The Vampire Diaries poster

The Vampire Diaries (2009)

Series · 43m episodes · Rated TV-14

Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Two vampire brothers share an obsession with a mysterious woman, echoing a century-old, ruthless romance.

Suspenseful and romantic. A date-night pick at a brisk pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Max and Peacock.

The Vampire Diaries parents guide

For a TV-14, this one goes further: moderate sex and nudity. Beyond that, mild language and strong violence.

Our estimate: fine from about 16, higher than the TV-14 suggests, because of the sex and nudity.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares
Several
More than a couple of sudden jolts.
Gore
Light gore
Some blood or injury, briefly.
Violence
Strong violence
Violence is frequent or intense.
Sex and nudity
Moderate
Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.
Language
Mild
Mild words like damn, hell or crap.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is The Vampire Diaries scary?
Only a little. The Vampire Diaries has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is The Vampire Diaries?
Light gore and strong violence.
What is The Vampire Diaries rated, and is it OK for kids?
Rated TV-14. Expect moderate sex and nudity, strong violence, and several jump scares, so it suits teens more than kids.

What is The Vampire Diaries about?

The story of two vampire brothers obsessed with the same girl, who bears a striking resemblance to the beautiful but ruthless vampire they knew and loved in 1864.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

It leaves things open rather than tying them up.

Cast and crew

Created byJulie Plec, Kevin Williamson
StarringPaul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Kat Graham, Candice King, Zach Roerig, Michael Malarkey

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.