20 Years Later, Supernatural is Still Changing Lives
20 years of Supernatural! Back when the show premiered on September 13, 2025, I’m sure no one imagined what this little cult show would become over the years. Supernatural, after a mind blowing 15 year run, has been off the air for almost six years but even today I see the mark this little show has left on the world. How so? Let me share a story.
It’s a Con Story
Back in June 2024 a very exciting event happened for me. Creation Entertainment, the company that puts on all the Supernatural conventions, finally decided to hold a convention in my hometown, Columbus, Ohio. Ever since these cons first started in 2007, I’ve traveled all over the country to attend them, and did so for a multiple years. They were fun, uplifting, and over time became bigger and expensive as hell. Once family priorities and career mobility got in the way, conventions became a thing of the past for me. Sure, an occasional opportunity to go to one happened, like one being held within walking distance of the hotel I was staying at while vacationing in Phoenix, but those happenings were always few are far between. So, when Columbus was announced, I was floored. Finally, I didn’t have to travel 8 hours or more to a convention. It took 20 minutes.
I wasn’t sure how much I’d get into it. After all, these cons had gotten very repetitive. Over the years the panels often entertain the same questions, and I’ve heard a lot of these stories multiple times. But it was so close! Once I found out my friend Lynn Zubernis from Fangasm was going to be there, the choice was made. I hadn’t seen her since, well, that trip to Phoenix! I took the opportunity to play official ambassador to my city. I picked her up at the airport, drove her around places, took her to a nice local establishment downtown for dinner, and I even got to take her to my home to meet my 4 lovable pets and let her say hello to my hubby again. I also got to work at the booth in the vendors room with her the whole weekend, hauling several boxes of her books with my convenient hand truck, something I wouldn’t have had traveling from elsewhere.
Yes, I was eager to play my role of the Supernatural ambassador of Columbus. Okay, maybe I got a little too obnoxious about it. I was constantly telling everyone, “They finally came to central Ohio after years of me traveling elsewhere!” Most were amused, a few were annoyed. Lynn was a saint for hearing it numerous times. :). But I was proud. I got to show off my long lovefest of this show to the locals, and tell them of my past fandom adventures, especially with the Winchester Family Business. I got to talk to my people for once, my fellow Buckeyes.
Being home of The Ohio State University provided tons of entertainment for the actors as well. They learned how easy it was to get a crowd going. All they had to do was utter, “O-H” and they would be a very loud “I-O” in return. To me, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s reaction to the chant was the most priceless. He was truly floored, if not a little spooked! They also learned at Karaoke it was very important to play “Hang on Sloopy” to get the maximum crowd participation. At one panel they asked for a show of hands for those that were con “virgins”, aka first timers. A majority of the room raised their hands. Given the size of the ballroom (it was huge!), that said a lot.
This ended up being the most eye opening con I ever attended, which is remarkable to me given my history. The perspective from the vendor’s room is so different! Sitting at the booth with Lynn, one fan after another stopped by and openly shared their fandom stories and what the show has done for them. They were so eager to talk about how Supernatural has changed their lives! I guess to Lynn that was nothing new, but to me it was stunning to hear so many stories all weekend long. A lot of these fans weren’t your typical online fans. A majority I talked to had never gone online to talk Supernatural. They were fans that just watched it on TV or binged it on Netflix and came to see the stars, get some merchandise, and of course leave with that memorable autograph and/or photo op that they could cherish forever.
I met people from all over the region. So many where there celebrating milestone birthdays, and this was their celebration weekend. I met a store owner and his wife from a rural part of West Virginia, which was about a 2 hour drive. They fell in love with the show after finding it on Netflix, and have binged all the seasons a few times. For them, a getaway like this to Columbus was too good an opportunity to pass up. It ended up being a magical weekend for them.
Several came from the Cleveland area. A few had been only one convention in Ohio before, a Supernatural Gives Back convention a few years prior in Cleveland where Misha was the headliner. It was a smaller, more personal event. For a lot of them, they were there to meet Jensen (Jared didn’t attend this con). It was a dream come true! A lot of these day travelers didn’t have the money or time to travel to other cons in New Jersey, Chicago or Nashville for this experience. Columbus was perfect and an easy drive.
