share a name. That’s actually caused me more trouble over the years than it’s worth.

2. Mick St. John (Moonlight)

I wanted to hate him, because the show seemed like a rip-off of my much beloved Angel — he’s another vampire who happens to solve crimes and be in love with a mortal girl and has issues with the she-vamp who sired him. But, well, Mick St. John’s just freakin’ pretty, and while the show wasn’t exactly the best written program on television, there’s a lot you can be willing to overlook for hot, broody vamp romance.

3. Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel)

Angel was the classic romantic, but if you wanted a gritty, dirty, fun-loving, rollicking bad boy with bite, Spike was your guy. His hot, bleached-blond tresses and his unabashed love of being undead were compounded with the really angry but kinda awesome relationship he had with Buffy, the ex-girlfriend of his best frenemy. Oh, and did I forget to mention how amazing his singing voice was during the musical episode? If I hadn’t already been a fan, that would have changed my mind.

4. Barnabas Collins (Dark Shadows)

I’m not even going to lie, I put this one on my list solely because of my mother. She was obsessed with this soap in the early ’70s and wanted to name me Angelique, after Mr. Collins’ witchy lover. So therefore, while he’s not my typical dreamboat, Collins did have an air of mystery and broodiness about him that captivated audiences in several incarnations of the series.

5. Drusilla (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Sure, Darla was gorgeous and sired Angel (though I still have trouble watching Julie Benz on Dexter and thinking of her as innocent), but Drusilla was on a whole different level. If she found me in a dark alley, I’d hand myself over willingly. She was dark and twisted and always entertaining, plus she looked smokin’ in those cleavage-revealing costumes. (Yeah, I’m a little jealous.) She embraced her inner undead beauty, and I’m all for that. If I ever become a creature of the night, I hope that I’m like her: that hair, those eyes, that perfectly curvy body. Hmm... I would put her higher on the list, but I’m trying hard (and failing) to not be all Buffy-centric.

6. Sheriff Hartwell (The X-Files)

Well, depending on if you believe Mulder or Scully, Sheriff Harwell (played by the more attractive Wilson brother, Luke — at least he doesn’t have a stupid twisty nose) was one dishy cop who just happened to have green eyes and be very protective of his fanged community. In the awesome he said/she said episode "Bad Blood", Mulder though he looked like a bucktooth hick, but that’s mostly because Scully had a little bit of blood lust for the small-town fella. So what if the law-enforcer drugged them so much they couldn’t remember their experience with him. It was for their own good... well, sorta, because Scully becoming a vamp FBI agent would have been a really amazing twist.

And just in case you needed any reasons for my picking Angel as numero uno, check this clip of his moment of pure happiness with Buffy. All sweet and sensitive and then he gets all evil. Good times.