Shows like Supernatural have become one of the most popular subgenres on television in the last few decades. The show took the ideas from The X-Files, with its Monster of the Week mixing with a larger mythology, and combined it with the urban fantasy subgenre of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What resulted was a show that entertained fans for 15 seasons, one of the most successful genre television shows in network television history. The entire premise was simple, with Sam and Dean Winchester battling demons, monsters, and angels, to protect humanity at all costs.
When Supernatural ended its run, sending Sam and Dean Winchester into the sunset, it took away one of the most popular supernatural primetime shows from fans. With the series featuring angels, demons, and hunters coming to an end, fans might need a new series to dig into. Whether finding something brand new to television or going back in time to a classic, there is plenty of great supernatural television to watch for anyone who misses Supernatural. This also includes plenty of options that are very similar, with angels, demons, gods, and plenty of monsters of the week to satisfy anyone who misses Sam and Dean’s hunting trips.
20 Evil (2019- )
- Streaming now on Paramount+
Premiering in 2019 on CBS, Evil is great for fans of shows like Supernatural because it takes the same general idea, but adds a nice little twist to it. Instead of two demon-hunting brothers, it has a priest, a forensic psychologist, and a tech guy setting out to find out if reported demon possessions are real or not. If they are real, it is up to this team to deal with the problem and eliminate the demons. However, the fun part here is watching the team interact and figure out what is real and what is not. The show moved to Paramount+ for its second season and continues to scare and thrill fans, with Evil season 4 now on the way.
19 Preacher (2016-2019)
- Streaming now on Prime Video & Hulu
For fans who miss the Biblical horror aspects of shows like Supernatural, Preacher might be the perfect replacement series. The best news is that the show has already concluded, so fans can sit down and watch the complete story from start to finish. The AMC series is about a preacher who ends up with a force from Heaven called Genesis taking residence in his body that gives him immense powers. This paints a target on him, with everyone from supernatural killers, religious fanatics, and angels from Heaven all wanting him for their own reasons, playing into the same angles as Supernatural‘s mythology.
18 Salem (2014-2017)
Salem was a supernatural horror series that ran from 2014 through 2017 on WGN America. It was a period drama that was based around the Salem Witch Trials and took into consideration that it wasn’t just mass hysteria, but that there were real witches on hand during this time. Fans of Supernatural got their fair share of witches throughout its run. It also had plenty of magic, although mostly from angels and demons. The idea in Salem is that one of the witches wanted to summon the Devil himself, which caused a lot of problems fans of shows like Supernatural might recognize.
17 Reaper (2007-2009)
There was a lot to love about every season of Supernatural, but one of the things that fans liked best was the brotherly relationship between Sam and Dean Winchester. This allowed the supernatural series to add in a lot of humor to the horrific elements. For fans who loved the humor found in shows like Supernatural and want a replacement, the supernatural comedy Reaper might give them what they are looking for. Instead of Lucifer tormenting Sam and Dean, this series has the Devil trying to get to know his son a little better while priming him to take over the job.
16 American Gods (2017-2021)
While shot in a much more elaborate and colorful manner than shows like Supernatural, the Starz series American Gods shares a lot in common with it. Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, this series focuses on a man named Shadow Moon who is taken in by Odin to do his bidding. This leads to Shadow meeting all sorts of supernatural beings, from elder gods to Leprechauns, all with the idea that a war is coming with the new gods of the world, very familiar grounds for fans of shows like Supernatural. The first season of American Gods is still the best, but there were three seasons of the godly series for fans who want more supernatural action.
15 Angel (1999-2004)
Between Angel and Buffy, the former leans toward the feel of shows like Supernatural. Angel is both dark and funny, it changes themes and locations, and it wasn’t afraid of stretching its limits. Granted, Angel is frustrating when it comes to formats. Those who only watched the first and last seasons would probably be confused. Still, the core of the show involves either a mystery of the week or, as the seasons progressed, multi-episode arcs where the gang dealt with supernatural beings of every shape and size.
