The 30 Best Horror TV Shows to Watch Before Halloween
The weather is getting colder (terrifying in itself), which means spooky season is upon us. If there is any compensation for the shorter days and darker evenings, it is the feeling that the veil between worlds is truly beginning to recede. Or maybe it’s just the memorable display of plastic pumpkins at Target. Either way, it’s the time of year when our thoughts turn to horror.
The Peak TV phenomenon isn’t limited to courtroom dramas and single-camera sitcoms: there’s something truly impressive happening in the world of TV horror, even beyond the usual suspects like The Walking Dead , American Horror Story, etc. Black Mirror. and Stranger Things . Since horror isn’t so much a genre as it is a broad umbrella, there have been some incredible shows popping up lately that fill just about every niche.
Evil (2019–2024, four seasons)
A forensic psychologist, a Catholic seminarian and a technical contractor (sounds like the start of a very awkward joke) are hired by the Catholic Church to investigate potential supernatural events. To be honest, the series didn’t seem particularly promising at first: a CBS crime procedural with demons sounds like a recipe for X-Files lite. What’s here, however, is surprisingly dark and rich: leads Katja Herbers, Mike Colter and Aasif Mandvi deliver solid character work as the series genuinely grapples with the nature of good and evil. Despite a dedicated fan base and staggering airplay numbers, the show was canceled after four seasons – and it came to a fairly satisfying conclusion, although superfans like Stephen King are hopeful for life after the cancellation.
Where to watch: Paramount+ , Netflix
Creepshow (2019 –, four seasons)
There are good reasons for my love of television horror anthologies: if one story or episode isn’t very good, there’s always the next one; plus, in less than an hour, you won’t waste much time. What’s surprising about this new Creepshow , however, is that it’s consistently good. Sometimes gross, sometimes funny, each episode has two stories that are very similar to the style of the films the series is named after (or Tales from the Dark Side – that’s the vibe). Producer/director/special effects specialist Greg Nicotero, best known these days for his work on The Walking Dead , is helming the series. He got his start in Creepshow 2 back in the day, so there’s a real appreciation for old-school practical effects here too. The show is a Shudder original series, so this is where you’ll find the newest episodes (Season 3 arrives this month), but earlier seasons are available elsewhere.
Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, Prime Video.
Chucky (2021–2024, three seasons)
From its inception under the leadership of creator Don Mancini, the Child’s Play universe has built a surprisingly consistent mythology over the decades, although it rarely takes itself too seriously. The TV version builds on all of this, creating its own coming-of-age (or rather “rage,” as the show tagline) story revolves around 14-year-old Jake Wheeler (Zachary Arthur), an odd kid raised by a father who doesn’t have much respect for his artsy son. . Jake picks up a serial killer doll, and Chuckie begins to see the (justifiably) angry child as a potential protégé. Characters from Chucky’s past soon appear to complicate things, but the relationship between Jake and Chucky remains the heart of the series. Despite its dark sense of humor and over-the-top kills, the series was hardly a critical favorite.
Where to watch: Peacock , AMC+, Shudder
A Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021, mini-series)
Hollywood is hell. It’s almost a horror genre in itself, and this limited series from Lenore Zion and Nick Antoski ( Channel Zero ) has a David Lynch/ Mulholland Drive feel (with what appears to also be a nod to Eraserhead ). ). Rose Salizar plays Lisa Nova, a newcomer to Los Angeles who is determined to make her first feature film. She was betrayed by someone she shouldn’t have trusted, and her plan for revenge involves her being thrown into a weird, weird, and dark world of zombies, curses, and freaky cats. This show clearly prides itself on its weirdness, and it creates a dark, almost giallo-esque horror atmosphere. The earlier Channel Zero miniseries, for which this feels like a new iteration, is also worth watching if you like that feeling.
