So, you loved Fright Night.

Excellent choice.

You clearly appreciate the finer things in life: vampires, suburban paranoia, creepy neighbors, teenagers who nobody believes, horror-comedy, practical effects, and the eternal nightmare of discovering that the guy living next door is secretly a bloodsucking monster.

And honestly, who doesn't?

Released in 1985, Fright Night somehow managed to pull off the seemingly impossible. It was genuinely creepy, genuinely funny, packed with memorable characters, and still remembered that vampires were supposed to be dangerous.

Charlie Brewster wasn't dealing with some sparkly immortal who wanted to attend high school with him. He was dealing with Jerry Dandridge, a charming neighbor who would very much like to drink his blood and then continue living his best undead suburban life.

If that combination of horror, humor, monsters, and 1980s insanity is your particular flavor of vampire movie, we've got some recommendations.

Here are 10 movies we think you'll like if you loved Fright Night.

1. The Lost Boys (1987)

Let's get the obvious one out of the way.

If you've seen Fright Night and somehow haven't seen The Lost Boys, stop reading this article immediately.

Well... finish the article first. Then watch The Lost Boys.

This 1987 vampire classic moves the action from suburban Philadelphia to the fictional California town of Santa Carla, which apparently has a vampire infestation so severe that the local tourism board should probably consider mentioning it in the brochures.

Michael and Sam Emerson discover that their new hometown is crawling with vampires, led by the extremely cool David.

And by "cool," we mean dangerously cool.

You've got vampires, motorcycles, saxophone players, teenage rebellion, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Grandpa, garlic, comic-book-store weirdness and enough hairspray to not just tease hair but bully it.

What makes it such a great companion to Fright Night is the tone.

It isn't pure horror.

It isn't pure comedy.

It's that wonderful middle ground where you can laugh at something one minute and then suddenly realize that somebody is about to get their throat ripped out.

Basically, it's Fright Night after it drank three energy drinks and moved to California.

2. The Monster Squad (1987)

What if the kids from Fright Night had to deal with every famous Universal monster at once?

Congratulations.

You've just described The Monster Squad.

Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolf Man, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon are all involved in a plan to take over the world.

Naturally, the only people capable of stopping them are a group of children.

Because apparently the adults have collectively decided that supernatural threats are somebody else's problem.

The movie has the same combination of genuine horror and comedy that makes Fright Night so much fun.

It also understands something extremely important:

Monsters should actually be scary.

This isn't a movie where everyone spends two hours being terrified of something that eventually turns out to be a misunderstood metaphor for teenage anxiety.

Nope.

These are monsters.

They want to destroy things.

And the kids have to figure out how to stop them.

It's also packed with horror references, making it basically the perfect movie for anyone whose childhood bedroom looked like a horror convention exploded inside it.

3. Near Dark (1987)

Now let's get considerably darker.

Near Dark takes the vampire concept and strips away much of the goofy suburban fun, replacing it with a gritty, violent road movie.

A young man becomes involved with a group of nomadic vampires and discovers that immortality isn't nearly as glamorous when you're constantly running from the law and murdering people for dinner.

The movie is atmospheric, brutal and surprisingly grim.

It also features an incredible cast, including Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein and Adrian Pasdar.

And Bill Paxton's performance alone makes this worth watching.

Where Fright Night gives us the fantasy of a vampire secretly moving into the neighborhood, Near Dark asks a much nastier question:

What if you actually became one of them?

The answer is apparently:

"Congratulations. Your family is going to have a really awkward Christmas."

4. The 'Burbs (1989)

Okay, hear us out.

There aren't vampires in The 'Burbs.

But there is a suspicious neighbor.

And there's nothing horror fans love more than becoming convinced that the people living next door are hiding something.

Tom Hanks stars as Ray Peterson, an ordinary suburban guy who becomes convinced that the new neighbors are involved in something deeply sinister.

Naturally, everyone thinks he's crazy.

Sound familiar?

That's because The 'Burbs operates in the same comedic neighborhood as Fright Night.

You've got ordinary suburban life colliding with increasingly bizarre horror.

The difference is that Fright Night asks:

"What if my neighbor is a vampire?"

The 'Burbs asks:

"What if my neighbors are serial killers?"

And then both movies proceed to make suburban real estate look like a terrible investment.

5. The Frighteners (1996)

If your favorite part of Fright Night was the mixture of supernatural horror and comedy, The Frighteners should be near the top of your list.

Michael J. Fox plays Frank Bannister, a paranormal investigator who can communicate with ghosts.

Technically, he's also a fraud.

A very entertaining fraud.

But things get considerably more serious when a supernatural killer starts murdering people.

Suddenly Frank's fake ghost-hunting business becomes a very real investigation into something extremely nasty.

Directed by Peter Jackson, The Frighteners has that same wonderful ability to make supernatural horror entertaining without completely destroying the horror.

It's funny.

It's weird.

It's occasionally disturbing.

And it has ghosts.

Lots of ghosts.

Basically, if Fright Night made you think, "I want more horror movies that don't take themselves too seriously," this is an excellent place to go.

