While the library ofhorror TV showsstill has a lot of room to grow, there’s still plenty available right now that can even surpass the experiences you get from horror films. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video are the leaders in some of the best horror TV, and some shows even come from talented ‘Masters of Horror’ like James Wan, Guillermo del Toro, and Mike Flanagan.
From long-running shows like Supernatural, Stranger Things, and American Horror Story to newer offerings like From, 30 Coins, Them, and Archive 81, there are lots of blood-curdling horror series to fill your watchlists up across every streaming service.
12The Strain
The Strain is a unique vampire show adapted from the book series by Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, with the executive producer and co-showrunner of Lost, Carlton Cuse, joining forces to bring it to TV. Here, all the carnage and vampire horror is unleashed when a plane arrives at JFK International Airport to trigger the response of the CDC.
Unbeknownst to investigators, the plane’s cargo transported a coffin carrying the vampire Master, causing the passengers to become infected with white worm parasites that turn them into vampires reminiscent of Blade 2’s Reapers. As the plague spreads across New York, CDC scientist Ephraim Goodweather’s family becomes the target of the Master, and Ephraim forms an unlikely resistance to save his son and eradicate the Master and his vampiric strain.
Number Of Seasons
Where To Stream
Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand, Richard Sammel, Jonathan Hyde, Max Charles, Ruta Gedmintas, Miguel Gomez, Natalie Brown, Mía Maestro, and Sean Astin
79%
7.3
4
Hulu
11Archive 81
In Archive 81, a mysterious organization tasks a young archivist to restore tapes of a PhD student’s documentary, which was actually her investigation into a cult worshiping an entity that starts appearing through the video footage. It’s executive produced by James Wan, the creator of Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring Universe, so you know masterful horror is what this show strives for.
It’s all very Lovecraftianand extremely eerie and atmospheric, especially when you uncover the many twists and turns to the mysteries Archive 81 sets up. The only unfortunate part about this series was that Netflix canceled it after one season, leaving the ending on a major cliffhanger that you won’t see go anywhere, but it’s still a worthwhile watch that won’t disappoint.
Mamoudou Athie, Dina Shihabi, Martin Donovan, Evan Jonigkeit, Ariana Neal, Julia Chan, Matt McGorry, and Kate Eastman
87%
1
Netflix
10Marianne
The French TV show Marianne follows horror novelist Emma Larsimon, who turned her nightmares about the titular witch into the subject of her books. But now her fiction might actually be a reality when a childhood friend delivers news that upends her life. Returning to her hometown, you also quickly learn something very disturbing is going on with Emma’s parents. It all sounds a bit Alan Wake-y.
Stephen King praised Marianne on Twitter, saying that it’s for “those sickos–like me–who enjoys being scared,” and the series also has the high honor of retaining a perfect score of 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Marianneisone of the creepiest shows on this list, primarily thanks to Mireille Herbstmeyer’s performance as the possessed old lady, Madame Daugeron.
Victoire Du Bois, Mireille Herbstmeyer, Aurore Broutin, Corinne Valancogne, Pierre Aussedat, Lucie Boujenah, Tiphaine Daviot, Ralph Amoussou, Bellamine Abdelmalek, Alban Lenoir, and Clara Brajtman
100%
7.4
930 Coins
30 Coins comes from Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia, who achieved quite an original horror vision that will surprise you. The show presents you with the ultimate battle between good and evil of biblical proportions, wherecorrupt bishops in the Vatican form a cultin a quest for ultimate power, which is tied to finding all 30 coins that Judas Iscariot received for betraying Jesus.
This will affect a small village in Spain, where you follow the lives of its mayor, Paco, the village veterinarian, Elena, Paco’s vengeful ex-wife, Merche, and the priest who’s faced it all before, Father Vergara. There’s lots of body horror, and the second season gets even better because it introduces some hauntingly astounding visuals of Hell (and the monsters within its domain) and adds Paul Giamatti as the antagonist.
Eduard Fernández, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Megan Montaner, Macarena Gómez, Cosimo Fusco, Manolo Solo, Pepón Nieto, Najwa Nimri, and Paul Giamatti
91%
7.1
2
HBO Max
8Them
Although it may sound like an exaggeration, Them is just downright scary and unsettling; so much so that you may be hesitant to finish it. Take your scariest and most disturbing entity from a horror movie, whether that be Insidious’s demons or The Babadook, and times that by 100 for the ones this series has in store. This anthology also focuses on the intersection of horror and racism, so the themes are as heavy as they are frightening.
Season 1, Covenant, follows a black family who move from North Carolina to an all-white LA neighborhood during the 1950s, where they face intense hatred and hostility from neighbors and even more unimaginable horrors from inside their home. Season 2, The Scare, is set in the ’90s and follows an LAPD detective investigating what could be supernatural murders brought on by a new entity.
Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Melody Hurd, Alison Pill, Ryan Kwanten, Luke James, Pam Grier, Wayne Knight, and Liam McIntyre
7.5
Amazon Prime Video
7Ash Vs Evil Dead
Bruce Campbell reprised his role as the legendary Deadite killer Ash Williams in an Evil Dead TV series from original creator Sam Raimi,which was gone too soon after three seasons. It’s extremely violent and over-the-top (as should be expected from this series), but also brings so many fun new characters, most notably Ash’s companions Pablo and Kelly, Detective Amanda Fisher, and Lucy Lawless' character Ruby Knowby, along with new grotesque monsters.
In this series, the Deadites make a return because of Ash’s own careless mistake of getting intoxicated and reading passages from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. He’ll now need to re-equip his broomstick and detachable chainsaw to stop the oncoming demonic threat. If you want some laughs served with copious amounts of blood and gore, Ash vs Evil Dead is horror comedy gold.
Ash vs Evil Dead has a higher Rotten Tomatoes score and IMDB rating than any of the films in the series, with seasons 2 and 3 receiving a 100% on RT.
Bruce Campbell, Dana DeLorenzo, Ray Santiago, Lucy Lawless, Jill Marie Jones, Arielle Carver-O’Neill, Lee Majors, and Ted Raimi
99%
8.4
3
Starz
6Penny Dreadful
A penny dreadful refers to stories published in the UK in the 19th century, which would often cost no more than a penny and depict violence and horror. Creator John Logan took this idea, set his show in Victorian-era London, and made it into a Gothic crossover of Dracula, Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, Dr. Jekyll, werewolves, and a coven of witches.
Penny Dreadful’s three short seasons are some of the best in television history, having a star-studded cast and sets that immerse you in the period. There’s nothing like seeing the main characters of these classic literary stories all coming together in one universe to battle the supernatural. The main story, however, centers around Vanessa Ives, who’s the victim of constant evil forces that threaten her life.
Eva Green, Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Rory Kinnear, Harry Treadaway, Billie Piper, Reeve Carney, Danny Sapani, Douglas Hodge, Simon Russell Beale, Patti LuPone, Helen McCrory, Wes Studi, Shazad Latif, and Christian Camargo
8.2
Paramount+ with Showtime
5American Horror Story And Horror Stories
American Horror Storyis a horror anthologywhere every season utilizes almost all the same actors in its cast and features a thrilling new premise —and there are a dozen to choose from.
The themes include a haunted house, an asylum, a New Orleans coven, a freak show, an H.H. Holmes-inspired hotel, the lost Roanoke Colony, a Trump-supporting cult, the antichrist, a retro ’80s slasher and ghost story, a vampire and aliens double feature, 1980s NYC murder spree, and pregnancy horror adapted from the novel Delicate Condition.
Then, if you want even more horror anthologies from creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, you’re able to check out the spin-off American Horror Stories, where every episode in each season presents a short new tale of terror like Black Mirror. They may not be as great as the mainline entries in AHS, but they still have a few original horror gems in them.
American Horror Story
Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy, Denis O’Hare, Angela Bassett, Lily Rabe, Emma Roberts, Taissa Farmiga, Kathy Bates, Finn Wittrock, Cheyenne Jackson, Wes Bentley, Gabourey Sidibe, Lady Gaga, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Adina Porter, and Cody Fern
77%
8
13
American Horror Stories
Kaia Gerber, Paris Jackson, Sierra McCormick, Selena Sloane, Valerie Loo, Cody Fern, Billie Lourd, Matt Bomer, Nico Greetham, Seth Gabel, Aaron Tveit, Denis O’Hare, Lisa Rinna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Imperioli, Victor Garber, Henry Winkler, and Debby Ryan
66%
6.3
4Stranger Things
The best series to blend sci-fi and horror is Netflix’s Stranger Things. The premise of it following a young group of teens as they deal with frightening enemies of supernatural origin may remind you of the Losers Club from It. Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and later Max will fight the extradimensional forces raining down on Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s, alongside brilliant side characters.
In Stranger Things, government experiments manipulating psychically-powered children open up a portal to another dimension called the Upside Down, where menacing creatures like the Mind Flayer, Demogorgon, the Spider Monster, and Season 4’s Vecna emerge from. Every season expands the lore and ups the stakes for the characters, but Seasons 1 and 4 are a true masterpiece by the Duffer Brothers.
Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, Matthew Modine, Brett Gelman, and Sean Astin
8.7
5
3Supernatural
TV’s most iconic sibling duo, Sam and Dean Winchester, are also excellent hunters of the supernatural. At a young age, their mom was killed by a powerful demon, and they’ve been on its trail ever since, with occasional help from their dad. Each episode will take the brothers to new towns where suspicious deaths call for their expertise, and they’ll be dealing with a plethora of creatures across all walks of mythology.
Vampires, demonic possession, vengeful spirits, wendigos, wraiths, reapers, psychic powers, haunted paintings, haunted houses, and more are what you’ll encounter across a whopping 15 seasons and 327 episodes of TV created by Eric Kripke. There’s an overarching storyline across the series, some episodes can be pretty intense and disturbing, and there’s fantastic chemistry between all the characters.
Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Misha Collins, Jim Beaver, Mark Sheppard, Mark Pellegrino, Alexander Calvert, Ruth Connell, Samantha Smith, and Emily Swallow
93%
15
