The supernatural TV shows to put on your watchlist

The supernatural TV shows to put on your watchlist

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Tuesday, 18th January 2022
Credit (L-R): Amazon Studios, Netflix, Apple TV, Steve Dietl/Netflix

From witches and demons, to things that go bump in the night, the supernatural is the unexplained that doesn't follow the laws of nature.

Here are our top supernatural TV picks to get you questioning your own reality. 

Fear Street 

Netflix 

Based on the books by R.L. Stine, the TV adaptation is split into a trilogy and tells the story of a group of teenagers desperate to break a curse that has plagued their town for hundreds of years.

Part one of the series is set in 1994, part two set in 1978 and part three set in 1666, it focuses on the town of Shadyside and the evil force many people blame on the ghost of the witch Sarah Fier. 

Over the years Shadyside has been terrorised by a host of serial killers, which has seen ordinary residents turn into crazed murderers.

In 1994 a group of ordinary teens decide to take on the evil force and need to look back to 1978 and 1666 to fight for their lives and Shadyside’s future. 

Charmed

All 4

The Halliwell sisters are a trio also known as the Charmed Ones and are the most powerful good witches of all time.

Their combined power is known as The Power of Three and they use it to protect innocents from evil entities such as warlocks and demons. 

The eldest sister Prue (Shannen Doherty) has the power of telekinesis and astral projection, middle child Piper (Holly Marie Combs) can freeze and explode people and objects and youngest child Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) has the power of premonition and levitation. 

The sisters must keep their magical abilities a secret and balance their everyday lives in San Francisco with their duty to protect the world from evil. 

Supernatural 

Amazon Prime

The Winchester brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are hunters that fight evil supernatural beings that roam the Earth, from demons, to ghosts to monsters.

The duo travel around the US in their ’67 Impala, having been trained by their father after their mother was killed by a demonic force. 

Many of the supernatural forces they encounter are based on American urban legends and folklore and they even come face to face with Lucifer and God themselves.

As they travel, Sam begins to develop psychic abilities and visions, and they meet good supernatural creatures who help them protect the world from falling into the hands of evil. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Apple TV / Disney+

Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is the latest in a long line of young women known as slayers who have been chosen by fate to fight against vampires, demons and other dark forces. 

Discovering her destiny as a slayer at only 16 years old, Summers struggles to accept that she will never lead a normal life.

With increased physical strength, endurance, agility and healing, Summers is helped by her watcher Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), who trains and guides her. 

Plus, her loyal friends known as the Scooby Gang made up of former wallflower turned powerful witch Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and comedic relief Xander (Nicholas Brendon).

Stranger Things 

Netflix 

Stranger Things follows the supernatural events in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s.

When a young boy called Will (Noah Schnapp) disappears, his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder), the police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and his friends are confronted with a horrifying supernatural evil when they attempt to get him back. 

Will is abducted by a creature from an alternative dimension known as the Upside Down.

The Upside Down was created when the Hawkins National laboratory inadvertently opened it, due its secret and unethical experiments into the paranormal and supernatural. 

A young girl called Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), with psychokinetic abilities escapes from the laboratory where she has been experimented on and joins Will’s friends Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) in an attempt to find him. 

Merlin

BBC iPlayer

A reimagining of the iconic Arthurian legend, Merlin (Colin Morgan) is a young warlock tasked with the crucial job of protecting Prince Arthur (Bradley James) and ensuring he becomes King of Camelot. 

In order to stay close to Arthur, Merlin becomes his manservant but must keep his magic a secret as anyone caught practising it is sent for execution.

Court physician Gaius (Richard Wilson) helps guide Merlin through his adventures as he continuously puts his life on the line to protect Arthur. 

Merlin also relies on The Great Dragon (John Hurt), who tells Merlin it is his destiny to defend Arthur, who will one day return magic to Camelot and unite the land of Albion.

Vampire Diaries

Netflix 

Based on the books by L.J. Smith, Vampire Diaries introduces viewers to a world of vampires, werewolves, witches and ghosts. 

Set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, an area steeped in supernatural history, the series follows teenager Elena (Nina Dobrev), who has lost both her parents in a car accident.

While dealing with her grief, she meets and falls in love with 162-year-old vampire Stefan (Paul Wesley). 

However, their relationship is tested when Stefan’s conniving older brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder) arrives and stirs up trouble, and a complicated love triangle ensues. 

Lucifer 

Netflix

Based on the DC Comics character, the fantasy series tells the story of Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Elis), also known as the Devil, who decides to abandon Hell for the more exciting sights of Los Angeles. 

Living the high life in LA, Morningstar runs his own nightclub called Lux and becomes a consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department.

He finds himself working alongside Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), using his powers to manipulate humans into revealing their deepest desires.

They begin to develop a close relationship while encountering all manners of supernatural beings as they solve crimes. 

Once Upon A Time

Disney +

The fantasy drama takes place between two worlds, a fantastical world where fairy tales come true and a fictional seaside town in Maine called Storybrooke. 

In Storybrooke, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) lives with her 10-year-old son Henry (Jared S. Gilmore), who discovers that the other people in the town are fairy-tale characters. 

The backstory of how the fairy-tale characters were transported into the real world and robbed of their memories is slowly revealed.

Only Swan can break the powerful dark curse which was used by Regina the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) after she obtained it from Rumpelstiltskin.

American Horror Story

Disney+

The anthology horror series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, follows a new set of characters and storylines each series. 

Many actors appear in multiple series playing different characters, most notably, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates. 

The first series, Murder House, takes place in LA and follows a family who move into a house haunted by its deceased previous residents. 

Other notable series include Coven, which is set in New Orleans and focuses on a coven of witches who have to fight against those who want to destroy them, and 1984, which sees a group of young staffers get ready to reopen a summer camp which was the site of a massacre 14 years prior. 

Good Omens 

Amazon Prime 

The fantasy series created and written by Neil Gaiman is based on his and Terry Pratchett’s novel of the same name. 

David Tennant plays demon Crowley and Michael Sheen plays angel Aziraphale, long time acquaintances and rivals who are comfortable with their lives on Earth as representatives of heaven and hell.

Aziraphale has lived on Earth since the dawn of creation and enjoys the finer things in life, such as haute cuisine and owning an antiquarian bookshop in London.

Crowley has also been on Earth since the dawn of creation and was the serpent that tempted Eve with the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

They decide to team up when the coming of the Antichrist and inevitable Armageddon threatens to disrupt their lives and initiate the final battle between heaven and hell. 

The Haunting of Hill House 

Netflix 

Loosely based on the novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson, the supernatural horror series takes place between two timelines. 

Focusing on the present and flashing back to 1992, the series follows five adult siblings whose paranormal experiences at their childhood home, Hill House, have haunted them ever since. 

Steve (Michiel Huisman) is the eldest son and has become a famous author writing about the family’s experiences at Hill House.

Shirley (Elizabeth Reaser) is the eldest daughter and now owns a mortuary with her husband.

Theo (Kate Siegel) is the middle child and a child psychologist who wears gloves to stop her feeling the emotions connected to people and objects when she touches them. 

Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Nell (Victoria Pedretti) are twins and have struggled the most with their past trauma, with Luke struggling with addiction as a result. 

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From witches and demons, to things that go bump in the night, the supernatural is the unexplained that doesn't follow the laws of nature.