The Scariest TV Shows to Stream Right Now

Freak yourself out with these spooky series.

twisty the clown freak show
'American Horror Story: Freak Show' | FX
'American Horror Story: Freak Show' | FX

When the spooky season hits, there are few better ways to get in the mood than cozying up on the couch to nestle (read: hide) under the covers and watch something scary. While putting on a horror classic or checking out the latest and greatest additions to the jump-scare canon is always great, opting for a scary TV show instead makes for hours of binge-worthy frights. Be it revisiting a longtime favorite or a recent underrated show from today's glut of television, we've rounded up the best scary shows that are available to stream right now.

ALSO READ: If you're looking for a movie marathon, check out our roundups of the best horror movies on Netflix, AmazonHulu, and HBO Max.

evan peters in american horror story murder house
FX

American Horror Story (2011– )

Haunted houses where residents go to die, asylums far from up to code, freak shows, and seedy motels—they're all fodder for horror story tropes, and make for ample material in Ryan Murphy's long-lived anthology series. Like these themes and others, the king of camp showrunner subverts them to tell a nuanced and often deranged story featuring the likes of his recurring cast members: Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, and others. Each season takes on its own tone, but you'll find yourself getting spooked in some more than others. (Asylum is particularly disgusting and Murder House is full of things that go bump in the night, whereas Coven is sheer witchy fun). You also don't necessarily have to watch each season in order (although it makes it easier to notice interesting connections throughout the AHS universe).
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime, Hulu

bruce campbell in ash vs evil dead
Starz

Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018)

If you're a fan of the original Evil Dead trilogy and haven't seen Ash vs. Evil Dead yet, what have you even been doing with your spare time? Set 30 years after Army of Darkness, when the Deadites were neutralized, the demon curse of the Necronomicon is back, baby, and it's up to our skeezy hero Ash Williams (still Bruce Campbell) to do the thing he does best, which is chopping up the possessed. Sam Raimi and crew bring the same dark humor and over-the-top gore to the revived series that wrapped its third and final season on Starz, but now it's thankfully also on a streaming service people actually use.
Where to watch it: Netflix, Starz

freddie high more in bates motel
A&E

Bates Motel (2013–2017)

Ever wonder what Norman Bates of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho fame was up to before his psychosis culminated in the horror classic? Well, he wasn't up to anything good, and his life as a teenage psychopath with serious mommy issues is documented in this thrilling TV drama. From acquiring the notorious motel to his first kill, there’s never a dull moment over the course of five seasons between Norman (Freddie Highmore) and his twisted mother, played by a disturbingly haunting Vera Farmiga. As much as you'd like for the seemingly quiet teen to be a misunderstood outcast, it's a nightmare in itself having to accept the complicated character's fate and watching a notorious murderer come to be. 
Where to watch it: Peacock

metalhead black mirror episode
Jonathan Prime/Netflix

Black Mirror (2011– )

Each installment of Charlie Brooker's addicting anthology takes a current techno-social phenomenon—topics that range from hashtags to five-star ratings—to its extreme and asks whether human nature can truly coexist with it. Part satire and part (unintentional) prophecy, the series presents an appropriately grim view of the future, one that will definitely make you worry for the next generation and maybe even galvanize you to action. Binge this platter of paranoia cautiously.
Where to watch it: Netflix

rosa salazar in brand new cherry flavor
Sergei Bachlakov/Netflix

Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)

This miniseries adapted by Nick Antosca (Channel Zero) from a novel by Todd Grimson is incredibly stylish—set against the backdrop of a neon-lit LA and taking place in the '90s when grunge chic was in—but be advised that it takes Cronenbergian horror to the extremes. And if you're a cat lover, know that there's more than a few scenes of people vomiting up live kittens. The show's heroine, aspiring filmmaker Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar), ends up with those felines down her throat once a producer (Eric Lange) who claims he can adapt her short into a feature film wrongs her, and she gets back to him in the most obvious way of finding a witch (Catherine Keener) who'll hex him. It's a revenge tale that's been dipped in a black magic potion, and an underrated gem strictly because of how unabashedly weird it is.
Where to watch it: Netflix

bill skarsgard in castle rock season 1
Patrick Harbron/Hulu

Castle Rock (2018–2019)

