Disney+'s New Horror Series Is Like Buffy And American Horror Story For Kids

Published Sep 29, 2026, 9:43 AM EDT

Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.

Disney+ is bringing a new horror series that feels like a mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and American Horror Story but aimed at a young audience. Disney+ is the go-to streaming platform for everything Disney, whether family-friendly content or more mature movies and TV shows. Thanks to this extensive catalog, Disney+ is home to some of the best TV shows of all time across different genres, including horror, with some titles provided by FX/Hulu.

Disney+ is home to horror shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the 2023 revival of Goosebumps, The Strain, Alien: Earth, and American Horror Story, all of them offering different types and levels of horror for different audiences. When it comes to children and family-friendly horror, Disney mostly stands out in movies with titles like Halloweentown and Hocus Pocus, but it also has TV shows like Secrets of Sulphur Springs and the animated masterpiece Gravity Falls.

Disney+'s catalog of family-friendly horror is about to expand with a show that brings together the best elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and American Horror Story, but appropriate for children. Titled Coven Academy, the series is part of Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween and will be released there on October 1 and on Disney+ and Hulu the following day. Coven Academy arrives at a time when Disney+ is thriving with dark fantasy shows, but there’s also a big challenge ahead for the show.

Coven Academy Brings Family-Friendly Dark Fantasy

Created by Tim Federle, Coven Academy brings together dark fantasy, supernatural horror, comedy, and drama, all in one package that young viewers will be able to enjoy. Coven Academy, then, will take viewers to New Orleans and into Crescent Veil Academy, an elite boarding school for witches and warlocks where they learn the craft of magic. At the front and center of Coven Academy is Briar (Malina Weissman), a new student with anger issues that unleash her powers, so she must learn to control them.

Briar makes new friends at the academy and also meets some potential love interests, but among the many lessons Briar has to learn while at the academy is that she can’t trust everyone. On top of that, Briar and company deal with the presence of vampires and other dangerous, powerful beings, so the coven must come together to protect each other. Also starring in Coven Academy are Malachi Barton, Tiffani Thiessen, and Devon Sawa.

Coven Academy is reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with its combination of witches (like Willow and Tara), vampires, and a female lead that may or may not be the one destined to battle vampires and other threats, just like Buffy Summers. Coven Academy also feels like American Horror Story for children, more specifically its third season, Coven, which was all about a coven of powerful witches.

Coven Academy is dark fantasy for a young audience, and, hopefully, it will stand out from other horror shows about witches, vampires, and a main character who must learn how to master their special abilities.

Coven Academy Has A Huge Fantasy Challenge Ahead

Coven Academy is an exciting addition to Disney+’s catalog of horror and dark fantasy, but it’s also about to face some huge challenges related to its genre. The trailer alone has already been compared to Netflix’s take on Winx Club, titled Fate: The Winx Saga, which gave a dark, teen drama twist to the colorful animated series. Although the intention was good, and the concept alone wasn’t bad, Netflix failed to turn Winx Club into a dark fantasy show.

Coven Academy could have the same fate if it doesn’t have a well-established tone, goal, and well-written and developed stories and characters, and it must avoid falling into the clichés of the genre. On top of that, Coven Academy will be facing Disney+’s biggest fantasy show at the moment: Percy Jackson.

Like Percy Jackson, Coven Academy also falls into the urban fantasy genre, so it would be directly competing with one of the platform’s most acclaimed TV shows. Coven Academy has potential, but it also has big challenges to overcome, and if all goes well, it could be Disney+’s next big horror fantasy hit.

Cast

• 

  Malina Weissman

  Briar

• 

  Malachi Barton

  Jake

• Jordan Leftwich

  Sasha

• Ora Duplass

  Tegan