Where to watch: Netflix
Darkness (2017–2020, three seasons)
A simple, albeit disturbing, case of missing children in a German town quickly escalates into something involving four multi-generational families. In the cave system that runs beneath the local nuclear power plant, there is a mystery that involves dark secrets that every family (and town as a whole) has been hiding for decades. Without spoiling too much, the show’s characters visit the past not just metaphorically, but literally, a time-travel element that only adds to the show’s impressively twisty and creepy fun. This was Netflix’s first German import, but don’t let the subtitles fool you.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Last of Us (2023, one season)
One of the biggest shows of 2023, The Last of Us joins the unfortunate club of video game adaptations that turn heads, in this case even earning multiple Emmy nominations. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey play Joel and Ellie, who travel through an apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by zombified people infected with a fungus. There’s real tension and cleverly crafted horror in the show’s zombie threat, but it’s all built around the dynamic between Joel and Ellie, the beaten smuggler and the invulnerable teenager he’s paid to take to the other side of the country. Their relationship sells the premise and makes the stakes very real when the zombie mushroom people come out to bite them.
Where to stream: Max
Interview with the Vampire (2022 –, two seasons)
By stripping away much of the subtext of Anne Rice’s novel, the rather brilliant new adaptation embraces the strange themes and racial tensions that were mostly only hinted at in the original. Jacob Anderson plays Louis de Pointe du Lac, a closeted black Creole running a successful brothel in New Orleans when he fatefully meets the debauched vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, who converts Louis before the two of them take up housekeeping – cutting a bloody swathe through NOLA , before adopting the daughter of a wild vampire. The unsettling chemistry between the leads is explosive, and the show’s exploration of abusive, codependent relationships gives it emotional weight beyond its lush production values.
Where to watch: Netflix, AMC+.
Servant (2019–2023, four seasons)
It’s strange, no doubt: After the death of their 13-week-old son, a couple (played by Lauren Ambrose and Toby Kebbell) acquire a lifelike doll as a therapeutic tool, based on a real-life technique that doesn’t usually seem to result in horror. Something is wrong with the doll, to which Dorothy’s mother becomes much more attached than expected; The couple ends up hiring a live-in nanny to look after baby Jericho, and something is definitely wrong with her. Or maybe it’s just weird things that happen to people who have enough money to pay for therapy AND have a special assistant just for the doll. M. Night Shyamalan is one of the executive producers, which gives a sense of the unsettling and creepy atmosphere that the show creates.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
Lovecraft Country (2020, one season)
The Black family embarks on a journey through Jim Crow America—alone, this premise has the potential for real horror. Matt Ruff’s novel on which the series is based is one of the few impressive books written in the last decade or so that attempts to reconcile the unabashedly racist views of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft with the power and appeal of his creations. the series explores some of the darkest horrors of 20th-century America and places them alongside and within a Lovecraftian universe of elder gods and dark dimensions. Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors are great in the lead roles, and the series also features a great turn from Michael K. Williams in one of his final performances.
Where to watch: Max , Tubi
30 coins (2020, two seasons)
30 Coins has something of a monster-of-the-week format, but otherwise the Spanish import from cult director Alex de la Iglesia is unlike anything else on television (the first episode features a cow giving birth to a human baby). A priest, a veterinarian and the mayor (no joke here) find themselves embroiled in the supernatural mysteries of their town of Pedraza, which seem to involve a strange coin that may have been one of the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas for betraying Jesus. The feeling is closest to Lovecraft and The Exorcist , with Christian mythology replacing the eerie horrors. Max closed the series after two seasons, but the third is being purchased elsewhere.
Where to stream: Max
Gyeongseong Creature (2023 –, two seasons)
A global hit and steadily growing in popularity in the US, this South Korean import combines historical drama and gruesome horror in a fun and truly compelling way. The series is set in 1945 in Gyeongseon (present-day Seoul), during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The series is about a monster that was created as a result of human experiments carried out secretly by the Japanese army. The scars of occupation have been fertile ground for storytelling in the last few years (see also Apple’s Pachinko ), and Kyungsung adds a sci-fi action flick to the mix. The second season brings the action to the present day, and a third season renewal is likely.
