Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot Deck

By Madeleine Gunhart

Here’s the sitch: I’m a huge fan of the hit 90s TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer (like, have a tattoo of the slayer herself on my ankle levels of geekage). I’m also a Tarot reader and deck collector (and okay, I have a Tarot tattoo as well, if we’re keeping score).

Both Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BTVS for the remainder of this review) and Tarot have been instrumental in helping me come into my confidence as a witch and battle my own demons. Plus, they’re both really freaking cool!

The box and guidebook for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot deck, laid over cards from the deck turned face-down.

So, does my obsession with slinging cards and slayage of vampires make me uniquely qualified, almost a generational chosen one, the one girl in all the world destined to review Simon & Schuster’s official Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot deck by Casey Gilly and Karl James Mountford? For the purposes of this post (and my own ego), I am going to say yes!

Let’s look at this deck, piece by piece, from the vantage point of a total Buffy buff and card connoisseur.

The Buffy Tarot Deck Box: Think “Crypt” with Cuteness Factor

As someone who routinely tears through standard tuck boxes, I appreciate the sturdiness of this deck’s packaging, with a detachable lift-off top. Inside, the cards rest in a recessed nook, which provides a cool visual effect, almost like a tomb. But excavating the cards from their crypt felt a bit challenging.

There’s a hot pink ribbon that can be used to help the unearthing process, but, even so, card retrieval remains awkward. Not, like, bargaining-with-Osiris-and-spewing-out-snakes difficulty, however.

The Scooby Gang (Buffy’s loyal group of friends) went to extreme effort to raise Buffy from the grave, so the card-retrieval struggle is almost appropriately thematic, if a little exasperating. But I believe the cardboard frame could be removed from the box if it proves to be a nuisance.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot deck box, as Madeleine pulls cards from the the recessed nook.

The Cards: How Does the Buffy Tarot Deck Shuffle?

Let’s get down to physical specs: the cards are roughly standard size for a modern Tarot deck and printed on matte card stock that is thin, but flexible. Overhand shuffling is a bit difficult, as the cards tend to stick to each other and can feel slick in your hands.

The thin card stock is wonderfully bendy, though, and lends itself well to “riffle” style shuffling (in which the cards make a bridge formation). You won’t find bells and whistles like gilded edges or foil details, but with the print quality and vibrant colors doing the heavy lifting, you won't miss it.

The card backs have a fun geometric design that’s detailed without being overly busy. A bold red sun acts as a focal point in the center of the card while the corners alternate between a black sunburst pattern and renderings of the suits in purple and red ombre.

The Buffy-verse Meets The Fool’s Journey

Casey Gilly, one of the deck’s creators, is no stranger to Tarot or the slayer, having authored multiple delightfully geeky decks, as well as a handful of Buffy comics. Her knowledge on both fronts shines through in the guidebook and card concepts. Each time I use this deck, I can feel the passion of a fellow fan at play.

This deck mixes classic Tarot suits, like cups (called “chalices” in this deck) and pentacles, with Buffy-fied suits, like scythes instead of swords, and stakes instead of wands.

At first, I was a bit thrown by this half-and-half approach, but I’ve warmed to it: stakes and scythes are close enough to the classic suits without being distracting, plus they’re iconic tools in Buffy’s vampire-slaying arsenal.

All of the Major Arcana cards match the traditional Smith-Rider-Waite archetypes, which may make it easier for some folks to transition from the deck they’re currently using to this one. But it depends on your individual journey and methods for working with the cards — to every witch their own path!

Gilly could have easily gone for alternate names, like The Slayer or The Witch to replace certain Major Arcana cards, which could have been fun. But I like that she kept it classic while letting the art speak to the Buffy of it all.

Six cards from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot Deck, from left to right and top to bottom: Three of Chalices (Cups), The Lovers, Death, Page of Chalices, Queen of Pentacles, and Five of Stakes (Wands).

The choice of characters and scenes represented in this deck demonstrates savvy and true BTVS devotion. Yes, we have the big players and iconic moments: Buffy and the Scoobies (in the Three of Chalices), scenes from the musical, the ghoulish Gentlemen from the oft-lauded “Hush” episode (in Death), and more obscure characters and references, like Clem, the friendly loose-skinned demon (in Page of Chalices), and badass 1970s slayer Nikki Wood (in Queen of Pentacles), as well as Buffy’s “watcher” / mentor Giles in his demonic form (in Five of Stakes).

The deck takes a nice balance of inspiration from both early and later seasons of BTVS, tapping into the humorous, the horrifying, and the heartbreaking — aka, everything fans love about the show.

