While some horror shows are too scary and intense to sit through twice, there are a few classics, like The Haunting of Hill House and Twin Peaks, that every TV fan needs to check out at least once. Horror has long had a home on television, but the medium has always had a troubled relationship with the controversial genre.
From early anthology shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone, horror was often tempered with another genre, like sci-fi or mystery. Horror movies are infamous for pushing boundaries and upsetting censors, and, since TV was traditionally more heavily censored than movies, horror didn’t flourish on the small screen for some time.
Fortunately, all that changed by the early ‘90s. TV’s most successful horror anthology series arrived around that time, just as shows like Twin Peaks introduced psychological horror elements to the police procedural. Since then, a whole host of iconic horror shows have proven that TV can be just as terrifying as the movies.
10
The Walking Dead
Yes, it spawned countless spinoffs, many of which continue to this day. Yes, it arguably went on for too long and should have ended a few seasons before its eventual finale. However, there is no denying the fact that The Walking Dead is one of the best horror shows of all time, despite all its flaws.
Starting strong with an all-time great pilot episode from legendary director Frank Darabont, The Walking Dead tells the story of Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes, a survivor of the zombie apocalypse who tries to pick up the pieces of his old life while avoiding the undead. Raw, brutal, and still bracingly tragic years later, The Walking Dead is a modern horror epic.
9
Ash Vs Evil Dead
From the sublime to the ridiculous, Ash vs Evil Dead might be the single silliest horror TV show ever made. However, as fans of Sam Raimi’s iconic Evil Dead franchise can attest, that doesn’t mean that the show isn’t a classic. As cartoon-y, violent, and gleefully inventive as the movies that preceded it, Ash Vs Evil Dead is essential viewing for horror fans.
8
Midnight Mass
All of Mike Flanagan’s horror shows are superb, but 2021’s self-contained miniseries Midnight Mass is a standout triumph for the writer/director. Chronicling the arrival of a strange supernatural presence on a small, secluded island and its impact on the community, Midnight Mass is as much a story of faith and community as it is a traditional horror story.
Midnight Mass takes its time setting up the show’s main characters, and its subplots are as moving as they are unpredictable. However, once the show’s horror truly gets going, it is an unsparing bloodbath. While the slow start might deter some viewers, it is well worth it for Midnight Mass’s iconic ending.
7
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
While some horror shows never live up to their pilots, others do an admirable job of immediately establishing their killer premise from the jump. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one such series. From the moment Sarah Michelle Gellar’s titular vampire slayer is introduced, it’s clear viewers are in for a fun, subversive take on horror tropes.
Here, the blonde teenage girl is an ass-kicking heroine who saves her small town from supernatural threats, rather than the straightforward stereotype who gets killed off early in so many slasher movies. The once-innovative attitude of Buffy the Vampire Slayer might be quaint now, but horror fans still need to find time to give this classic a watch.
6
Tales from the Crypt
There are plenty of horror anthology shows on television, and many of them, from The Outer Limits to Slasher, could have gotten a spot on this list. However, it would be a crime if HBO’s seminal camp classic, Tales from the Crypt, were absent from any list of essential horror shows.
Hosted by a cretinous crypt keeper whose love of puns runs almost as deep as his love of blood, guts, and mayhem, Tales from the Crypt attracted plenty of A-list talent both in front of and behind the camera. The result is an unpredictable anthology show that blends some genuine scares with plenty of dark laughs and cartoonish gore.
5
The X-Files
The X-Files was so much more than a horror show, as any viewer who got invested in Mulder and Scully’s romance can tell you. However, much like Stranger Things is a horror show as well as a mélange of so many other genres, this workplace series/police procedural/mystery/conspiracy thriller/romantic drama was also plenty scary.
The scariest episodes of The X-Files, from “Home” to “Fluke,” are as terrifying as any great horror movie, and many of the show’s monster-of-the-week outings were horror classics in their own right. That said, it doesn’t hurt that the show always had Mulder and Scully’s chemistry to fall back on in weaker, less frightening outings.
4
Supernatural
While The X-Files set the blueprint, Supernatural blended the show’s monster-of-the-week approach with Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s self-aware sense of humor to create a uniquely fun series. Tapping into ‘80s nostalgia long before the pilot of Stranger Things, Supernatural followed a pair of demon-hunting brothers as they traveled across America.
There were all manner of monsters, a diverse array of short-lived love interests, and a lore so complex that the main characters eventually ended up battling with God himself. It might have all gotten a little too convoluted by the end, but, at its peak, Supernatural was some of the most purely fun TV horror ever made.
3
Twin Peaks
While Supernatural was a more light-hearted take on the horror genre, Twin Peaks was a truly unusual series that blended everything from small-town comedy to psychological horror to create something incredible and undeniably original. The show followed Kyle McLachlan’s Agent Dale Cooper as he investigated the murder of Laura Palmer in the titular town.
What followed was a mixture of soap opera, offbeat comedy, police procedural, and gripping horror unlike anything viewers had seen before. While the cast were memorably lovable, the darkest twist in Twin Peaks proved that the show was still suffused with a deep sense of horror and dread that few other titles have replicated since.
2
The Twilight Zone
As noted above, there are plenty of anthology shows that could have been listed here. Some, like American Horror Story or Tales from the Dark Side, even have the benefit of being full-blown horror shows, unlike this classic. However, it would be impossible not to list The Twilight Zone here since the show influenced every title that came after it.
Presented by legendary author Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone offered viewers a new tale every week. These stories blended mystery, sci-fi, and even elements of fantasy, but horror was never far away. Serling’s satirical style meant that the horrors of real life lurked beneath every episode of The Twilight Zone, making the show’s twisty stories unforgettably effective.
1
The Haunting of Hill House
While all of Mike Flanagan’s shows are superb, The Haunting of Hill House remains the most essential horror series for viewers interested in the genre. This sprawling multi-generational story is as tragic as it is scary, taking Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same name as its loose inspiration and using this plot to tell a fresh, original story.
The Haunting of Hill House follows members of the Crane family as they revisit the haunting events of their past in the wake of a terrible tragedy. Elegiac and poignant, but also surprisingly funny and genuinely terrifying, Flanagan’s masterpiece The Haunting of Hill House remains his best work to date, and a rare horror show that can match Twin Peaks in its intensity and originality.
- Release Date
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2018 – 2018
- Network
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Netflix
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Michiel Huisman
Steven Crain
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Elizabeth Reaser
Shirley Crain