This Hulu original is one for the Stephen King devotees. Inspired by the seminal (and fictional) Maine town of Castle Rock where much of the writer's work takes place, this series brings his classic characters together for a new set of horror stories. The first chapter in the anthology focuses on lawyer Henry Deaver (Andre Holland), who reluctantly returns to his hometown when a strange man called "The Kid" (played creepily by Bill Skarsgård) is discovered in a cage in Shawshank State Penitentiary and asks to see him. What feels like a psychological thriller quickly proves to be otherwise, as these two inadvertently reveal secrets to their hometown and the darkness that's long given it a bad reputation. Season 2 takes another intriguing turn to examine the backstory of Misery nurse from Hell, Annie Wilkes (played by a stand-out Lizzy Caplan). Castle Rock is always eerie—but don't hide under the covers too long or you could miss one of its many clever Kingian Easter eggs, which is half of the show's spooky fun. 
Where to watch it: Hulu

The Pestilent God channel zero season
Syfy

Channel Zero (2016–2018)

An anthology horror series, Channel Zero's based off of several different creepypastas, or horror legends that proliferate on the internet (think Slenderman). The first installment of the series is based off of Kris Straub's Candle Cove, a story about a man's obsessive recollection of a '80s television program that implants murderous thoughts in its viewers. Featuring a monster called Toothchild that is literally the thing of nightmares, the show will hook you with its disturbing storytelling—at least if you can tolerate the sheer creepiness of it. 
Where to watch it: Shudder, Shudder via Amazon Prime

kiernan shipka in chilling adventures of sabrina
Jeff Weddell/Netflix

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018–2020)

Sabrina Spellman is a typical teenage girl, aside from the fact that she's a half-witch and lives in a supernatural household with her two witchy aunts and her warlock cousin. The heroine, played by Mad Men's dynamic Kiernan Shipka, must find her footing in both the human world and her new world of witchcraft: once she turns 16, she must choose whether or not to sign her name in the Book of the Beast and over to the Dark Lord, who, unbeknownst to her, sees the increasingly powerful young witch as the perfect vessel for his most evil bidding. The series takes characters and inspiration from the Archie comics universe and even has Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa at its helm—but this is no typical teen drama or the Melissa Joan Heart type of Sabrina the Teenage Witch you may remember from the '90s. It’s pretty damn Satanic and a bit grotesque, with darkness looming around every corner and some cannibalism for good measure.
Where to watch it: Netflix

Zackary Arthur in chucky
SyFy

Chucky (2021– )

Dolls are, without a doubt, always creepy, so it's really no wonder that Child's Play is a franchise that just won't die. Don Mancini, the screenwriter of the original movies, brought Chucky back to life in 2021 with this series set in modern day and updated for Gen Z. For the Child's Play obsessives, it technically takes place after film No. 7, Cult of Chucky, finding the possessed doll on a murderous rampage. But there's no need to be well-versed in the series' lore to dive in. It's ultimately an oddball coming-of-age series about a 14-year-old dealing with his sexuality… and killings at the hands of the toy he picked up at a yard sale to use as an art project. You know, normal, gruesome teen stuff!
Where to watch it: Peacock, SyFy

creepshow shudder series
Shudder

Creepshow (2019– )

George Romero and Stephen King's horror anthology films got a reboot in the form of a series on Shudder, and it's a treat both for nostalgia fiends and lovers of creepy stories alike. The same, old silent crypt keeper Creep who gave you the heebie jeebies growing up is back, this time around to usher in tellings of stories out of King's Creepshow comic book series. They're laced with Easter eggs if you're a devotee, but regardless, they're a horror comic and B-horror movie lovers dream, as the episodes are crawling with camp in a way that's plain unadulterated fun. 
Where to watch it: Shudder, Shudder via Amazon Prime

louis hofmann in dark
Netflix

Dark (2017–2020)

