I have always had a big fascination with the occult, so in my kid/young teen years I had 2 favourite TV series: Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Sabrina The Teenage Witch!

Both are amazing shows, and when I found out Netflix were making a new darker series of Sabrina I knew it would be interesting. Click read more and join me through a journey of The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina…

As much as I loved the show Sabrina The Teenage Witch it was not very scary. It had a moment or two where it got interesting but it was mostly just a show about a teenager trying to hide she’s a witch from her human friends at her high school – a 90’s version of Hannah Montana you could say.

However this new series still has the “Hannah Montana aspect” but it is also A LOT darker.

Origins of the Sabrina character.

Sabrina was originally from the Archie Comics series and had her first appearance in the 22nd edition, “Archie’s Madhouse” from 1962.

She became such a popular character in the series that she later got her own spinoff comic called “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” that was released in 1971.

The comic book was made into an animated series in 1970 but it only lasted a year until it got cancelled. The most popular adaptation is the live-action show from 1996.

Premise of the Netflix series.

Sabrina Spellman is a half witch-half human girl at the age of 15. She is living a normal life with her friends… but that is all going to change.

You see, on a witches 16th birthday they get re-birthed. They have to start at a witch academy called “The Academy of Unseen Arts” and are forbidden to interact with mortals.

This is a problem for Sabrina because she really doesn’t want to say goodbye to her friends, nor her boyfriend Harvey whom she has never told about her witch family.

Another problem is that Sabrina is supposed to sign “The Book of the Beast” where she gives The Dark Lord (The Devil) control over her soul.

Sabrina goes through many struggles; hiding her witch part from her mortal friends, proving she is not just a filthy half-breed as other witches see her, and on top of all that a mysterious woman is after her – and it does not seem like that woman has any intention of talking it out!

Comparison of the 2 TV series.

The biggest difference from the 2 series is as I stated earlier “The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina” is much darker, where Sabrina was portrayed as cute in “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” and most of her troubles were normal teenage stuff like sneaking out to see her boyfriend instead of doing her homework. “The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina” has her portrayed as a young woman who is strong both mentally and physically for her age. She fights several witches and other creatures on her own and survives to talk about it.

Salem (Sabrina’s cat) finds her once again in the new series but unlike the old series we do not understand him. Sabrina understands him, however for us as the viewers it is nothing but purrs and meows.

The surroundings of Sabrina and her aunts is also much different. in the old series Sabrina learns about her powers at the age of 16 and mostly uses them for her own benefit at her home or in school. The new series shows Sabrina going to the woods several times doing rituals that are heavily inspired by modern witchcraft.

Final thoughts and rating.

I absolutely love this series, it has everything that the older one lacked whenever I look back at it. If there is anything missing it is Salem’s witty comments but it would not sit well in this universe so I can excuse that.

I would definitely recommend this show whether you had seen the old one or not. There is not a single episode that feels boring or skippable, and Kiernan Shipka plays the best Sabrina I could imagine.

Watch the trailer here