On November 2, 1983...

November 19, 2010

November must be National Geek Month and someone forgot to tell me. It’s perfectly all right if it wasn’t organized. Geeks are, by nature, world class procrastinators… but enough on that subject. Everyone likes a story, and everyone likes a good adventure. For me, the story of two brothers, one 1967 black Chevy Impala – and the quest to rid the world of monsters, demons, and just about any other evil thing you can think up is quite possibly one of the greatest stories of all time. (or at least, for the first part of this Century.) I am talking, of course, about Supernatural.

Supernatural, the brainchild of a man named Eric Kripke, started in 2005 on the WB and then to the CW. Currently in its sixth season, Supernatural tells the story of Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers from Lawrence, Kansas. When the boys were very young – Dean was four and Sam was six months – their mother was killed by an unimaginable evil. Their father John, a former Marine turned mechanic, set out on a quest to find out what killed his wife – and to destroy it. Season one starts a few nights before Halloween twenty-two years later. Sam has left the life of hunting in pursuit of what he calls a "safe" life – one free from monsters. Dean, who has not quit hunting and is still adamant about the life it entails –"saving people, hunting things" travels to Stanford, where Sam is currently a student and living with his girlfriend, Jessica. The boy’s father has vanished while on the trail of the monster that killed their mother, and Dean wants Sam’s help to find him. Quite the request for Sam from his brother, who he’s not seen in several years – and while he tells Dean can find their father perfectly fine on his own, Dean states ‘I know… but I don’t want to.’ Sam reluctantly agrees to help his brother – but just for the weekend, as he has an interview to get into Stanford Law School on Monday.

What was supposed to be just a weekend has turned into a journey that has lasted for years. How did this happen? Well, I don’t want to go ruining things for you, now do I?

The show has also spawned several tie-in novels, among them; John Winchester’s Journal by Alex Irvine Nevermore, Bone Key and Heart of the Dragon, all by Keith DeCandido and Witch’s Canyon by Jeff Mariotte.

Emily E.
Red Bridge Branch