Where to watch: Netflix
From (2022 –, three seasons)
Have you ever felt trapped in a small town? For the residents of the City (we never learned the name), this feeling is very literal: once you set foot there, you can never leave. Oh, and did I mention that the creatures come from the forest and kill anyone they find outside after dark? It doesn’t sound as bad as the town I grew up in, but it’s still alarming. In the first two episodes, the Matthews family learns all about this first-hand when they drive into town in their RV and find themselves trapped next to the local sheriff (Harold Perrineau)… and it goes dark. The show’s monsters aren’t just insanely hungry, they’re cunning and sadistic and more than capable of killing residents in impressively bloody ways.
Where to stream: MGM+
Hannibal (2013–2015, three seasons)
By 2013 we really felt like we’d seen more than enough of Hannibal Lecter and company, The Silence of the Lambs series of spin-offs and sequels was becoming increasingly tiresome. However, producer Bryan Fuller has returned to the source material here, once again adapting Thomas Harris’s first Lecter novel with operatic style, visual flair (you’d be hard pressed to find more superbly constructed carnage scenes) and deeper, sexier relationships between good people. The Doctor (Mads Mikkelsen) and profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy). It ended too soon, but three seasons still makes for a satisfying meal.
Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, Prime Video.
Dark Shadows (1966–1971)
Modern TV shows may give you 10 episodes a season, but if you want to kill more time, there are always 1,225 episodes of Dark Shadows , the popular 1960s soap opera. Beginning as a Jane Eyre-style gothic tale set among a wealthy but decayed family in a Maine fishing village, the series soon introduced ghosts, a phoenix woman, and, most famously, the vampire Barnabas Collins. In the series, the residents of Collinsport, always on the lookout for new horrors, were hunted and killed (and then resurrected and killed again) by updated versions of every classic creature imaginable. There are a lot of episodes, but sticking with them allows you to enjoy the growing and compelling weirdness of the series: characters change history by traveling through time, being pursued by mystical flying hands, and even visiting parallel universes long before Marvel got involved. .
Where to watch: Prime Video , Tubi, Peacock (limited releases)
They (2021 –, two seasons)
Beginning in the 1950s, “They” attempted the Second Great Migration, when millions of blacks left the South for northern cities and suburbs; look for opportunities and avoid overt racism in favor of slightly more subtle racism. The Emory family (led by Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas) moves from North Carolina to an all-white neighborhood in East Compton, where each family member ends up haunted by a different ghost. Of course, smiling white faces hiding evil intentions are much scarier than any ghosts. The second season moves to Los Angeles in 1991.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Swamp Thing (2019, one season)
Some of these events may seem a little relatable these days: a CDC doctor returns to his hometown in the Louisiana bayou to investigate a mysterious virus that locals don’t want to deal with or talk about until it gets too much late. When a local biologist is killed (more or less) for helping her, suspicion turns to the local corporation. The show doesn’t reach the dizzying psychedelic heights of the comic book source material, but it does bring a level of body horror that’s probably not surprising considering the series is about a man who turns into a plant, as well as James. Wang ( Saw , The Conjuring ) as executive producer.
Swamp Thing has some truly impressive gore effects, not only involving the main character, but also involving a plant outbreak that has engulfed the foggy, sleepy Louisiana town where the story takes place. To give the series a final dose of horror, the title character is played by actor and stuntman Derek Mears, who is also the latest Jason Voorhees. The show famously was canceled before it was even finished filming (something to do with the loss of tax credits), but it still manages to wrap up its storylines quite neatly, if abruptly.
Where to watch: Tubi
Wellington Paranormal (2018–2022, four seasons)
It turns out that 2014’s What We Do in the Shadows was the start of a completely unlikely franchise; This is what this low-budget vampire comedy from New Zealand can do. The series of the same name wasn’t actually the first spin-off of the film, nor was it the most direct: Wellington Paranormal reunites the film’s well-meaning but extremely gullible cops O’Leary and Minogue and sends them off to investigate the various ghosts, zombies and aliens haunting the metro area Wellington. The show was popular in New Zealand but only recently went global. Frankly, it’s not particularly scary, but it’s a great parody of all those Ghostbusters- style TV shows. It doesn’t have the same scale as its sister series, but individual episodes create concentrated bursts of creepy and silly fun.
