Written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, the series follows a Slayer named Melaka Fray, a chosen one in a time when vampires (called "lurks") are returning to the slums of New York City, and the rich-poor divide is even greater.

"[3] Fray next appears as a main character in the 2008 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight crossover story arc, "Time of Your Life", by Whedon and Moline.

The series was closely linked to the concurrently airing seventh season of Buffy, with coinciding depictions of the Slayer's mystical scythe and her origins, a major contributor to the expansion of the canonical "Buffyverse" in which Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other related stories are set.

Demons were banished from the Earth at some point in the 21st century by an unnamed Slayer and her friends, and the Watchers' Council has decayed into a group of crazed fanatics.

Disheartened, Mel refuses to fight, until she discovers the body of her young friend, a girl named Loo, with her neck snapped.

Police officer Erin Fray (Mel's older sister) convinces some of the local law enforcement to also join in the crusade.

Having figured out that her demon mentor can't swim, Melaka drops him into a pool of water and stabs him in the head.