65-Episode Fantasy Series Is Like Supernatural & Buffy The Vampire Slayer In One

1 day ago 10

Published Sep 14, 2026, 2:02 PM EDT

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.

Although Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer share a lot of creative DNA, only one show effectively blended their appeal into a single series with one added bonus. For better or worse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was such an influential series that it has almost become useless as a point of comparison. In much the same way, one could reasonably state that Mark Frost and David Lynch’s mystery thriller masterpiece Twin Peaks inspired everything from Gravity Falls to Stranger Things, to Desperate Housewives, True Detective, and Riverdale.

This is, of course, a valid and reasonable statement, as all the shows listed above acknowledged their creative debt to Twin Peaks. However, that list represents such a broad spectrum of shows that it becomes tough to guess what sort of series Twin Peaks is from a look at that rundown. Similarly, one could say that AMC’s R-rated, explicit Interview with the Vampire is a true spiritual successor to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it would be just as fair to say that Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters is a perfect replacement for the ‘90s classic.

Within this confusion, one can at least say for certain that the CW’s Supernatural has the fingerprints of Buffy the Vampire Slayer all over it. Supernatural turned Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Scooby Gang into a pair of brothers and its high school/collegiate setting into a never-ending cross-country road trip, but the basic premise of unlikely heroes tackling supernatural monsters of the week while angst-ing about their inherited roles as demon hunters was common to both shows. This is where Netflix’s five-season hit Van Helsing proves a perfect marriage of both.

Van Helsing Mixed Buffy’s Vampire Drama With Supernatural’s Apocalyptic Stakes

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Van Helsing follows Kelly Overton’s Vanessa Helsing, a female descendant of Dracula’s iconic enemy Van Helsing, who becomes humanity’s last hope when she awakens from a coma in a world dominated by vampires. The eruption of a sprawling volcanic field clouded the sun for long enough to allow vampires to overrun the earth, and Vanessa’s unique ability to turn vampires back into humans represents the only remaining lifeline for the human race.

Like Netflix’s Warrior Nun, Van Helsing was a surprisingly grim and brutal series that is far less tongue-in-cheek and playful than the earlier 2004 steampunk action horror of the same name from The Mummy director Stephen Sommers. Like Supernatural, the show’s storyline is apocalyptic in scope, borrowing from movies like Daybreakers and games like Castlevania in its immersive scale.

However, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Van Helsing never loses sight of the humanity at the core of its intense story. The series is unexpectedly poignant and pulls few punches when it comes to killing off even the most beloved characters, something that will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the works of its creator. Divisive director and playwright Neil LaBute is best known for dramas like In the Company of Men and The Shape of Things, both of which are somewhat infamous for their bleak, brutal plots.

Van Helsing Had Something That Supernatural and Buffy The Vampire Slayer Were Missing

While Van Helsing might seem like a surprising career pivot for the playwright, LaBute’s status as the director of the infamous 2006 The Wicker Man remake only makes this more shocking. Fortunately, unlike that infamous dud, Van Helsing has as strong a grip on the show’s horror elements as it does on the human drama between its heroes, and the Netflix hit gets nastier than both Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer on a regular basis.

With frequent moments of gruesome gore, Van Helsing is punchier and more brutal than both earlier shows, and this lends its apocalyptic story more tangible stakes than Supernatural’s comparatively playful tone. While both Supernatural and Buffy The Vampire Slayer did technically see their characters save the world, Van Helsing is dark enough for its threatened apocalypse to feel far more brutal.