Van Helsing

Vanessa Helsing is resurrected five years after a mysterious event and wakes to a world where vampires control human society. As the daughter of famed vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, she discovers a rare ability to subdue and influence the undead, which makes her a target and a weapon. The series drops her into ruined cities and fractured survivor groups, and she must piece together what happened while others try to exploit or kill her. She soon becomes central to plans aimed at reclaiming lost territory, and the show balances action with questions of trust, leadership, and who will lead.

Premiering in 2016, Van Helsing was developed for television by Neil LaBute and built around Kelly Overton's lead turn as Vanessa. Rukiya Bernard and Aleks Paunovic round out key supporting roles, placing classic vampire lore into a serialized action-horror format.

Throughout its run the show attracted steady attention from genre outlets but not major awards recognition. It didn't score Emmys or Golden Globes, and while individual episodes and performances were discussed by critics and fans, awards season never became a defining part of the series' identity.

Van Helsing built a devoted audience within horror and sci-fi circles, notable for putting a resourceful woman at the center of violent, survival-driven storytelling. The series kept vampire mythology visible on TV during the late 2010s and prompted conversations around female leads in action-horror and serialized genre programming.

Audience scores averaged around 7.0 out of 10, reflecting favorable viewer response alongside mixed critical notes. Fans and reviewers praised Overton's physicality and the show's set pieces, though some criticized tonal shifts and uneven plotting. Recurring themes include survival ethics, leadership under pressure, identity, and the moral costs of power.