Ranking Robots is the newest tri-weekly series that will be making its appearance on the site every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as I make my way through Netflix’s Love, Death + Robots. For those that are unaware of the Netflix Original, the show is a series of short stories that have to do with, you guessed it, Love, Death, and Robots. If anyone reading this ever saw the incredible collection of short films called the Animatrix (if you haven’t go check that out now) then you won’t have any trouble jumping into this new series.

With an art style that manages to look both unfinished and beautiful, Sucker of Souls tells the story of a group of mercenaries and scientists exploring an ancient cave that just so happens to have the long thought to be dead monster Vlad The Impaler, better known to most as Dracula. Besides the episode’s great art style, the episode manages to continue to impress with its near-perfect blend of horror and comedy and it’s because of this great blend that I found myself in a mere 13 minutes both cheering for the story’s heroes as well as being frightened of the grotesque monster that lurked in the dark waiting for the perfect time to dine on them.

Getting past the fun art style and enjoyable characters, much like Sonnie’s Edge, Sucker of Souls manages to do the near-impossible by not only introducing an audience to multiple characters in a quick manner but also doing it’s best to world build all while only having 13 minutes to do it in. Unlike some previous stories that may have been enjoyable but left me with questions that needed answers, Sucker of Souls tells a story that, while I would like to see a continuation to, still manages to stand on his own with what it presents, and I think that is the true mark to any great short story.