14 Friday The 13th: The Series (1987-1990)
While it has no connection to the movie series of the same name, this show certainly had its moments of horror. However, they were mixed with fantasy and humor to make the syndicated program easier to digest for viewers. Friday the 13th: The Series focuses on a pair of antique shop owners. Along with their friend Jack, they work to recover cursed antiques, so they can be returned to a shielded vault. It was popular enough to garner several Emmy nominations. This plays more like the Monster of the Week episodes of Supernatural and brings in lots of variety as well.
13 Warehouse 13 (2009-2014)
- Available to stream on Peacock+
SyFy’s Warehouse 13 took the concept of Friday the 13th: The Series one step further. Instead of a vault, the recovered pieces are stored in an enormous warehouse that keeps growing as its inventory increases. On top of that, most of the artifacts were once used by historic figures. The show is a mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It’s also quite funny. Like characters on shows like Supernatural, each of the Warehouse’s agents has unique characteristics and abilities. While Supernatural allows Sam and Dean to access powers at times, this show had its agents have some interesting powers of their own from the start.
12 Dark Shadows (1966-1971)
- Available to stream on Peacock & Prime Video
Airing from 1966 to 1971 on ABC, Dark Shadows was a supernatural soap opera telling the story of the wealthy Collins family from the town of Collinsport, Maine. Among those living in the town are the vampire Barnabas Collins, as well as various ghosts, monsters, and werewolves. The town even had a doorway to a parallel universe. In a way, it was the precursor to Buffy’s hometown of Sunnydale. For fans of shows like Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this is a great show to seek out, as it laid the groundwork decades before either of those shows ever existed.
11 Stranger Things (2016- )
- Available to stream on Netflix
Anyone who wants to find shows like Supernatural has to check out Netflix’s Stranger Things. Set in the 1980s, Stranger Things revolves around the quirky goings-on in Hawkins, Indiana. A core group of teenagers investigates the disappearance of one of their friends. What they don’t know is a nearby “scientific” laboratory has opened a portal to another dimension, called the Upside Down. As a result, paranormal and supernatural beings are starting to appear in Hawkins, taking over the personalities of some of its citizens in the process. Unlike Supernatural, it is teenagers who have to stand up to the evil here.
10 Lucifer (2016-2021)
- Available to stream on Netflix
Lucifer is a great option for people who love shows like Supernatural. Although the comic book series was dropped by Fox due to low ratings, it moved to Netflix and picked up a few more seasons before finally ending its run. The show, which is based on the DC comic book series The Sandman, follows Lucifer Morningstar (the Devil) as he abandons Hell, runs his own LA nightclub, and becomes a consultant to the LAPD. The show picked up a solid cult following, following in the footsteps of shows like Supernatural, as it has its “Monster of the Week” episodes as well as the mythology of Lucifer and his realm of Hell in the background.
9 Once Upon A Time (2011-2018)
- Available to stream on Disney+
It’s hard to think of anything more supernatural than Once Upon A Time, a show based on Disney characters, folklore, and fairy tales. Like shows like Supernatural, the OUAT fandom remains pretty strong, although things started to slow down by the end when the cast featured a massive turnover and storylines changed from what played out early on. With a deluge of whimsical characters, wild storylines, and unexpected plot twists, the show plays similar to Supernatural, but instead of changing everything the audience knew about angels and demons, this one re-imagined fairy tale mythology.
8 The X-Files (1993-2018)
- Available to stream on Hulu
For fans of shows like Supernatural, The X-Files was the show that really grandfathered in this genre of fantasy television. While based more along the lines of science fiction, it had the exact same setup as Sam and Dean’s adventures. Here, it was two FBI agents who investigated the supernatural, although the mythology here wasn’t around Heaven and Hell, but around aliens and monsters. This show was the most successful of its kind before Supernatural supplanted it, with nine seasons, two movies, and two reunion seasons that hit in 2016 and 2018.
