10 Most Unexpected Horror TV Show Deaths

Easily one of the biggest cult hits of the nineties, Buffy The Vampire Slayer was the product of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions. In many ways it set the blueprint for many supernatural dramas to come.

The show was a brilliant blend of horror-focused action and more tender human drama. For some time audiences had gotten used to Buffy taking down monsters and saving the day. Yet there are some things Buffy is powerless to fight against; deep into the series it hammered this point home more and more.

In the sixteenth episode of the fifth season, things took a shocking turn. Immediately as the episode opens, Buffy enters her mother's home, only to find her lying motionless on the couch. She moves from uncertainty to denial, eventually tipping over into crushing grief. Joyce was mostly disconnected from her daughter's vampire-fighting efforts and this made the opening all the more horrifying.

With this bold writing and Sarah Michelle Gellar's phenomenal performance, Joyce's death from a brain aneurysm marked "The Body" as one of the finest episodes in not just its series but the entire small screen library. By having the reality of death play a major role, the character's departure had a massive impact.