In late 2022, AMC quietly released the first season of “Interview With The Vampire,” an adaptation of the 1976 gothic horror book of the same name by Anne Rice. The show had no big-name stars to draw in audience members, nor (initially) a very wide release. Even its advertisements, compared to other series of a similar caliber, have been next-to-nonexistent.

And yet, “Interview With The Vampire” is quite possibly the best TV series currently airing.

The show centers around an aging reporter, Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), coming to Dubai to interview the 145-year-old vampire, Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson). Unlike in the book or the 1994 film adaptation starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, Louis did not begin his vampiric life as a white slave owner living in the pre-Civil War south. Rather, the series reframes Louis as a Black brothel owner from turn-of-the-century New Orleans. This change is one of many from the source material, and not for a moment does it feel like tokenization. Louis’s character in the series is inextricable from his Blackness; despite being a powerful vampire, he is still unable to break free of the limitations placed upon him due to his race. Ultimately, he is made all the more interesting for it.

Louis’s life story is told through a series of flashbacks, beginning when Louis is mortal and is discovered by the alluring and mysterious French vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid). Louis is hunted, then seduced, then turned, by Lestat, thereby beginning the stormy romance between the two. After a couple episodes, the core duo is joined by their adoptive daughter Claudia (Bailey Bass, played by Delainey Hayles in season 2), turned when she is 14 and cursed to have a mind that ages trapped inside a body that never will. The show follows these characters, and many more, through the incredibly rich history of the early twentieth century American South, and then in season 2, post-WWII Paris. Throughout this, the modern-day interview progresses with just as much intrigue and suspense, especially when the narrative Louis is spinning is called into question.

The series is Romantic with a capital-R, reminiscent of gothic classics such as Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” or Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla.” Garbed in sumptuous period costume and accompanied by a stirring string-filled score, the characters even speak in the sort of elevated, poetic style you’d expect from centuries-old vampires. Occasionally, an episode will feel more like an intimate play rather than television. And while the show is deliciously queer (virtually every major character is explicitly gay or bisexual), it’s a far cry from what one would deem so-called “good” gay representation. To be a vampire is to be vicious and traumatized and profoundly lonely. This is often taken out one another in despicable ways, and yet at the end of the day they have no one but each other. Over the course of watching the series, one realizes the true horror is not the abundance of blood and death, but the relationships between the vampires themselves.

Though toxic and often horrifying, these relationships are made utterly fascinating through the work of the incredible actors, probably the best part of “Interview With The Vampire”. Though I had not heard of a single one of them before beginning the show, their heartbreaking and nuanced performances make for one of the strongest ensembles in a television series, elevating an already-great script to new heights. While it is difficult to pick the “best” of them, Jacob Anderson and Assad Zaman (who plays Rashid, Louis’s servant in Dubai with more to him than meets the eye) are two in particular who I hope may receive awards for the astonishing artistry they display in this series.

You don’t have to take my word for it, either. “Interview With The Vampire” has been a critical darling, earning a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s also one of those rare shows where you don’t have to wait for it to get good. The pilot episode is the strongest of any series I’ve ever watched; if you like it, you’ll like the rest of the show. The second season is just as good as the first, and a third season is already confirmed. Plus, it’s currently streaming on Netflix! So why not take a chance on an underrated gothic masterpiece, and, in the words of Louis du Lac, “let the tale seduce you.”