After a controversial preview campaign for its horror-drama series "The Strain," FX enjoyed a strong turnout for the show's premiere.

The vampire- and virus-themed show drew 2.99 million viewers for its debut on FX on Sunday night, a 42% improvement over the network’s most recent other drama debut, “Tyrant,” Deadline.com reports. The drama’s audience also represented a 12% increase over the 2.65 million viewers who turned out for the premiere of the limited series “Fargo” in April, the piece notes.

“The Strain” stars Corey Stoll as a scientist trying to track down a mysterious viral outbreak that turns out to be a strain of vampirism.

The series, based on the novels by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, was heavily promoted ahead of its debut. The rollout was marked by a bit of controversy, as we reported earlier, after billboards appeared featuring a graphic picture of a worm coming out of a human eyeball.

FX received a series of complaints about the artwork and reportedly removed a number of billboards.

Artwork for "The Strain"