Review: A New Book Takes SUPERNATURAL Seriously (At Last!)

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Review: A New Book Takes SUPERNATURAL Seriously (At Last!)

Posted on 16 July 2009 by Brent Hartinger, Editor

Four Torches (Out of Five)

Count me as one who’s long thought the CW show Supernatural about two demon-fighting brothers was wildly underrated — deserving of much more attention and acclaim that it’s received.

A new book of essays, In the Hunt: Unauthorized Essays on Supernatural Edited by Supernatural.TV (Benbella Books, $14.95), seeks to change that.

Looking to geek out on the social and philosophical implications of this show? This is the book for you.

Not all the essays are equally engaging. Several make purely academic points, like whether Sam and Dean, who inhabit a supernatural world, see things as “supernatural.” And some of the discussion of gender seemed like a stretch to me.

But other essays are quite fascinating indeed, exploring the meaning of the horrible image that started the show, when Sam and Dean’s mother is burned to death on the ceiling of their house; the symbolic importance of Dean’s Impala; and – yes – even the exploding genre of “Wincest” slash fiction.

Several essays refer to Dean’s telling Sam as a child that “monsters are real, but Santa Claus isn’t,” which is pretty trenchant, given that this interaction really does sum up the point-of-view of the show: evil exists in the world, and it’s really strong, but good? Well, good luck finding that.

In short, Supernatural paints a dark and brutal world — both figuratively and literally, given the show’s arrestingly dark color scheme, something else several writers are right to highlight.

The anthology’s biggest flaw — and it’s a serious one — is that most of the essays were clearly written prior to the start of the show’s latest (and best) season. But the show, which is still in production, has moved on from where it was a year ago. One essay, for example, makes much of the lack of “God” and “angels” in the show’s milieu. That’s what the latest season has been all about, but given time-lines in the world of publishing, it’s impossible for them to reflect this.

The book is a great discussion — of Supernatural’s first three seasons.

Looking to buy In the Hunt (or any other media)? Support TheTorchOnline.com by purchasing it through this link.