TV & Anime Entertainment For The Paranormally Inclined: Guest Post from Hannah at Once Upon A Time

 Hi, everyone! Hannah is a UK blogger from Once Upon a Time and a dear friend. You can find her on her blog or stalk her on Twitter especially if you share her love for chick-lit, YA, fantasy and World of Warcraft among others :)

Hello readers of Nocturnal Book Reviews! I'm Hannah from Once Upon A Time and when I'm not reading or gaming, I love going on the hunt for the kinds of TV shows that will entice me. I've never really been the kind of girl who sits in front of the telly and watches soaps and game shows and whatever else might be on, but give me a good series and I'm a happy bunny.

But for me, a good TV show must have a good catch. To draw me in, it needs to be full of fantasy, paranormal creatures, humour, well-designed characters, a soundtrack to die for... basically, modern drama shows just don't do it for me. So I'm here to recommend the kinds of programs that we, paranormally inclined, like to sink our teeth into, and as well as western telly, I also enjoy a bit of anime. So here are my top 12.

Supernatural

I can't believe I waited until season 8 was live on our screens before picking up this series because it is now by and large my favourite. I imagine you all know this one but for those who might be behind like I was, Supernatural follows brothers Sam and Dean, hunters of the paranormal, as they work jobs to hunt things and save people from vampires, shapeshifters, demons and all other creatures of the night. There's always a long-running story arch through the series but the draw of this series is the banter between characters and the fun one-shot episodes. And I never cease to be amazed by how many of my friends think they're secretly in a relationship with Dean.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

I still haven't finished watching the second series of this anime, but I can't not include it. If you like anime, Stand Alone Complex is a must watch. A fantastically put together cyberpunk anime about a unit that strives to solve the harder to solve crimes in a very technologically advanced future, and the main character is a cyborg. In fact, so are many of the side characters. There are, on my last count, two series and two movies (or was that three?) but they are releasing a prequel anime in the Summer of four 1 hour long episodes. Watch out for that!

True Blood

 Funnily enough, it was my dad who got me watching True Blood. He has very strange tastes when it comes to TV, but when we share a love for something it's usually pretty strong and True Blood is no different being one of maybe three television series that has made its way into his tiny DVD collection. The premise: what if vampires were among us and wanted equal rights? What if there were more creatures in the dark than we could ever imagine? Personally, I find the TV show to be much better than the books with many more interesting characters and different storylines going on. Plus, Alcide... 

The Walking Dead

This has to be the show that has somehow gotten me used to gore and horror. Based on a longrunning comic series, The Walking Dead is a look at how people live, react, and get along during a zombie apocalypse and so even if you don't think you like zombies, I really recommend you try it anyway. It is an amazing show that looks pretty deeply at the human race. Okay, and there are zombies.

Death Note

Another notable anime would be Death Note. The first half being much better than the latter half, but even so, incredible. Light gets hold of a notebook called a “Death Note”, which states that whomever's name is written within the Death Note shall die. Light takes the law into his own hands and starts scribbling down the names of convicted criminals which begins a lengthy investigation into the character committing these killings: Kira. Meanwhile, the Shinigami who dropped the Death Note constantly hovers around Light, interested to see where he goes with the Death Note. It is seriously a must watch.

American Horror Story

I think I'm about halfway through series one of this particular show but it's just so... weird! And I'm using that as a compliment. A dysfunctional family moves into a house which turns out to be very haunted and very corruptive. There are several ghosts, and there seems to be a gimp, and the neighbours are incredibly eerie.. I'm really not sure how to describe it but do be warned, if you're easily frightened, keep the lights on.
 

Psycho Pass

 Another cyberpunk anime. In fact, made by the same people behind Ghost in the Shell, this is definitely one for Stand Alone Complex fans. The idea behind Psycho Pass is that there is a future designed around humanity's happiness. Your psycho pass, a number given to you depending on the state of your mental health, is assessed on a regular basis to ensure you are not in danger of committing crime, and the same system puts you in the career you are best suited to thereby guaranteeing your happiness in life. It is supposed to be the ideal future. But what happens to those whose psycho passes get into the danger zone? I love it. I've got my partner loving it. And I highly recommend it.

Being Human

The British series, not the American one. And I more or less stopped watching after series 3. Being series 1-3 were fantastic. It's a series about a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost living together and how they get along with each other, in life, and with others of their kind. With absolutely amazing acting and some great storylines, I have to recommend this one to paranormal fans.






 

Bleach

Oh come on, I had to mention Bleach in a list of my favourite paranormal things to watch! This anime is all about the Shinigami (Death Gods, in English) who protect humanity from Hollows, the distorted souls of deceased humans who were not put to rest properly and become hungry for human souls, particularly those they had an attachment to in life. The anime itself is more about the characters, and what characters they are! It is also based on the manga and as they were both running alongside each other, the anime contains a lot of “filler”, content included to let the manga run ahead so that the anime doesn't take over. This filler is renowned for not being amazing but I do love me some Bleach.

666 Park Avenue

 I think I'm part of a minority who really likes this series as it was cancelled after just one series. I had high hopes for this series after reading the first novel by Gabriella Pierce about a young witch who moves from France to New York with her fiancé and ends up swept up in her fiancé's family of socialites and frightening mother. I adored the novel, and sat down to watch the series which turned out to be completely different. The series is about a very rich couple who own an old building in New York and a young couple, Jane and Henry, move in. There's much weirdness, magic, and horrid things occurring. Nothing like the novel but I liked it a lot. I recommend you give it a watch if you haven't yet.

Ergo Proxy

This anime is pretty dark and unusual. I didn't always understand what was going on but there was something about it that I fell in love with. Set in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian future with a little cyberpunk thrown in, it is perfect for paranormal readers. And of of only three anime series I own!

The Vampire Diaries

So I've gone off this particular series recently but there's something about this teenage vampire romance that I fell in love with so utterly I even had several dreams (about Damon cough), and I'm not usually that big on YA paranormal romances, but this one is a lot of fun so I had to include it.



What about yourselves? Anything you'd like to add to the list? There is still so much I haven't caught up on yet, and so many I couldn't quite squeeze into the list.