There’s something creepy going on out there. We have five broadcast networks, and each one of them will introduce a supernatural series during the upcoming television season.

Where some smell fear, critics are on the scent of a paranormal programming trend.

Welcome to the freshman class of 2007-08. We’ve got a vampire private investigator in Los Angeles, an immortal police detective in New York, a time-traveling newspaper reporter in San Francisco, a soul-reaping bounty hunter and a pie maker who can both reanimate corpses and serve a boysenberry cobbler that’s to die for.

“What’s interesting is that there is a proliferation of shows that have sort of quasi-supernatural themes,” said David Manson, executive producer of Fox’s “New Amsterdam,” the drama about the immortal cop. “These things seem to happen in waves – not entirely sure why.”

The last wave was just two years ago, when the networks fielded six shows falling on either the horror or science-fiction side of the fantasy street. Four of them failed: “Invasion,” “Threshold,” “Surface” and the updated “Night Stalker.” The other two, CBS’ “Ghost Whisperer” (inspired by North Royalton paranormal investigator Mary Ann Winkowski) and the CW’s “Supernatural,” are entering their third seasons.

Over the next five months, with NBC’s “Medium” returning at midseason, the networks also are fielding two new fantasy shows with science-fiction aspects: NBC’s new “Bionic Woman” and Fox’s spinoff from the “Terminator” movies, “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.”

Technology is a key player in the push for fantasy shows. From Fox’s “The X-Files” to ABC’s “Lost” to last year’s sensational rookie year for NBC’s comic-bookish “Heroes,” the Internet has demonstrated its ability to create and build a buzz for genre shows.

“As special effects get more affordable, that’s one of the reasons that these shows work,” said Josh Friedman, executive producer of “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” “And it’s a genre that’s driven in many ways by a very rabid fan base on the Internet. I think as the Internet becomes a more powerful voice, people may be more enthusiastic for these types of shows.”

Yet the trick for producers is to make these shows appealing to the rabid fan base and, at the same time, accessible to the wider audience craved by the broadcast networks.

“We want to approach this from a real place,” said Kevin Fall, the creator and executive producer of NBC’s “Journeyman.” “If there’s such a thing as grounded sci-fi, it’s kind of what we are going for.”

Accessibility also is the watchword over at the CBS vampire show, “Moonlight.”

“It’s vampire 2007,” said David Greenwalt of “Moonlight.” “It’s a new ballgame. It’s certainly a genre show, but there are no other demons, no other monsters. It’s not that supernatural of a world. It’s a sleek, modern Los Angeles.”

Two of the early buzz shows being hailed by critics are among the supernatural newcomers. Those would be ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” and the CW’s “Reaper.” But quality hardly ensures survival in this universe. “Invasion” and “Threshold” were singled out by critics as two of the best new shows for the fall of 2005.

Similarly, serial dramas “Kidnapped” and “The Nine” were hailed as being among the best new series last fall. Taking a lesson from their failure, producers of this season’s supernatural shows will stay away from serialized storytelling and give viewers self-contained weekly stories.

“There definitely was, not necessarily an edict, but a strong suggestion that if the show were procedural, then it would definitely be much more digestible to the network and to the audience,” said Bryan Fuller, creator of “Pushing Daisies.” “And viewers would have a framework to allow all the more special and different things to go down easier.”

Producers and writers also are following the examples set by Rod Serling with “The Twilight Zone” and Gene Roddenberry with the original “Star Trek.” They’ve learned that the supernatural is ideal for allegorical storytelling.

“I think there are a lot of things in this genre that are metaphorical and certainly pertinent to what’s going on in today’s society,” said “Moonlight” star Alex O’Laughlin. “In this sort of era of storytelling, there’s a lot that’s analogous.”

Fuller agrees, saying “Pushing Daisies” is more about life than death.

“I don’t think you can look at death without looking at life,” Fuller said. “It really informs everything that’s come before it. So I think there’s something magical and mystical about death, and I would say I’m much more of a magical and mystical person, because I love that sense of awe and spirituality of there’s something greater out there that we don’t know.”