The Creepy Vampire Horror Series That AMC Should Have Never Canceled

The words "AMC" and "vampire" automatically conjure dizzying emotions about "Interview with the Vampire," which has been slated for an exciting third season (featuring Lestat in his rockstar era!) that will grace our screens very soon. AMC's riveting adaptation of Anne Rice's beloved novel series is so well-received and singular that every other vampire story propped up by the network automatically pales in comparison.

This is especially the case with subgenre stories that received mixed critical reception upon release, as these middling shows often end up being overshadowed or forgotten over time. While Jami O'Brien's "NOS4A2" (not to be confused with Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu") ran between 2019 and 2020, this adaptation of Joe Hill's novel (titled "NOS-4R2") hasn't been a part of serious vampire discourse for quite some time. But there's one thing about "NOS4A2" that cannot be overlooked: it manages to stand out in a hyper-saturated subgenre oozing with blood and gore. Moreover, it also delivers a brand of creepiness that creates an unsettling pit in your stomach, as this chilling vampire fiction doesn't romanticize any aspect of its bleak, dreary world.

Any conversation about AMC's "NOS4A2" should be prefaced by the fact that Hill's source material feels infinitely richer in comparison, despite being a flawed homage to classic '80s horror tropes. Hill's gift for capturing events with jarring intensity might be the reason behind this gap in quality, as his writing style favors long, rambling descriptions that complement the messy undertone of his stories. This narrative instinct doesn't translate well into a series with weekly episode drops, as what feels appropriately free-form in Hill's book starts to take on a rather mundane quality onscreen. This sluggishness robs "NOS4A2" of some of its effectiveness, but there's still plenty to love about this two-season AMC series.

Season 1 of "NOS4A2" received enough fanfare to warrant a second season, but a steady decline in viewership and ratings for season 2 might've contributed to the show's cancellation right after. It is worth noting that the crux of Hill's novel had already been explored in the first season, and that O' Brien had dedicated season 2 to story expansion, where a ton of new characters and backstories were added to further enrich worldbuilding. This yielded mixed results, as the story oscillated between intriguing reveals and cop-out cliffhangers, as if unable to decide whether it wanted to sincerely do something interesting or rely upon clichéd tropes to evoke knee-jerk reactions. Season 3 might've addressed these issues, but "NOS4A2" was never given the chance to embrace its budding potential.

So what is the AMC show about? Teenager Victoria (Ashleigh Cummings) has the uncanny ability to find things that have been lost forever, and she uses a particular bridge to transport herself to different locations. This ability, however, isn't stable or permanent, as every instance of usage makes her weaker, creating a lot of anxiety after the Big Bad is introduced. The villain is none other than the immortal Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto), who abducts children to feed on their souls and later traps them in Christmasland, a kind of perpetual limbo realm where being unhappy is a crime. There are no vampiric transformations, no drawing of sharp fangs, but a sustained sense of unease that looms over the events with this frightful monster lurking in the shadows.

"NOS4A2" tends to sag whenever Quinto isn't onscreen, as the mythos surrounding this twisted character is so alluring that everything else feels less urgent in comparison. But when you peer closer into some of the more obtuse supernatural concepts — such as "incscapes" and "creatives" — it opens up a world filled with eccentric possibilities, and this helps accentuate the horror surrounding Victoria's clash with Manx. This larger-than-life quality meshes well with Quinto's exaggerated performance, creating a haunting symphony whose discordant notes can be easily overlooked.

If you're a fan of odd little supernatural tales that embrace genre traditions only to subvert them, then "NOS4A2" is definitely worth a chance.