Netflix’s first German-language original series, Dark is a Stranger Things-adjacent mind trip focused on the fictional German town of Winden. There's time travel, a creepy cave, mysterious bodies, and time paradoxes in spades, all of it tying back to a group of teenagers and their multi-generational families. At the center of it all is Jonas, a teen coping with his father's suicide when his world begins to unravel. The series' first season largely focuses on unraveling the mystery: corpses with charred out eyes appear in the forest, children mysteriously disappear in multiple timelines. While the second season turns up the galaxy braining and gets difficult to follow, overall Dark is one of Netflix’s hidden gems and a perfect fit for the spooky season. 
Where to watch it: Netflix

Devilman Crybaby
Netflix

Devilman Crybaby (2018)

Devilman Crybaby was the anime series that proved that Netflix Original anime could be good. Netflix entrusted visionary director Masaaki Yuasa to reinvent the classic Devilman series, which follows the sensitive Akira Fudo as he's pushed into fusing with a demon by his friend Ryo Asuka in a desperate attempt to save humanity from impending doom. All the events from the source material are tweaked, fully transforming the narrative and grounding it in modern times, and yet the consequences and message stay the same. Violent, surreal, and explici—this is not an anime for kids, folks!!—the adaptation exploits the freedom afforded by Netflix's platform with content that wouldn't fly on TV. It's a great, shocking horror romp with a surprising amount of heart. 
Where to watch it: Netflix

katja herbers and mike colter in evil
CBS Media Ventures

Evil (2019– )

Evil is a procedural—but it's by no means your typical procedural. This is no rigid hunt for a killer, or formulaic search for a new criminal each week. Instead, it's a monster of the week, but this CBS series, from the same people behind The Good Fight and The Good Wife, elevates the genre to even scarier heights with its smart tone, mixing sly humor with horror as it follows a skeptic psychologist from the DA's office, a priest in training, and his contractor partner, as they investigate whether flaws in psychology or the environment, or literal demons, are weaseling into cases around NYC. Evil gets under your skin in more ways than one, at first drawing you in with its odd brand of charm, and then clenching you in its claws with stories that are truly haunting. 
Where to watch it: Paramount+

brianne howey in the exorcist
FOX

The Exorcist (2016–2018)

FOX's spiritually fucked-up reboot takes the 1973 movie's soul-saving concept and turns it into something like a more serious Ghostbusters TV show. In Season 1, two badass priests—one in better standing with the church than the other—try to prevent one family from descending into total hellish chaos. It's a riveting and surprisingly touching roller-coaster ride. It's also extremely, and lovably, gross. In Episode 2, one of the protagonists barfs up what looks like two bottles of Green Machine and then yanks a near-never-ending centipede out of her mouth—almost like the Santa Clarita Diet pilot minus the comic relief. The rest of the show takes after its big-screen predecessor, with the added benefit of contemporary makeup and effects, to show that head-spinning demonic possession can do the body a lot of bad.
Where to watch it: Hulu

ghoul netflix
Ishika Motawane/Netflix

Ghoul (2018)

Set in a military interrogation center where suspected terrorists are tortured for information, Ghoul pulls from Arabic folklore to craft a tense, tightly edited monster movie in the form of a three-part miniseries. Like the horror classics, the series' has its own fantastic leading woman played by Sacred Games' Radhika Apte, who plays a young investigator with a shady past of her own, and following her experience closely at the facility makes the claustrophobic series all the more frightening. Co-produced by Blumhouse (Insidious, Get Out) and Netflix's first horror series out of India, it's old school in its approach, but sometimes a classic monster movie does the trick. 
Where to watch it: Netflix 

Mads Mikkelsen in hannibal
Sony Pictures Releasing

Hannibal (2013–2015)

