Stanford University

 is a college university located in the city of Stanford, California. The school, and the city, are named after Leland Stanford, Sr., who founded the school in 1891.

In the horror genre, Stanford University played a key role in the pilot episode of the CW Network television series Supernatural. One of the two main characters, Sam Winchester, was a student at Stanford with dreams of pursuing a career in law. He lived on campus with his girlfriend, Jessica Moore. Sam's elder brother, Dean, called Sam away on Halloween night to help him locate their father, who had gone missing while on a "hunting" trip (the Winchester family were monster hunters). Sam made Dean promise that he would bring him back by Monday morning if he agreed to help him. Dean delivered on his promise, and Sam returned to his apartment in the wee hours of the morning. When he arrived however, he found that a demon known as Azazel had murdered Jessica Moore by suspending her body across the ceiling and lighting her on fire. This incident prompted Sam to abandon his dream of living a normal life and he returned to the career of being a demon hunter.

Episodes that take place at

 * Supernatural: Pilot