Kait Mae

L.J. Smith’s Night World was a favorite series of mine in high school. And it’s stuck with me for a decade now. There was something so captivating about the worldbuilding and entangled plotlines. And while I haven’t finished the series yet, I do plan on it one day. Until then, I will keep daydreaming about how I would put the books on the silver screen. And since I have time, I’ll share those ideas with you.

What Is the ‘Night World’ series?

The Night World Series by L.J. Smith is a paranormal saga that explores a secret society of vampires, witches, werewolves, and shapeshifters, who live just under humans’ noses. The society has its own strict laws, but maybe it’s time those change so soulmates can be together.

Each book in the series follows its own story that ties to a larger plot and connects to other characters we met or will meet in the other books. Between a coming apocalypse and forbidden love, the society as they know it starts unraveling.

And if the name L.J. Smith sounds familiar, you’re either thinking about The Vampire Diaries or The Secret Circle – two of Smith’s most popular series. Both of the series have been adapted by The CW.

While we’re on the topic of vampires and paranormal creatures, you should check out my hypothetical adaptation of Vampire Academy.

What Would I Do With It?

There’s no doubt in my mind this wouldn’t be a good live-action anthology show like American Horror Story. The material is all there – it’s all about splitting the stories in 13 hour-long episodes per season. We could build off the existing material, give some side characters some screentime, and really focus in on those important moments in the books.

As for the aesthetics and vibes, I’m leaning into the American Horror Story inspiration. I would want the feel of this show to be very similar to my personal favorite season of AHS, Coven (season three).

Who Would Be In It?

For this post, since there are so many, I’m only focusing on the main couples of the first eight books.

Up first, we have Poppy North and James Rasmussen from Secret Vampire. For Poppy, I always imagined someone similar to Sophia Lillis, so that’s who I’m casting in this role. As for James, I think Kyle Allen is exactly how I pictured James – just with lighter hair for some reason.

For the main couple of Daughters of Darkness, we have Ash Redfern and Mary-Lynette Carter. Ash to me just screams Thomas Doherty, so of course, I had to choose him. And Mary-Lynette, I wanted someone who looked like they could pull off country – and Jeni Ross does to me, for some reason.

Up next is Thea Harman and Eric Ross from Spellbinder. I went back and forth on several pairings until I found just what I was looking for. And for Thea and Eric, I think Olivia Holt and Alex Aiono are perfect for the roles.

What other paranormal novels would you like to see adapted? Here’s a list of what I’d like to see.

The fourth book, Dark Angel, follows Gillian Lennox and David Blackburn. For Gillian, it wasn’t a hard pick once I revisited the story – I could only imagine Kennedy McMann in the role. As for David Blackburn, I searched and searched, and I believe D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai is perfect.

Next is The Chosen with Rashel Jordan and John Quinn. For this, I wanted a pairing that felt right more than fitting exactly the character’s looks – though, I think I did well with it. I chose India Eisley and Elias Kacavas for Rashel and John, respectively.

Up next is Hannah Snow and Theirry Descouedres from Soulmate. I searched through several actresses before settling on Morgan Lily for Hannah. Something about her just feels right in the role. As for Thierry, Luke Eisner was an easy pick.

Moving on, we have Jez Redfern and Morgead Blackthorn from Huntress. For these two, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I do believe these two actors could do well together. For Jez, I chose Storm Reid; and Morgead would be Graham Phillips.

Lastly for this casting, we have Black Dawn, which follows Maggie Neely and Delos Redfern. For this casting, I actually cast Delos first to find a Maggie to match. So, my Delos is Austin Abrams, and my Maggie is Abby Ross.