Top 10 Supernatural TV Shows
television, supernatural, tv shows, gravity falls, the vampire diaries, being human, the addams family, buffy the vampire slayer, supernatural, the twilight zone, the x files, american horror story, dark shadows, ash vs evil dead, top 10, watchmojo,
Script written by Trevor Fonvergne
Who wants to see something normal on TV anyway? Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 supernatural TV shows.
For this list, we’re looking at TV shows that focus solely on supernatural themes and occurrences that play a major role in the shows' plot, so we’ll be excluding The Walking Dead, The X Files, and Lost.
#10: “The Addams Family” (1964-66) The first adaptation of Charles Addams’ comic strip, this series focuses on a family with an affinity for the macabre. As the theme song says, their house is a museum, featuring Lurch, the Frankenstein-like butler, a disembodied hand called “Thing,” killer plants, and plenty of references to some bizarre extended family members, including Cousin Itt, who’s...well...we don’t really know. This family of oddballs may be dark, but that only makes them more loveable, and they’ve inspired television reboots, feature films, and even a stage musical.
#9: “Being Human” (2008-13) Don’t you just hate it when your roommate doesn’t do the dishes? How about when it’s a full moon and he becomes a werewolf? No? Well, that’s a recurring issue for the characters in “Being Human.” The show follows a ghost, vampire, and werewolf, who live together and try to, as the title says, “be human.” It succeeds in making paranormal problems very real, like when a ghost deals with isolation, or werewolves and vampires resist their urges to kill, which has obvious parallels to addiction. The show was so popular; it inspired an American remake that ran on SyFy for four seasons.
#8: “The Vampire Diaries” (2009-) It’s easy to write off any work of fiction from the vampire craze started by “Twilight,” but don’t be so quick to judge this one. Also based on a series of young adult novels by L. J. Smith, this series takes a darker look at vampires, following Elena Gilbert, a young woman who gets caught up in a love triangle with two vampire brothers. This in turn reveals her family’s connection to the complicated history of their hometown, appropriately named Mystic Falls. The series is elevated by a careful balance of its complex story and characters with fun supernatural mayhem.
#7: “Gravity Falls” (2012-16) Is that a zombie!? Oh, it’s just a group of gnomes pretending to be a teenage boy. Wait…what? That’s just a normal day in the town of Gravity Falls, where Dipper and Mabel uncover a strange journal that details the paranormal figures that populate the town, including sea monsters, mermaids, deities, shape shifters, and, of course, Judge Kitty Kitty Meow Meow Face-Shwartstein. Running only for two seasons, creator Alex Hirsch wanted the show to tell its story without losing its original spark. While we’re gonna miss the show, we’re glad it managed to pack tons of supernatural fun into just forty episodes.
#6: “Penny Dreadful” (2014-) This British-American horror supernatural series features famous characters from 19th-century literature, like Dorian Gray, Victor Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll. Overtaken by a world of darkness, these beloved figures band together to fight the strongest supernatural forces of Victorian England, including vampires, werewolves and witches. Most notably, the show’s female lead, played by actress Eva Green, has received several award nominations for her role as the elusive, yet powerful medium Vanessa Ives. It’s really all we could ask from a gothic drama– it’s sexy, it’s sinister, and it’s scary good.
#5: “Dark Shadows” (1966-71) No, not that mess of a film Tim Burton made. That was actually based on a soap opera from the mid 20th century, focusing on the wealthy Collins family. The series became popular once it introduced Barnabas Collins, a vampire ancestor, who brings with him various problems for the family, including witches, ghosts, and time travel. The show was famous for its plot twists, and so many characters entered and left the series that some actors even played multiple characters in the same series. Wait...why does that sound so familiar?