Arguably the cream of the recent horror TV crop, this fascinating, gruesome, and wonderfully shot series somehow managed to turn even the most ardent Manhunter/Silence of the Lambs fans into loyal viewers. Bottom line: When showrunner Bryan Fuller's (Pushing Daisies) name is in the credits and Mads Mikkelsen is your lead madman, you give that damn show a shot. To say that Hannibal pushed the boundaries of "network TV horror" would be a massive understatement; even more impressive is how darkly entertaining this series turned out to be.
Where to watch it: Hulu

violet mcgraw in the haunting of hill house
Steve Dietl/Netflix

The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

Horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan (Gerald's Game, Doctor Sleep) turned to goth classics to update in this Netflix horror anthology. For the first installment, he turned to a Shirley Jackson favorite, but used the source material more as a mood board. Plot points and character traits remain the same, but this house has nasty tricks hidden down its dark hallways. Pinging between two time periods with carefully edited (and clever) transitions, the show follows the Crain family as they renovate the foreboding house in the past and deal with the psychosocial fall-out of their time there in the present. Like the best ghost stories, The Haunting of Hill House doesn't just try to startle you with jump scares and violent imagery. It wants to take up residence in your mind. 

The second installment checks into another haunted house, bringing a handful of cast members from Season 1 to the infamous Bly mansion from Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. Flanagan similarly plays with the material from James' novella, also incorporating elements from his other stories, but sticks to the premise of one young woman's new job as an au pair to two orphans that takes her down a maddening path. The way the reality of Bly unfolds, it ends up being another ghost tale that begs to haunt you for all of eternity. 
Where to watch it: Netflix

doona bae in kingdom
Ishika Motawane/Netflix

Kingdom (2019– )

A zombie period drama set in Joseon Korea, Kingdom intertwines biological terror with political intrigue. Adapted from the webcomic series The Kingdom of the Gods by Kim Eun-hee and Yang Kyung-il, Kingdom follows Crown Prince Yi Chang (Ju Ji-hoon), who must investigate the undead plague affecting both his father, the current emperor, and the southern provinces. While attempting to curtail its spread and prevent it from reaching the capital, he must also prevent a coup led by those intending to take advantage of the crisis. Netflix’s first original Korean series, Kingdom is a refreshing period genre take on the well-tread zombie thriller. 
Where to watch it: Netflix

lore
Amazon Studios

Lore (2017–2018)

As a podcast, Aaron Mahnke's Lore was already addictive. Then, it became a star-studded Amazon anthology, adapting a handful of the most popular original episodes—the origins of vampires, changelings, werewolves, séances, possessed dolls, and icepick lobotomies—in a sort of hybrid horror-docuseries. (Meaning you get a blend of archive material and re-enactments). As you learn about the history of changelings, for example, you'll see Teen Wolf star Holland Roden take on the role of Bridget Cleary, the Irish woman whose husband murdered her because he thought she was abducted by fairies. Like its first iteration, the TV show is ripe for a gripping, and illuminating, marathon. 
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

jonathan majors and journee smollett in lovecraft country
Eli Joshua Ade/HBO

Lovecraft Country (2020)

Horror has nothing on the fear of what a person on the street might do to you simply based on the color of your skin. This is the basis for HBO's Lovecraft Country, a series inspired by Matt Ruff's 2016 novel that follows two Black families living in Chicago in 1954, unwillingly caught up in a centuries-long battle for supremacy between two warring Lodges dabbling in the esoteric dark arts. The show, created by Misha Green and produced by Jordan Peele, is led by stellar performances from Jonathan Majors and Journee Smollett, and oozes in Lovecraftian mythos inspired by the work of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, utilizing the nastiness of the Jim Crow era to poke holes in the author's insidious racist beliefs. Meaning, this show is seriously unlike anything else on TV and will engross you in its epic story the second you start watching. 
Where to watch it: HBO Max

hamish linklater in midnight mass
Netflix

Midnight Mass (2021)

Filmmaker Mike Flanagan has made a lot of scary shows and movies, including The Haunting series that you'll find on this list and titles like Doctor Sleep and Gerald's Game, but Midnight Mass is his most personal project. The seven-episode miniseries takes place within the quiet, everyone-knows-everyone island community Crockett, and follows the odd occurrences—or what the townspeople would like to think of as miracles—that start happening when an intriguing, young priest (Hamish Linklater) starts preaching at their local church. While you might assume it's another story about exorcism and Satan, once the series reveals what's going on, you'll be in for a bloody, frightening time and one of the scariest looks at addiction and blind faith. 
Where to watch it: Netflix