Where to stream: Max
Stan vs. Evil (2016–2018, three seasons)
Taking inspiration from The Evil Dead , Stan Against Evil stars John C. McGinley as the cranky and obnoxious former sheriff of a New Hampshire town overrun by vengeful spirits. Janet Varney comes to town as his replacement, and they soon realize that the restless spirits and demons are not going to remain silent for long. The awkward chemistry between the leads is a big asset, as are the old-school practical monster effects. The show leans more toward the funny (and it is often very funny) than the scary, but the monster effects are well done and the show doesn’t shy away from some great 80s-style gross-out jokes.
Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, Prime Video.
Castlevania (2017–2021, four seasons)
There are some good horror anime out there, but few have a higher status than this video game adaptation. The first episodes of the series set it up nicely: the year is 1455, and Lisa, a person interested in studying vampires, forms a partnership of sorts with Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula; The series then quickly moves on to Lisa, who is burned by church leaders years later. Dracula sets out on a quest for bloody revenge for his lost love, setting in motion four seasons of beautifully animated and bloody family drama. The main series has ended, but the second season of the spin-off Nocturne , set during the French Revolution, will begin in 2025.
Where to watch: Netflix
Folklore (2018 – 2022, two seasons)
The Japanese horror tradition has made its way to the United States, but very often through remakes of popular J-horror films with American directors and actors. The series is a terror tour from six different Asian countries, each filmed locally with a different up-and-coming director. For viewers mostly familiar with Western-style horror, the show will be a bit of a revelation: it is a modern take on traditional folk tales (for example, the South Korean episode features Mongdal Gwisin, a bachelor so desperate for a wife, whom he will kill until he will find the right special woman to become his ghost bride); although the characters are recognizable, the take on horror is unique. Each episode is like a mini-movie.
Where to watch: Netflix
Ghoul (2018, mini-series)
Set in a dystopian near-future, Radhika Apte plays a woman named Nida, an officer fiercely loyal to the ruling regime and assigned to interrogate a terrorist in a secret detention center. Once inside, things get strange and the prisoner turns the tables on his captors, revealing many of their darkest secrets. The supernatural elements are suitably creepy (the Indian import is a Blumhouse co-production), but there’s also real substance here in the subtle critique of authoritarianism in general and modern anti-Muslim sentiment in particular. .
Where to watch: Netflix
The Outsider (2020, one season)
The premise here is brutal and impossible: a child is horribly murdered, and the evidence points strongly to Little League coach Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman). It’s an open and shut case, except that he was out of town for a conference while the murder was happening and even appeared on the news in another city. Tragedies mount, but since they are based on a Stephen King book, the threat is not entirely natural. Without giving too much away, this is one of King’s most disturbing adaptations (it’s also incredibly entertaining, more than enough to overcome initial disgust). There’s a great performance here from Bateman, as well as Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo as Holly Gibney, one of King’s recurring characters. HBO declined to renew the show, but it ends rather decisively.
Where to stream: Max
Castle Rock (2018–2019, two seasons)
Speaking of Stephen King (who is on Creepshow and therefore featured here for the third time), Castle Rock has been touted as a sort of Stephen King universe, set in his fictional town and featuring characters and creatures from across his oeuvre. This slightly confusing log line probably hurts the show more than it helps. It’s actually a pretty impressive anthology series that’s great even if you’ve never read a page of King. In the first season, Andre Holland returns to his old hometown at the behest of a death row inmate and features a powerful performance from Sissy Spacek. The second introduces young Annie Wilkes (from Misery ) and a disturbing cult.
Where to watch: Hulu
Kingdom (2019–2021, two seasons)
Whenever I feel like the zombie subgenre has completely run its course, something like Kingdom comes along – it used to be another South Korean production , Train to Busan , that reminded me that there’s still life in zombies. This film takes the zombie trope and places it in the middle of a historical drama: specifically the royal court of 16th century Korea. Crown Prince Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon) faces evidence of a plague that is bringing the dead back to life even as he fights for political survival in a rapidly changing kingdom. It’s as beautiful as it is bloody. The series continues with the feature film Ashin Severa .