One of my favorite references is Buffy’s sacrificial leap to save the world depicted on The Tower card — a stunningly dramatic moment that alters the trajectory of the show.

On the other end of the spectrum is Giles as the King of Chalices donning his goofy wizard garb — another of my favorite cards in this deck. This sight gag lasts less than 30 seconds in the show, but it’s a hilarious and iconic moment that true BTVS fans know well. Overall, the Tarot reader and Buffy fan in me are both incredibly satisfied by the choices made in this deck.

My one disappointment, however, is the Four of Pentacles, which features only The Magic Box, a mystical shop and frequent setting in later seasons of BTVS. This card feels a bit flat to me without a character connected to it. I wish Anya (eventual owner of The Magic Box and the series’ most lovable miser) made an appearance on this card.

Anya does appear in two other cards — Nine of Pentacles and Judgment — but I still feel her absence here. Personally, I would swap the current Judgment artwork (Anya scowling at the Magic Box counter) for the Four of Pentacles card and have Judgement depict Buffy’s resurrection instead. (The classic Smith-Rider-Waite Judgement card depicts the angel Gabriel awakening a group of people from their graves.) That said, I think avid Buffy fans will be psyched about the range of characters and scenes represented.

The Judgment card in the Buffy Tarot Deck (showing Anya scowling behind the counter at The Magic Box mystical shop), and the Four of Pentacles (showing the exterior of The Magic Box).

Art & Design in the Buffy Tarot Deck

First things first — the color palette! It’s unlike any other deck I have, primarily using reds, purples, and blacks, with pops of yellow and other shades to represent things like skin tones and hair color.

I think the color-scheme captures the vibe of BTVS perfectly — both dark and vibrant. Karl James Mountford’s distinctly bold illustrative style is incredibly fun and visually striking. Mountford (whose favorite childhood show was BTVS) depicts our favorite characters in a way that’s unique to the deck while still creating highly recognizable likenesses, perhaps in a way only a fellow Buffy fan could.

The Magician and the Five of Scythes from the Buffy Tarot Deck, laid over other cards in the deck, turned face-down.

One nitpick, however: I personally find the deck a bit uneven in terms of detail. Cards like The Magician give us plenty of background to chew on, while other cards, like Five of Scythes, leave me wanting a bit more. (Though, I tend to put the “max” in maximalist, so this likely comes down to personal preference.)

Minor imperfections aside, I have much appreciation for the fact that each card in the deck depicts a fully illustrated scene, compared to other pop culture decks that go the pip route (only using simple symbols for the four suits, akin to a deck of playing cards) for the Minor Arcana.

The Buffy Tarot Deck Guidebook: User-Friendly Despite Misprints

The guidebook itself is sturdy and printed in beautiful full color — no little white booklet here! The writing is fun and quippy, in true BTVS style, offering tips for deck care, as well as fun, Buffy-inspired spreads like “A World Without Shrimp,” which prompts you to pull cards while reflecting on what’s amiss in your personal world.

There’s a slight hiccup, though: the guidebook descriptions don’t always match up with the cards. For example, a guidebook entry about popular glam girl Cordelia correlates to a card that features the scabby minion servants of the god Glorificus. (Cordy would flip if she knew!)

For readers who are newer to Tarot, or who need a refresher on BTVS characters, this could pose a challenge in interpreting or understanding the cards. Whether it’s a misprint or the result of last-minute changes, I’m hopeful future printings will rectify this for a more beginner-friendly guide.

So, What’s the Verdict on the Buffy Tarot Deck?

I really, really dig this deck. It’s fun, gorgeous to look at, and it hits the mark on both the Tarot and Buffy fronts. Both my Buffy-loving heart and my Tarot spirit are deeply satisfied by the novelty, fun, and thoughtful depictions that infuse this deck.

The familiar characters give the deck a friendly feel, yet the cards aren’t afraid to hit you with hard truths via some of BTVS’s more tragic scenes. Personality-wise, I would liken this deck to a close friend who dishes up humor, wisdom, and tough love in equal measure.

I never know if I’ll pull a card referencing a silly Buffy in-joke or a harsh death scene, but the unpredictability makes for dynamic readings. Despite a few wobbles, this deck sticks the landing, perhaps after doing a backflip in a cemetery, and dusting a blood-sucking vamp while it’s at it.

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about madeleine Gunhart

Madeleine Gunhart is a writer, witch, and Tarot reader from Seattle, Washington. She enjoys helping folks connect with themselves through empathetic Tarot readings and writing empowering stories for young readers. You can find her on Twitter at @madgunhart and I nstagram at @madeleinegunhart.