#4: “American Horror Story” (2011-) Oh, yeah. Speaking of actors rotating roles, here we have a haunted house, a demented asylum, a school of witchcraft, a sinister freak show, and a hotel filled with secrets as some of the ever-growing list of settings for this anthological horror series. Following new characters each season, characters have faced ghosts, aliens, demons, failed science experiments, the antichrist, Satan, and a Frankenstein-baby. Ugh, it already sounds pretty disturbing. Winner of 13 Emmys, this series has received critical acclaim, particularly for the performances of Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Sarah Paulson. Even superstar Lady Gaga got in on the fun.
#3: “The Twilight Zone” (1959-64) Ever feel like something just isn’t quite right? Well, as Rod Serling famously said, you may have stumbled into The Twilight Zone. This series followed a new story each week, always placing characters in situations involving supernatural entities, almost always closing with an ironic twist ending. The show reached classic status and critical acclaim by using an eerie tone to show a mostly darker side of human nature. You’ll find aliens, gremlins, ghosts, and even a living doll in these parallel dimensions, but more often than not, the scariest beings are the people.
#2: “Supernatural” (2005-) Okay, this one really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Sam and Dean Winchester are brothers who travel the United States battling just about any creature you could think of, primarily borrowing from folklore and various religions. One of the most common villains includes Satan himself, and the series has also featured Norse, Greek, and Egyptian deities. You really have to give these guys credit; they’ve quite literally been to hell and back battling these entities. They’ve been going strong for ten seasons so far, and we’re sure they still have plenty of beings up their proverbial sleeve to last many more.
Before we unveil the only show more supernatural than “Supernatural,” here are a few honourable mentions.
“True Blood” (2008-14)
“Charmed” (1998-2006)
“Ash vs Evil Dead” (2015-)
“Grimm” (2011-)
"Tales from the Crypt" (1989-96)
#1: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003) Don’t let the title fool you. Vampires were the least of this badass teen’s problems; growing up was also a pain. Joss Whedon’s magnum opus follows a young woman and her friends as they face off against endless beings from a Hellhole, including various demons, mythical creatures, ghosts, aliens, witches, psychics, and countless other original creatures created specifically for the series. It even spun off into the well-received “Angel.” What made the show so memorable was the way it could tackle serious issues, like coming out and losing a loved one, while also having an unpredictable gang of baddies.
Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite supernatural TV show? For more mystical top tens published every day visit WatchMojo.com.
Top 10 Supernatural TV Shows
Who wants to see something normal on TV anyway? Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 supernatural TV shows.
For this list, we’re looking at TV shows that focus solely on supernatural themes and occurrences that play a major role in the shows' plot, so we’ll be excluding The Walking Dead, The X Files, and Lost.
#10: “The Addams Family” (1964-66) The first adaptation of Charles Addams’ comic strip, this series focuses on a family with an affinity for the macabre. As the theme song says, their house is a museum, featuring Lurch, the Frankenstein-like butler, a disembodied hand called “Thing,” killer plants, and plenty of references to some bizarre extended family members, including Cousin Itt, who’s...well...we don’t really know. This family of oddballs may be dark, but that only makes them more loveable, and they’ve inspired television reboots, feature films, and even a stage musical.
#9: “Being Human” (2008-13) Don’t you just hate it when your roommate doesn’t do the dishes? How about when it’s a full moon and he becomes a werewolf? No? Well, that’s a recurring issue for the characters in “Being Human.” The show follows a ghost, vampire, and werewolf, who live together and try to, as the title says, “be human.” It succeeds in making paranormal problems very real, like when a ghost deals with isolation, or werewolves and vampires resist their urges to kill, which has obvious parallels to addiction. The show was so popular; it inspired an American remake that ran on SyFy for four seasons.
#8: “The Vampire Diaries” (2009-) It’s easy to write off any work of fiction from the vampire craze started by “Twilight,” but don’t be so quick to judge this one. Also based on a series of young adult novels by L. J. Smith, this series takes a darker look at vampires, following Elena Gilbert, a young woman who gets caught up in a love triangle with two vampire brothers. This in turn reveals her family’s connection to the complicated history of their hometown, appropriately named Mystic Falls. The series is elevated by a careful balance of its complex story and characters with fun supernatural mayhem.
