For the executive producer of Netflix’s hit animated medieval fantasy

Where there are vampires, there is blood, and Netflix’s Castlevania has both in abundance. The animated medieval fantasy series, based on Konami’s 1986 Japanese video game of the same name, doesn’t hold back when it comes to graphic violence, dark humor, and disturbing storylines. From winged underworld creatures tearing apart human torsos, to eyeballs being whipped out of eye sockets, to humans being burned alive and or used as livestock for vampire diets, it’s writer Warren Ellis’ dark world, and we’re all just living in it. The hit show has been renewed by Netflix for a fourth season, though it may take some time to reach fans; Season 3 premiered almost 18 months after Season 2’s debut.

Another of the key creators behind Castlevania’s guts and gore is the show’s executive producer, Kevin Kolde, whose production company, Project 51, acquired the animation rights to Castlevania back in the early 2000s. Kolde, also a producer on Adventure Time and Bravest Warriors, says the show’s content is “even more mature and brutal” than in the original video game. “In the early episodes, we have scenes where people are just getting torn to pieces by these monsters and there’s even a child on the ground with their guts spilling out. There’s also a scene later on where a monster is carrying a baby in its jaws. In animation shows like Adventure Time, you absolutely cannot do that.”

Castlevania’s violence is unapologetic, as the story follows a young man named Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage), born and raised to slay vampires and underworld creatures, as he joins forces with a magical Speaker named Sypha (Alejandra Reynoso) and a half-breed vampire called Alucard (James Callis) to defeat Dracula, who has released hordes of evil creatures upon earth to avenge his human wife’s murder. Not surprisingly, there are scenes that may shock viewers, especially as large hordes of demons slash human beings like a shredder ripping through paper.