With last Saturday being Halloween I thought I would use this weeks posts to discuss Horror-Themed TV shows. One of the shows in this genre that first came to mind is Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. These shows which make up what fans call the Buffyverse contains all the blood, haunted houses and the grotesque monsters that you would expect to see on a show about Vampires. However these elements of Horror are not the catalysts for the events that occur in this universe, instead the honor goes to the story of a High School Girl growing up and dealing with sacrificing the Vampire she loves in order to take her place as the Vampire Slayer empowered to save the world. Buffy at its heart is a story about growing up because the battle between Buffy and the creatures that go bump in the night featured in every episode acts as a metaphor for everyday issues that teenagers face including under aged drinking, being popular and puberty.
One of my favorite episodes entitled "Innocence" deals with the dangers of having sex in a way that would blow your High School Health Teacher out of the water. Joss Whedon the writer of the episode deals with this issue beautifully by Buffy having sex with Angel which causes him to lose his soul, thus changing the heroic Vampire into a creature of evil named Angelus. Through having Buffy make the decision to sleep with Angel, Whedon shares with his audience the consequences a teenaged girl may have to face after having sex pushed to the extreme with a battle between good, Buffy and evil, Angelus filled with teenaged angst that ends with a classic romantic tragedy. At the same time the shows theme of social issues wrapped around supernatural forces doesn't just stop with Buffy, it addresses her friends that are based on a variety of High School Stereotypes as well. For example, Season Six of the show Buffy's friend Willow, an overachieving student cracks underneath the pressures of College causing her to become addicted to performing black magic like it is a drug.
The spin-off of Buffy, Angel which deals with the title character leaving Buffy for Los Angeles due to his guilt over the actions he preformed as Angelus, takes this a step farther by dealing with supernatural forces that act as metaphors for adult issues such as rape, gang violence and suicide. On a personal level, this idea of wrapping a battle against supernatural evil around real life issues is why I enjoy stories that exist in the Buffyverse because if the characters on Buffy and Angel can deal with social issues pushed to the extremes of fantasy, then my problems in the real world are a piece of cake. I guess that's the interesting part of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel for me because I don't see the shows as something made to scare me, instead I see them as a gift in which Joss Whedon and his team of writers share advice with their audience on how to deal with the trials and tribulations of life.

For more on Buffy's influence on our culture look at this video clip.

Check out Buffy The Vampire Slayer Seasons 1-7 on DVD or watch it online.

Check out Angel Seasons 1-5 on DVD