The Post-Supernatural Fan Survival Guide!
Now that Supernatural is in its longest hiatus ever, and the cast has moved on to new projects (for now), what can Supernatural fans do to fill that burning desire for more Sam and Dean, more Castiel and Jack – more hunting adventures with whomever branded Supernatural into your hearts for all time? That question was the subject of a Supernatural fandom panel moderated by Gail Z. Martin for ConTinual, a virtual convention page on Facebook. I joined Gail on that panel, along with Supernatural authors and fans, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Dr. Lynn Zubernis, Dahlia Rose and Lola Strickland. For 45 minutes, we tossed around suggestions of what the SPNFamily might do to fill the need for more Supernatural now that the show is off the air! Inspired by our discussion, I decided to start a Supernatural Survival Guide for the Supernatural family!
What can a fan do to survive without Team Free Will’s adventures? How many of these ways to find new Supernatural content did you know about? Can you add more to the list?
✔ The Winchester Family Business (WFB): I’m guessing you know my #1 suggestion for finding Supernatural content: The Winchester Family Business website, of course! For the benefit of fans who may not know about The WFB, our amazing staff of writers are still creating new Supernatural reviews, games and discussions every week! “Supernatural Weekly World News (SWWN)” kicks off each week with updates on the show’s entire creative team – cast, writers, directors and crew – so it’s fans’ one-stop weekly touchstone to follow their favorite Supernatural peeps. From their latest movie and TV roles, to podcasts, interviews, and charity and convention (virtual and in person) appearances, SWWN makes sure you’re always in-the-know!
✔ New Shows by the Supernatural Cast: Now that Jared’s new show Walker has begun, The WFB has extended its #SPNFamily coverage to share previews, pictures, reviews and news on our new favorite Texas Ranger. We’ll do the same for The Boys once Jensen debuts as Soldier Boy in season 3 and whatever Misha movies might be looming! We’re with these guys wherever they go! Search for your faves using the menu at the bottom of every WFB page.
Beyond fanning over the cast’s new adventures, where is a fan to go to find new Supernatural stories?
✔ Tie-In Novels: Upon prompting from Gail, Keith acquiesced and promoted his and other Supernatural tie-in novels (he wrote 3 of them!). The WFB writers have long been fans of the tie-in novels. For recommendations on where to start, Nate’s “Cure for Hellatus” and Nightsky’s “Notes in the Margins” series of articles review and compare most (all?) of the 17 off-screen Winchester hunts that are chronicled in the tie-in novels.
✔ Supernatural Graphic Novels: Dive into Supernatural prequel stories with four graphic novel series of comic books. These colorful depictions of John, Dean and Sam’s adventures are available online or at comic conventions. Nate’s video reviews walk you through the pages of the books, plus gives helpful background explanations of how they compare and contrast with the canon presented in the television series.
✔ Supernatural Books: Lynn wisely advised that fans think of their options in two different directions: 1) things that fans can do to move on from Supernatural and 2) things fans can do to hold onto Supernatural. She described how her two latest books, There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done and Family Don’t End With Blood, both jointly written by the Supernatural cast and fans, fill the void for new insights into the show and people we love. Choose these or other Supernatural books from the long list of titles linked in WFB’s Supernatural Merchandise Marketplace or pick what might appeal to you based on our author interviews and book reviews.
✔ Supernatural Interviews: Both The WFB and Fangasm are still conducting new interviews with Supernatural cast members. Choose from both websites’ rich history of interviews or follow them on social media to learn of new chats!
✔ Supernatural Anime: Gail is watching the Supernatural anime series to find new Supernatural content. The Supernatural cartoons have totally new stories as well as stories that share common elements with the television series, but even those vary in surprising ways from the episodes we all have memorized. Jared voices Sam, with Jensen joining in as Dean near the end. Watch WFB’s recaps and reviews of the anime series’ episodes for a companion activity to watching the anime on The CW Seed.
✔ Rewatches: Rewatching convention panels is also a great past time. WFB’s Screencapping Goddess (@SPNDeanGirl on Twitter) hosts a panel rewatch party every Saturday. WFB retweets the link and time so you’re always welcome to join in! Sometimes there’s just no substitute for being there in person, though, so WFB’s convention reports replay epic performances and offer first hand accounts of festivities. Don’t miss Nightsky’s video and narration of Supernatural‘s last Hall-H appearance or Kansas’ Comic-Con performance of “Carry On Wayward Son!”
Of course, there’s 327 episodes to rewatch, as well! Follow along with Alice’s new reviews of episodes she missed the first time around (she’s on season 2 in her rewatch at the time of publication), or @FangasmSPN’s rewatch/review activities! All of WFB’s episode related articles (recaps, reviews, visual analysis, games, etc.) can be found in our Episode Guide.
✔ Concerts and Conventions (Virtual and In-Person): Lola has been enjoying new (virtual for now) convention and on-line Stage-it performances. They are a fun, low cost (often “pay what you can”) way to continue to support the cast as they find themselves out of work due to the pandemic. Performances are announced by the actors and musicians on their social media channels, plus SWWN reports the information so you don’t miss anything! If you’ve been following WFB’s panel appearances, by now you’ve realized that Gail hosts a Supernatural track in the ConTinual Facebook group where you can also watch periodic discussions about Supernatural.
✔ Fan Fiction: Fan fiction archives are always a superb way to get lost in the Supernatural universe! AO3 and Fan Fiction.net are two vast depositories of Supernatural original writings. The WFB also has a library of fan fiction stories not published elsewhere if you’re looking for something new!
✔ Podcasts: Original podcasts by and with the Supernatural creative team have exploded in number in the past year. We didn’t specifically address this topic because it deserves a panel of its own (yet to come), but you can get links and listen to Supernatural related podcasts in SWWN.
✔ SPNFamily Music: Our panel also didn’t discuss music, but several of the Supernatural cast members record music either as soloists or as the leads in bands! Listening to them sing chases away the Supernatural blues! SWWN announces new releases, and WFB’s Supernatural Merchandise Marketplace links you to CDs.
✔ Activities & Gifts: Ideas that take more time and/or money in joining a GISH team or buying an actor Cameo message! WFB’s Supernatural Merchandise Marketplace also has gathered Supernatural music, games, custom collectibles, gifts, DVDs – just about everything we could find having to do with Supernatural!
✔ Similar Shows: Dahlia mentioned other television/streaming shows and books that she’s following. Even though they aren’t specifically Supernatural, they’re roughly in the same neighborhood of paranormal mysteries or family dramas.
✔ Urban Fantasy Books: Keith suggested fans look into the urban fantasy genre in books, which is partially his, Gail’s and other panelists’ niche. They mentioned some titles and compared Supernatural to what you’ll typically find in urban fantasy stories.
Enjoy watching our panel, Mapping the Road Ahead, on Facebook for more ideas!
Your turn! What did we miss? How are you surviving without Supernatural? Please share in the comments below!
- I’m the Co-Editor-in-Chief, Social Media Manager (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), Live Tweet Moderator, reviewer and feature writer for The Winchester Family Business. Before joining the Supernatural Family, I worked for 22 years at a global consulting firm, but after years of long hours, high pressure and rigorous demands, I quit corporate life to raise my children. After my first Supernatural convention, I was driven to share my shock and awe in a two-part essay that The WFB was brave enough to post, and my second life calling, that of being a writer, began. My first published book, Fan Phenomena: The Twilight Saga was released in late 2016. Please share in my cross-fandom excitement by following its Facebook page @FanPhenomenaTwilight and my personal Twitter account @LSAngel2. You can read about this whole miraculous transition in my chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood, published in May 2017.
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