Horror on television used to be tame, with shows like Scooby-Doo and The Twilight Zone offering PG-ish scares. However, with the rise of streaming services, TV horror has shed its subgenre status and fully embraced its grown-up, gory potential. These shows are perfect for Halloween binge-watching and rival their movie counterparts in creepiness and scares. Here are some of our favorite horror shows to watch this spooky season.
Stranger Things is a nostalgic nod to ’80s horror, with a villain who invades his victims’ dreams to exploit their fears. What We Do in the Shadows, based on the movie of the same name, follows a group of vampire roommates struggling to fit into the modern world. Castle Rock, a fictional town in Maine that has appeared in many of Stephen King’s works, gets its own story in this series full of references for fans.
Archive 81 follows an archivist who becomes engrossed in the work of a woman investigating a demonic cult. Though the show was canceled after one season, the podcast that inspired it is still available to listen to. The Haunting of Hill House and its follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor, offer chilling tales of ghosts and hauntings. And for fans of true crime, Mindhunter delves into the minds of serial killers and the FBI agents who study them.
With these and many other horror shows now available on streaming platforms, TV horror has come a long way from its tame beginnings. So grab some snacks, turn off the lights, and get ready to be scared this Halloween season.
