The CW is pulling out all the stops to promote their new series The Secret Circle. They are hoping the story about witches will resonate with their already established Vampire Diaries fanbase who love the supernatural with an edge.

USA Today has this exclusive sneak peek.

According to the USA Today feature:

CW is pairing the third season of its hit Vampire Diaries on Thursday nights with another supernatural show, freshman series The Secret Circle (Sept. 15, 9 ET/PT). The shows share source material — both are adapted from L.J. Smith book series — and an executive producer, Kevin Williamson (Scream, Dawson’s Creek).

“I hope that there’s a thirst out there for this type of story,” says Williamson, joking that the Circle office is just 5 feet from the Diaries office. “It allowed me to tell a witch story that hasn’t been told before.”

The Secret Circle centers on Cassie (Life Unexpected’s Britt Robertson), a teen who moves to her mother’s hometown in Washington state after her mom dies. Many people take an interest in the new girl, including her school principal (Natasha Henstridge) — the show’s wicked witch of the Northwest — and a group of kids.

Cassie learns from Adam (Thomas Dekker) and this magic-loving bunch that she’s actually a witch, too, and they’re the latest in a long line of covens made more powerful when they’re together.

“It’s like the ultimate clique,” says Dekker, whose character becomes embroiled in a potential love triangle with Cassie and his girlfriend Diana (Shelley Hennig). “I’ve been in a couple myself, and they never cease to entertain.”

Williamson developed The Secret Circle to be a teen romance/family drama, but like Vampire Diaries, it can be a horror show, too. In the first six episodes, almost every one has a “big scary set piece,” he says, and the series offers a different creep factor than its sister show.

Check out the full story on USA Today.

The show’s official page over at CW is packed with a gallery of 47 images and promotional videos. In fact, the video below is a full 6 minutes plus.

So do you think witches have appeal? Are you a Vampire Diaries fan who will give this series a try?