#7: “Gravity Falls” (2012-16) Is that a zombie!? Oh, it’s just a group of gnomes pretending to be a teenage boy. Wait…what? That’s just a normal day in the town of Gravity Falls, where Dipper and Mabel uncover a strange journal that details the paranormal figures that populate the town, including sea monsters, mermaids, deities, shape shifters, and, of course, Judge Kitty Kitty Meow Meow Face-Shwartstein. Running only for two seasons, creator Alex Hirsch wanted the show to tell its story without losing its original spark. While we’re gonna miss the show, we’re glad it managed to pack tons of supernatural fun into just forty episodes.
#6: “Penny Dreadful” (2014-) This British-American horror supernatural series features famous characters from 19th-century literature, like Dorian Gray, Victor Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll. Overtaken by a world of darkness, these beloved figures band together to fight the strongest supernatural forces of Victorian England, including vampires, werewolves and witches. Most notably, the show’s female lead, played by actress Eva Green, has received several award nominations for her role as the elusive, yet powerful medium Vanessa Ives. It’s really all we could ask from a gothic drama– it’s sexy, it’s sinister, and it’s scary good.
#5: “Dark Shadows” (1966-71) No, not that mess of a film Tim Burton made. That was actually based on a soap opera from the mid 20th century, focusing on the wealthy Collins family. The series became popular once it introduced Barnabas Collins, a vampire ancestor, who brings with him various problems for the family, including witches, ghosts, and time travel. The show was famous for its plot twists, and so many characters entered and left the series that some actors even played multiple characters in the same series. Wait...why does that sound so familiar?
#4: “American Horror Story” (2011-) Oh, yeah. Speaking of actors rotating roles, here we have a haunted house, a demented asylum, a school of witchcraft, a sinister freak show, and a hotel filled with secrets as some of the ever-growing list of settings for this anthological horror series. Following new characters each season, characters have faced ghosts, aliens, demons, failed science experiments, the antichrist, Satan, and a Frankenstein-baby. Ugh, it already sounds pretty disturbing. Winner of 13 Emmys, this series has received critical acclaim, particularly for the performances of Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Sarah Paulson. Even superstar Lady Gaga got in on the fun.
#3: “The Twilight Zone” (1959-64) Ever feel like something just isn’t quite right? Well, as Rod Serling famously said, you may have stumbled into The Twilight Zone. This series followed a new story each week, always placing characters in situations involving supernatural entities, almost always closing with an ironic twist ending. The show reached classic status and critical acclaim by using an eerie tone to show a mostly darker side of human nature. You’ll find aliens, gremlins, ghosts, and even a living doll in these parallel dimensions, but more often than not, the scariest beings are the people.
#2: “Supernatural” (2005-) Okay, this one really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Sam and Dean Winchester are brothers who travel the United States battling just about any creature you could think of, primarily borrowing from folklore and various religions. One of the most common villains includes Satan himself, and the series has also featured Norse, Greek, and Egyptian deities. You really have to give these guys credit; they’ve quite literally been to hell and back battling these entities. They’ve been going strong for ten seasons so far, and we’re sure they still have plenty of beings up their proverbial sleeve to last many more.
Before we unveil the only show more supernatural than “Supernatural,” here are a few honourable mentions.
“True Blood” (2008-14)
“Charmed” (1998-2006)
“Ash vs Evil Dead” (2015-)
“Grimm” (2011-)
"Tales from the Crypt" (1989-96)
#1: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003) Don’t let the title fool you. Vampires were the least of this badass teen’s problems; growing up was also a pain. Joss Whedon’s magnum opus follows a young woman and her friends as they face off against endless beings from a Hellhole, including various demons, mythical creatures, ghosts, aliens, witches, psychics, and countless other original creatures created specifically for the series. It even spun off into the well-received “Angel.” What made the show so memorable was the way it could tackle serious issues, like coming out and losing a loved one, while also having an unpredictable gang of baddies.
Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite supernatural TV show? For more mystical top tens published every day visit WatchMojo.com.
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