One woman flew in from Texas! It was her 40th birthday and she figured spending it in Ohio was worth it to see the show’s stars. You can get some nice easy flights from Dallas to Columbus. The airport is only 10 minutes away, another great convenience of our fair city.
One lady I met was a local college student that came because Supernatural literally saved her life after struggles with depression and anxiety. She’d never been to a convention before and she only lived 15 minutes away, so she thought she would try it. Once I shared that I was a local too, there was an instant connection. She came back to the booth a few times that weekend to share her experiences at the con. She was all smiles!
I also finally got to meet Quickreaver, someone who has contributed to the Winchester Family Business before and someone I’ve followed online for years. I never knew she was a local too. I was absolutely stunned to find out she lived around the corner from my mother! What a small world.
This woman’s story though had the greatest impact on my weekend. She got to tell Jensen this at the Gold member’s panel, and it really moved him. She and her mother watched Supernatural together all the time. Her mother got sick and after the illness progressed she uttered these last words before passing, “I’ll say Hi to Dean.” She came back to the Fangasm booth after that to share her experience in the panel, and her tears. She was so grateful she got to share that story. I was so grateful to hear her tell it to me since I wasn’t at the panel. That was a deeply personal story and just thought of her getting to tell it still gets me emotional.
I got to have my fun too. Not Topic, a vendor of all sorts of Supernatural merchandise that has been a staple at these cons, was next to us in the vendor room. The entire weekend I eyed one item with desire, a full size angel blade replica. It was metal and came with a stand! At the end of the con, it became mine. It’s proudly displayed in my Supernatural shrine along with other precious artifacts I’ve gotten from the show over the years.
Despite the strong fan reception, the decision had been made before the con even started by Creation that they were not returning to Columbus. The convention was held in one of the new marquee ballrooms in a new section of the convention center, meaning it could hold a ton of people. Parking there was easy and there were plenty of affordable hotel rooms around. It turned out to be the largest attendance Creation ever had for one convention. It was easily the nicest ballroom I’d been in for any of the conventions and the acoustics were perfect, an issue I’ve had at many cons. I even got to thank Gary, one of the owners of Creation Entertainment, for finally doing a show in Columbus. I did get a sense that he was dealing with some logistical headaches and wasn’t feeling the central Ohio love as much as everyone else. Whatever issues he was having, it wasn’t apparent to the attendees.
I found Creation’s decision disappointing, because this was truly the rare opportunity to tap into a base that never had the chance to attend one of these cons. I mean, fans that I knew had been wanting this for years. I just had no idea how many! There were multi-generational households attending. The age ranges of attendees were all over the map. So many newbies left having an experience of a lifetime. Maybe I’m biased because I didn’t see this kind of excitement whenever a Galaxy Con came to town. I’m assuming that holding this con wasn’t cost effective for Creation, or maybe they decided us midwestern folks were a bit too plain for them. I do hope they decide to try Cleveland or Cincinnati someday, because despite the fact that Supernatural is now 20 years old, the appeal of the show seems bigger than ever.
One Totally Unrelated Side Story Showing SPN’s Appeal…
At work, I printed out this motivational poster and put in my bland, nondescript cubicle:
The reaction? I couldn’t believe how many people that stopped in my office and saw this knew that was Sam Winchester. I mean, people of all ages. I was pretty proud.
So yeah, in conclusion, Supernatural still has an impact that many of us don’t realize. My online world has shrunk considerably since the show ended, but it turns out, the show’s appeal hasn’t. It’s actually larger than ever. To hear these kind of stories 19 years after the show premiered, it’s just another very strong reminder of how much Supernatural has changed the world. Happy 20th Anniversary Supernatural. Thank you for changing my life forever, and many others too.
Alice Jester is the founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, programmer, web designer, site administrator, marketer, and moderator for The Winchester Family Business. She is a 30 year IT applications and database expert with a penchant for creative and freelance writing in her spare (ha!!) time. That’s on top of being a wife, mother of two active kids, and four loving (aka needy) pets.
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