Gallery: The Newer a Vampire TV Show, the Brighter and/or Bloodier Its Promo Posters

This used to be the norm: People posing in a subterranean chamber lit only by torches. (It probably also has to do with the fact that it's likely a physical poster scanned into someone's computer.)

See what I mean? Even though this show was based on a role-playing game, it still followed the promotional conventions of its contemporaries.

Seriously, we're looking at the same color scheme! Despite employing at least five actors per episode to play vampires, Buffy rarely featured blood in its promos. Probably because the show was more psychologically terrifying than gory.

Aaaand here's the game-changer: Buffy spinoff Angel has the brushed-steel look in that it's brighter than its forebears, but also looks weirdly modern. Probably no blood since Angel is a good vampire and drinks animal blood that he keeps in his fridge. You know, when he's not evil Angelus.

(Dude, paper posters! What a laugh.)

You wouldn't know that P.I. Mick St. John was a vampire with how bright this poster is. You also wouldn't know that this is Hawaii Five-0 star Alex O'Loughlin considering the disastrous Photoshop job.

But both are true, and though the show only lasted one season, it was a big hit among the vampirically-minded.

While this one doesn't quite match up to the posters bookending it, it still represents some movement forward to a more graphic poster. After all, it's got the word "blood" in the title -- in a matching color, no less -- and its logo includes a weapon often used to draw blood.

More stark lights -- probably an ironic commentary since these creatures are trying to slink along unnoticed by humans but invariably get caught for not being quite "right."

And now we enter into the Bloody Era, where a sexed-up show like Alan Ball's True Blood slathers its stars' naked bodies with corn syrup and red dye. (Maybe it's the real stuff -- we wouldn't put it past these guys.)

The second set of TVD posters, with pretty men clutching more bleeding fruit.

The U.S. remake fittingly has a spot further up on the spectrum; even though it's got less blood than True Blood or The Vampire Diaries, it's got a lot more than its UK predecessor.