Zachary Quinto in nos4a2
AMC

NOS4A2 (2019–2020)

Don't let the annoying spelling (Get it? Like Nosferatu?) scare you away before you give this AMC series a try. This series, adapted from the Joe Hill novel of the same name (yes, using the same spelling), is a deliciously creepy, modern tale about an undead character struggling to stay undead. Zachary Quinto plays Charlie Manx, an immortal with a bloodlust for children's souls, whose immortality has managed to remain unthreatened until now, when a woman (Ashleigh Cummings) with psychic abilities comes to town. With its biting, dark humor and campy elements, it's a bit of a horror outlier, but that just makes it even more worthy of sinking your teeth into. 
Where to watch it: Hulu

over the garden wall
Cartoon Network

Over the Garden Wall (2014)

A modern Halloween classic, Patrick McHale's Over the Garden Wall follows two half-brothers, Greg (Collin Dean) and Wirt (Elijah Wood), who must find their way home through a supernatural forest after taking a tumble... over a garden wall. Along the way, they meet adventure buddies (like Beatrice, a talking bluebird) and do their best to avoid The Beast, a mysterious creature who stalks the forest, collecting lost souls. The ten-episode miniseries, which originally aired on Cartoon Network, balances frightening themes and otherworldly animated imagery with genuinely goofy and charming moments. Its final episodes, in particular, pack a terrifying, emotional punch that reveal the deeper metaphorical level the series was operating on the whole time, which turns a great cartoon into a masterpiece.
Where to watch it: HBO Max, Hulu

eva green in penny dreadful
Showtime

Penny Dreadful (2014–2016)

Uniting gothic literature icons like Dorian Gray and Dr. Frankenstein with all-new Victorian characters to fight supernatural forces in an original series might sound like a recipe for utter ridiculousness. Instead, John Logan's period piece, Penny Dreadful, is a cinematic show that manages to combine a wide array of famous monsters in a way that's as smart and classy and creepy as the beloved source material it draws from. It's a three-season classic that horror fans will continue to discover for years to come.
Where to watch it: Showtime

Dominic Cooper in preacher
AMC

Preacher (2016–2019)

Longtime collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad) teamed up for the irreverent, satanic horror romp that is Preacher, and the result is bloody fun. Adapted from the DC comics, the series pits troubled Texas priest Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) against dark, mysterious forces that threaten to upend and possibly destroy the bizarre small town he calls home. He's joined by an Irish vampire (Joe Gilgun) and his tough-as-hell, helicopter-wrecking ex-girlfriend (Ruth Negga), who both occasionally help him out of the violent scraps and theological conundrums he gets in. Preacher is a strange beast of prestige TV, but you’ll be happy to binge this kind of gospel. 
Where to watch it: Hulu

scream queens red devil
FOX

Scream Queens (2015–2016)

With American Horror Story in his wheelhouse, it's clear showrunner Ryan Murphy can do horror and camp like no other. It's what he brings—to the extreme—in his homage to some of the most iconic, ear piercingly loud, scared survivors in horror: the scream queen. Set on a college campus terrorized by a serial killer who hides behind the school's menacing Red Devil mascot, it calls back to co-ed slasher classics and is ripe with pitch-black comedy. The cast is insane, featuring Murphy typicals like Emma Roberts as sorority mean girl Chanel Oberlin (who is terrifying in her own right), Billie Lourd, and Lea Michele, plus stars like Ariana Grande, Keke Palmer, and OG Halloween scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, among others. If you can stomach the gore (and absurdity), you're in for hell of a mystery.
Where to watch it: Hulu

Lauren Ambrose in servant
Apple TV+

Servant (2019– )

