As with the multitude of horror movies, in recent years horror TV has seen an explosion in output, and not all of it is worth a watch. However, there is a great deal of horror tv shows that’ll scare you and make you want to binge them in equal measure, so here are five of them.
The Haunting of Hill House
Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.
Mike Flanagan has cemented himself as Netflix’s resident horror specialist, with his latest offering being The Midnight Club, but his first horror tv show for the streaming giant was The Haunting of Hill House. Based on a novella by Shirley Jackson, it follows a family over two separate timelines, intertwining the story and the characters in surprising and horrifying ways, keeping the audience guessing and screaming the entire way through.
Arguably the best of his television shows, at least until we get to see his upcoming The Midnight Club, the show is not only good on its first watch, but it’s second and beyond. As well as the direction being fantastic, the set designers deserve a raise, as with each rewatch you’ll notice little things that point towards future story twists.
The Walking Dead
In the wake of a zombie apocalypse, various survivors struggle to stay alive. As they search for safety and evade the undead, they are forced to grapple with rival groups and difficult choices.
Now before you balk at this entry, let me explain. The Walking Dead is based on the far superior graphic novel by Robert Kirkman, who served as an executive producer on the show. Whilst it followed the same story beats, like any adaptation, it changed things to make the tv show stand out on its own. It started strong, and then had a large dip shortly after Negan arrived, but the last season or two has picked back up, focusing less on the drama of the survivors and more on the surviving zombies of the world.
Plus, as much as it gets criticized, it’ll never get boring seeing someone get their innards ripped out by a zombie. After all, that’s what we watch the show for.
Related: Zombie Shows To Binge-Watch Now That ‘The Walking Dead’ Is Ending
American Horror Story
An anthology of stories consisting of a house with a deadly secret, a demented asylum, a witch coven, an unusual show, a hotel, a haunted farmhouse, a cult, and an apocalypse.
The anthological horror show contains several different stories throughout its eleven seasons, from the creepy goings-on at a freak show to the retelling of the famous Roanoke mystery and more.
One continuous theme throughout the eleven seasons is the show’s ability to induce dread and creepiness, or flat-out shock its audiences with its depictions of murder, dismemberment, suicide, and ritual killings, as well as much more besides. Whilst some of the seasons drop the ball with regards to the story, others, especially the first four, are a constant beat of twists and turns that’ll keep the audience guessing.
Black Mirror
In an abstrusely dystopian future, several individuals grapple with the manipulative effects of cutting-edge technology in their personal lives and behaviors.
Not a strict horror in the traditional sense, but with its anthological episodes focusing on what happens in a world close to ours with one technology or another heavily advanced compared to our own, the results are usually horrifying in some way.
The series has its fair share of scary moments, but the most horrifying are the ones left for us to figure out for ourselves. For example, White Christmas is based around the idea that people’s prison sentences can take place over one day in real-time, but the perpetrator would experience it over much longer, be it days, weeks, years, etc. That is the fate that befalls the main character of that episode, who is sentenced to a thousand years inside this alternate mind prison.
There are countless examples throughout the show of improved technology being corrupted and used in ways it was never meant to be, which is exactly the way of the world in our world, which is the scariest thing of all. You can build and invent something and never truly have control of what it is used for.
Related: Black Mirror Season 6 Officially Confirmed by Netflix
Hannibal
Will, a criminal profiler with a unique ability, slowly sees his sanity taking a hit. The FBI advises he see Hannibal Lecter, a forensic psychiatrist who is secretly a cannibalistic serial killer.
Hannibal is a dichotomy in that it’s a brutal, gory, and bloody show with some of the most inventive and disgusting murders in television history, whilst also being a gloriously beautiful show to look at. The cinematography is second to none, and no expense seemed to be spared in making the world of the show look unique and lived in.
Hannibal is the same charming, enigmatic and sinister serial killer who eats the rude, but this time, unlike the films, he directly gets involved in helping with the cases he’s advising on, rather than being an occasional bystander. His manipulation of the entire cast of characters to ensure he always has the upper hand is unnerving, and you never really feel like he’s out of control, even when he’s been found out.
It’s a crying shame the show got canceled before its time, but to this day, many years after the fact, die-hard fans are trying to get it picked up again, including members of the show’s cast and crew.
There’s a huge number of horror tv shows, but not many are genuinely terrifying or watchable in equal measure. What horror tv shows would you have put on the list?
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