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Series · Comedy, Horror · 2019 · TV-MA

What We Do in the Shadows (2019): parents' guide

16+our pick

Best for ages 16 and up. Rated TV-MA.

A gleefully crude horror comedy for older teens and adults. Four vampire roommates and their long-suffering human servant bumble through modern Staten Island over six seasons, filmed as a mock documentary. The vampires kill people constantly, and the gore, including severed limbs and blood sprays, is played for laughs but still graphic. Expect frequent f-words, nonstop sex jokes, sex scenes, an orgy episode, and nudity with genitals blurred, plus vampires getting high on drugged blood. The silliness softens the horror, but the sex and bloodshed make it best for 16 and up.

What's in it

Violence

Strong

Frequent and bloody, though always comic. Vampires bite and drain victims, fights with stakes, crossbows, swords and guns leave severed limbs that later heal, corpses and body parts turn up, and the opening credits are bloody.

Language

Strong

Strong and frequent. Plugged In counted about a dozen f-words and at least five s-words in one season 1 episode and about ten f-words in a season 4 episode, plus compound f-words, 'whore,' 'slut' and a middle finger.

Sex and nudity

Strong

Crude talk about genitals, semen, virgins and porn is constant. A couple has sex in several positions with clothing covering them, a season 1 episode centers on a vampire orgy, and naked bodies appear with genitals pixelated.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

Moderate

Vampires sometimes feed on humans who are drunk or high and become intoxicated themselves, played for laughs. Humans drink alcohol and smoke now and then.

Scary or intense scenes

Moderate

Horror played for comedy: vampires, ghosts, witches, demonic shrieking, a possessed doll, and an infant creature with an adult's face who emerges from a character's chest. Gross-out moments outnumber genuine scares.

Worth talking about

The vampires treat their servant Guillermo badly for years while he waits to be rewarded. Ask your teen what keeps people in relationships where their effort is never appreciated.

Where to stream →

On our lists

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Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, Wikipedia. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.