Given the fact that M. Night Shyamalan is among the executive producers of this series, you can guess it's bound to be eerie. The show tracks the increasingly odd occurrences in the Turner family (Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell) household when they replace their recently deceased infant with a doll, and hire a nanny (Nell Tiger Free) to take care of him. Of course, nothing is as it seems, and those who get the creeps from dolls will be especially freaked out.
Where to watch it: Apple TV+

squid game guards
Noh Juhan/Netflix

Squid Game (2021– )

Netflix found its biggest-ever series in the South Korean show Squid Game. The show from filmmaker Hwang Dong-hyuk quickly became the streaming service's most-watched show to date when it was released in fall 2021, and (while the seemingly whimsical title might suggest otherwise) it also happens to be a brutal, shocking take down of capitalism. 456 people who are strapped for cash and invited to take part in a mysterious set of children's games in order to win ₩45.6 billion, things get gruesome quickly when it turns out every game is a matter of life or death—and that's just one of the disturbing things going on at the hands of the organization that's orchestrating the games. You've never seen Red Light Green Light like this, and you'll be wincing at how intense a game of tug-of-war could get, but you'll be blown away that TV could be this good.
Where to watch it: Netflix

millie bobby brown in stranger things season 1
Netflix

Stranger Things (2016– )

If you are one of maybe 12 people who have yet to see Netflix’s most talked-about original series, just know that your first binge through will be absolutely terrifying. Yes, Stranger Things has become a Netflix staple for being entrenched in endearing '80s nostalgia, but the show is a recipe for thrills and wonder with all its Spielbergian elements like the creepy laboratory at the end of the lane, a kid who goes missing, another kid who appears seemingly out of nowhere, and a strange, dark force hanging over a suburban Indiana town.
Where to watch it: Netflix

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in supernatural
Warner Bros. Television Distribution

Supernatural (2005–2020)

Who knew that a show about two brothers who hunt demonic beings would run for 15 years and become so popular it had all of Tumblr in a chokehold while it was on? Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) drive around the country in their shiny Impala looking for escaped residents of hell and rogue mythological figures, constantly being sent to the Bad Place themselves and crawling back out again. An X-Files of biblical proportions (Armageddon has been prevented at least five times over the course of the show), Supernatural is a monster-of-the-week show with a classic-rock soundtrack.
Where to watch it: Netflix

the terror season 1
AMC Networks

The Terror (2018–2019)

An anthology series, The Terror’s first season was one of the most overlooked television series of 2018. Adapted from Dan Simmons' novel of the same, the series tells the story of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror's expedition to find the Northwest Passage in 1845, only to never return. The series puts a horrific, suspenseful bent on the entire affair, while also serving as a damning critique of colonialism. The series' second season, titled The Terror: Infamy, is set during the post-Pearl Harbor Japanese internment of World War II and is currently airing on AMC.
Where to watch it: Hulu

jude law in the third day
Ludovic Robert/HBO

The Third Day (2020)

Nobody really knew what they were getting into when The Third Day premiered. The miniseries was billed as Jude Law venturing to a mysterious island and getting mixed up in some cult—and while that sounded Wicker Man-esque already, it failed to convey how mind-boggling and unsettling this miniseries really is. It does follow Law, as well as a similar journey made by a woman played by Naomie Harris, and craftily sending them on an eerie trip into folk horror as a treatise on anger and grief. You may have seen movies with similar themes, but this one's all about atmosphere and intrigue, and it'll keep you stuck in its fever dream until the very end. 
Where to watch it: HBO Max 

megan montaner in 30 coins
HBO

30 Coins (2020– )

If you're into Evil's monster-of-the-week-style storytelling and interested in tales of Biblical proportions, you'll want to check out this HBO Spanish-language horror series. 30 Coins is about disgraced exorcist Padre Vergara (Eduard Fernández), who teams up with a small town's mayor Paco (Miguel Ángel Silvestre of Sense8) and veterinarian Elena (Megan Montaner) to solve supernatural mysteries related to the legendary 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus, seemingly possessed by demonic energy. Their investigations into hauntings, ouija boards, and one absolutely monstrous giant spider-baby reveal a devilish conspiracy 2,000 years in the making.
Where to watch it: HBO Max

the masks episode of the twilight zone
CBS Television Distribution

The Twilight Zone (1959–1964)