6. The Monster Club (1981)

Here's where we're getting into the deep cuts.

The Monster Club is a British horror anthology featuring Vincent Price and John Carradine, among others.

And yes, Vincent Price.

If you loved Peter Vincent in Fright Night, you're probably going to enjoy spending some time with the master of horror himself.

The movie is structured around several supernatural stories involving various creatures and monsters.

It's campy.

It's strange.

It's theatrical.

And it has exactly the kind of old-school horror atmosphere that makes Fright Night feel so lovingly connected to classic monster cinema.

It's basically a monster movie buffet.

And Vincent Price is the waiter.

You probably want whatever he's serving.

7. Waxwork (1988)

Remember how Fright Night loves old-school horror?

Waxwork takes that concept and basically throws every horror idea it can find into a blender.

A group of young people visit a mysterious wax museum and discover that the exhibits aren't quite as harmless as they appear.

Once they step into the displays, they find themselves inside various horror scenarios.

Werewolves?

Yep.

Vampires?

Absolutely.

Serial killers?

Of course.

The Marquis de Sade?

Why not?

Waxwork is one of those glorious late-1980s horror movies where the filmmakers clearly asked:

"How many monsters can we fit into this thing?"

And then nobody said "enough."

If the combination of horror, humor, practical effects and nostalgia in Fright Night worked for you, Waxwork is absolutely worth investigating.

Just don't touch the exhibits.

Seriously.

8. Once Bitten (1985)

Let's take vampires and add...

Jim Carrey.

Yes.

This is absolutely happening.

Once Bitten stars Jim Carrey as a teenage boy who gets involved with an ancient vampire played by Lauren Hutton.

The vampire needs the blood of a virgin to maintain her youth.

Which creates a rather unfortunate situation for our protagonist.

The movie is much more comedy than horror, but if your favorite aspect of Fright Night was the playful side of vampire mythology, there's plenty here to enjoy.

And seeing a very young Jim Carrey before he became one of Hollywood's biggest comedy stars is fascinating.

It's also a reminder that the 1980s had a very specific idea of what teenagers did for fun.

Apparently the answer was:

Get into increasingly complicated vampire-related situations.

9. Vampire's Kiss (1988)

This one is for the people who watched Fright Night and thought:

"I'd like my vampire movie to become progressively more unhinged."

Enter Nicolas Cage.

Cage plays Peter Loew, a literary agent who becomes convinced that he is turning into a vampire after encountering a mysterious woman.

And if you've never seen Nicolas Cage attempt to convince himself that he's a vampire...

Well.

You're missing an experience.

Vampire's Kiss is strange, dark and increasingly surreal.

It isn't a traditional vampire adventure like Fright Night, but it shares that fascination with the idea of someone becoming completely consumed by the vampire myth.

Except instead of Charlie Brewster desperately trying to convince everyone that a vampire lives next door, you've got Nicolas Cage essentially saying:

"I have decided that I am a vampire."

And nobody is quite sure what to do about it.

Honestly, that's probably the most Nicolas Cage sentence ever written.

10. Fright Night Part 2 (1988)

You didn't think we'd make a list of movies for Fright Night fans without mentioning the sequel, did you?

Of course we were going to include it.

Fright Night Part 2 brings back Charlie Brewster and Peter Vincent for another supernatural adventure.

Charlie is still recovering from his previous encounter with vampires.

Unfortunately for him, the vampire problem isn't finished.

Because apparently moving on with your life is not an option when you've already been involved with undead bloodsuckers.

The sequel doesn't quite have the same cultural impact as the original, but it's an extremely entertaining follow-up and absolutely worth seeing if you loved the first movie.

And Peter Vincent remains one of the best things about the franchise.

He's still part horror host, part washed-up celebrity, part reluctant monster hunter.

In other words, he's basically the guy you want around when your neighbor starts behaving suspiciously.

Just don't expect him to be brave about it.

So What Should You Watch First?

If you're looking for the closest overall match to Fright Night, start with:

1. The Lost Boys — The obvious choice.

2. The Monster Squad — For horror-comedy and classic monsters.

3. The Frighteners — For supernatural horror mixed with comedy.

4. The 'Burbs — For suburban paranoia.

5. Waxwork — For glorious 1980s monster madness.

And if you want something considerably darker, go straight to Near Dark.

But perhaps the biggest lesson here is that Fright Night was part of a very special era of horror.

The 1980s understood that horror movies didn't have to choose between being scary and being fun.

They could be both.

They could have practical effects, memorable characters, ridiculous situations, genuine scares and enough personality to make you want to watch them again decades later.

And that's probably why Fright Night still works.

It's not simply a vampire movie.

It's a love letter to horror itself.

So if you loved Fright Night, don't just watch another vampire movie.

Go looking for that same combination of monsters, comedy, atmosphere, practical effects and pure horror-movie fun.

And if we've missed your favorite Fright Night companion movie, tell us in the comments! What movie would you add to this list? And be warned: suggesting Twilight will result in Peter Vincent being dispatched to your house immediately.

Now that's entertainment.