7 American Horror Story (2011- )
- Available to stream on Netflix
Unlike some shows like Supernatural, American Horror Story is an anthology series where each season is self-contained and stands alone, following a different set of characters and storylines. For example, the first season takes place in Los Angeles and focuses on a family living in a haunted house, but the eighth season, subtitled Apocalypse, focuses on witches as they battle the Antichrist. However, the shows do cross over and connect in often subversive ways. No supernatural stone is left unturned in this show, and fans of shows like Supernatural who love the horror aspects will find a lot to love here.
6 The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017)
- Available to stream on Netflix
The Vampire Diaries is based on a popular book series of the same name written by L.J. Smith. The show premiered in 2009 during the height of the Twilight craze and ended up very successful, lasting for eight seasons. At first glance, the show might not seem similar to shows like Supernatural, but outside the love triangle and teen romance subplots, there is a lot here for fans of the show to fall in love with. The Vampire Diaries includes plenty of supernatural beings, including werewolves, witches, hybrids, ghosts, and all sorts of beasts and monsters that fans of Supernatural love so much.
5 Grimm (2011-2017)
- Available to stream on Prime Video
Grimm was inspired by the darker side of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, but it’s actually a cop drama about a homicide detective who discovers he is a Grimm. A “Grimm” is the latest in a line of guardians who are sworn to keep the balance between humanity and mythological creatures, known as Wesen. While the show was often overlooked thanks to another fairy tale series, Once Upon a Time, this remains the superior of the two, especially for fans of shows like Supernatural. The Grimm detective and his partner constantly battle against dangerous, mythological creatures out to destroy the world and everyone in it.
4 The Originals (2013-2018)
- Available to stream on Netflix
The Originals is a spin-off series of The Vampire Diaries that follows the Mikaelson siblings as they make a life for themselves in New Orleans; a city that they originally built. Much like how Angel took characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and created something different, and often better, The Originals did the same here, changing everything fans knew about the mythology of TVD. For fans of shows like Supernatural, there is also a lot to love here, as there is a lot more at stake than just the love of a girl, and the monsters and demons are in full force in this series.
3 The 100 (2014-2020)
- Available to stream on Netflix
After the Earth is destroyed by a devastating nuclear apocalypse, human survivors take refuge on a spaceship called “The Ark” for 97 years. Three generations end up born aboard the craft in space, and the Ark risks the chance of overpopulation. As a result, 100 juvenile delinquents are sent to the surface in a last attempt to determine whether Earth is habitable or not. For shows like Supernatural, this is not the same kind of struggle, as there are no angels and demons, but the seven seasons of The 100 offer the fantasy and danger to the future that young people have to overcome to survive and turn the world into a better place.
2 Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
- Available to stream on Hulu
Like The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer hit in the 1990s and set the table for shows like Supernatural. Like The X-Files, Buffy had the Monster of the Week formula with the growing mythology in the background. However, in this case, it was a lot more similar to what came later with Supernatural. Buffy the Vampire Slayer followed The Chosen One, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), as she battled against vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness. Just like in Supernatural, outside of fighting all sorts of vampires and demons, there is a dark force planning to take over the world that Buffy and her friends have to stop.
1 Crazyhead (2016)
- Available to stream on Netflix
Crazyhead is like a cross between Supernatural and Hot Fuzz. The show chronicles the lives of Amy, a bowling alley worker, and Raquel, a pilates-loving youngster, as they discover their mutual demon-hunting destiny while still in their early 20s. Like Supernatural, the heroes are both young and born into their roles, but unlike Supernatural, the comedy and sheer absurdity in this series offer a lot more laughter than what fans of the Winchester brothers might be used to. However, despite the laughs, the show was still critically acclaimed, one of the top critically-acclaimed shows streaming on Netflix, with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