Every lauded sci-fi movie or television show owes Rod Serling residuals. Over 156 episodes, Serling speculated and dreamed, refracting his present day through the trippiest scenarios to ever beam through mild-mannered American homes. The Twilight Zone's visual prose took us to jungles, to space, to 20,000ft, and to the sunny block from every person's childhood, where the worst existential revelations tended to lurk. The Twilight Zone still speaks volumes. Buckle up and fly into a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind.
Where to watch it: Paramount+

bob and agent dale cooper in twin peaks
CBS Television Distribution

Twin Peaks (1990–1991)

David Lynch and Mark Frost's detective series is often credited with instilling television with artful potential. Without Twin Peaks, there'd likely be no Mad Men or Breaking Bad. And yet, the show's dreamy, saturated look is really a cherry on top. Twin Peaks is a steady stream of oddball characters and fantastical twists, encountered by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) as he hunts for the murder of a small town teenager. Your weird friends love this show, and for good reason, as it takes some supernatural turns you'll find yourself just as enamored with. It's finally time to understand those Log Lady Halloween costumes.
Where to watch it: Paramount+

the walking dead zombie
AMC

The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

What makes Robert Kirkman's graphic novel-turned-TV saga so great is that it isn't just about curb-stomping zombies. The Walking Dead focuses on complex personal relationships to ask thought-provoking questions about what it means to rebuild society, how to function as a healthy community, and what humanity looks like in a post-apocalyptic age. Just don't get too attached to your favorite characters because, you know, the blood-thirsty zombies are what drive the plot from post-apocalyptic survival mode to absolute terror, as their threat looms at every turn. Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and friends live in a very, very unforgiving world.
Where to watch it: AMC+Netflix

kayvan novak in what we do in the shadows
FX

What We Do in the Shadows (2019– )

In 2014, New Zealanders Jemaine Clement, one half of Flight of the Conchords, and funny man director Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) created a mockumentary about a flat of centuries-old vampire roommates, and just a few years later, America got the bite to make a stateside adaptation of the very funny cult comedy. While the original stars don't appear, Clement and Waititi produced this FX series, found a hysterical lead cast in Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, and Nastasia Demetriou, and gave it an update, settling the blood-suckers in a house in modern day Staten Island. They may be undead, but this vampire gimmick is full of life and laugh-out-loud absurd. There are a fair share of spooky stuff in this comedy, but that's what's great about it: There's something deeply sinister motivating practically every joke.
Where to watch it: Hulu 

david duchovy and gillian anderson in the x-files
20th Television

The X-Files (1993–2002)

The original 201-episode run of Fox’s paranormal investigation drama is available for your bingeing pleasure. Get ready to catch up on Mulder's paranoia, Scully's sleuthing, and the burning chemistry that launched a thousand GeoCities fansites. If nine and a half seasons is too much to sit though, cherry-pick the classics: We made it easy by ranking the entire freakin' series
Where to watch it: Amazon PrimeHulu

yellowjackets cult
Showtime

Yellowjackets (2021– )

Yellowjackets crash-landed onto Showtime in late 2021 and put every other survivalist series that came before it to shame. Told in two timelines, the dark comedy follows the unfortunate fate of a high school girls' soccer team headed to nationals when their plane goes down in the Ontario wilderness in the '90s, and checks in with the remaining survivors in the present. While those who got out alive told the media otherwise, their will to live turned feral—giving the show a mysterious edge, as someone is threatening the adult women to share what really happened in the 14 months they were stranded. Anchored by performances from both the young cast and their adult counterparts (played by a handful of '90s icons, including an excellent Melanie Lynskey and a terrifying Christina Ricci), Yellowjackets doesn't shy away from emotional complexity, graphic imagery, and dark humor in its dual assessment of womanhood.
Where to watch it: Showtime

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