Where to watch: Netflix
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018–2020, four seasons)
The series retains the core idea of the core ’90s-era plot (and the Archie comics it was based on), but takes it to its twistiest ends. Sabrina Spellman is an old-school witch living in a family not unlike the Addams family – at the beginning of the series she has to choose between signing her name in Satan’s book and becoming a full-fledged witch, or staying there. high school with my normal human friends. Instead, she refuses to choose. Cannibalism, human sacrifice and blood rituals flourish while sisters continue to kill each other and dark forces are occasionally kept at bay. If you take things more seriously, it becomes a very dark comedy. True, as the series progresses, the characters soften a little, and the soap opera elements become more pronounced, but by then we were already hooked. The series has ended on Netflix, although producers are planning a fifth season elsewhere.
Where to watch: Netflix
Slasher (2016–2023, five seasons)
Each season of the series tells the story of one serial killer and his potential victims, stretching out the traditional slasher story over several hours. During this time, the series manages to actually build up the lives and backstories of its characters, something that movies don’t always have time for or bother with (for better or worse). It works here, and each season introduces some pretty likable characters – it doesn’t hurt that the show is aimed primarily at adults rather than the more typical teenage victims. The Canadian production has changed a bit since it began – the first three seasons are available on Netflix, but the last two ( Flesh and Blood and Ripper ) are exclusive to Shudder, and only Flesh and Blood is on Prime. Each one is separate, so you can take it anywhere.
Where to watch: Netflix, Prime Video , Shudder.
Terror (2018 – two seasons)
The show’s first season is based on Dan Simmons’ novel of the same name, about a polar expedition that gets stuck in the ice and is subsequently haunted by an unseen presence (even as their relationship unravels in equally horrific ways). It’s gripping and atmospheric, and is improved upon by a second season (subtitled Infamy ), which also blends real-world horror with the supernatural in the story of a West Coast family during World War II that is followed to a Japanese internment camp by a were-spirit . The third season of Devil in Silver , based on the novel by Victor LaValle, is scheduled to premiere in 2025.
Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, Prime Video.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018, mini-series)
Mike Flanagan ( Oculus , Hush , Doctor Sleep ) reinvents Shirley Jackson’s novel (and the brilliant 1963 film version) with this tense family drama that moves between two eras, telling the story not just of a home, but of injury received as a result of an accident. those in its orbit. What sounds like it’s just a solid ghost story, it certainly is, but it’s also a creepy, atmospheric and insightful horror story that absolutely reaches into the subconscious in a way that few other shows can. Once you get over that, the standalone sequel , The Haunting of Bly Manor , based on Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw , is just as impressive.
Where to watch: Netflix
Midnight Club (2022)
I’m cheating here by letting Mike Flanagan’s pair of epic Netflix miniseries stand throughout its run, but each of them is a triumph, right up until The Fall of the House of Usher , the last one before the director moves to Amazon. . The Midnight Club , based on several YA novels by Christopher Pike, looks a little different: it involves a group of eight terminally ill young patients in a bucolic hospice run by a secretive and mysterious doctor ( A Nightmare on Elm Street , Heather) ). Langenkamp). Every night, the children meet in secret to share scary stories, each also promising to return from the grave when their time comes. It’s creepy and often touching without feeling sentimental or precious. It was intended to be more than just a miniseries, so the cancellation leaves a few questions unanswered, but that’s fine in terms of the overall tone of the series, which dealt with unsolvable mysteries about life and death.
Where to watch: Netflix
Kolchak: Night Stalker (1974–1975, one season)
What if The X-Files , but with dad from A Christmas Story ? Okay, that somewhat understates the appeal of this monster-ur-procedural. Darren McGavin plays an outspoken reporter whose curiosity leads him to the center of supernatural mysteries that no one else will touch or believe. Vampires, ghosts, demons: you name it, Kolchak hunts him down and nearly kills him over the course of the series’ meager but hugely influential 20 episodes (and a couple of TV movies).
Where to stream: Peacock