The best horror TV shows to watch on Netflix

If you’re looking for a show that’s particularly scary this spooky season, you’re in luck: We’ve put culled through Netflix’s expansive library to bring you only the finest of horror shows to stream on the platform.

We’ve got horror auteurs! We’ve got international hits! Literature adaptations are a must! Even a… horror comedy procedural? No matter your taste in horror, there’s something for you here.

You can also find out more about us on our website. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of CuriositiesThe following are some of the ways to get in touch with us: The Haunting of Hill HouseNetflix has some great horror television shows.

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Image: Ken Woroner/Netflix

Showrunner: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Ben Barnes, F. Murray Abraham and Tim Blake Nelson

Only a few horror anthologies can boast as many impressive actors as Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. While del Toro himself doesn’t contribute creatively beyond Rod Serling-style introductions and providing short story source material for a few entries, the filmmaker has assembled a hell of a dream team: Empty Man’s David Prior, Ana Lily Amirpour, Catherine Hardwicke, Panos Cosmatos, and The Babadook’s Jennifer Kent are among the directors assembled, each bringing their signature stylistic flair. The film is a mix of classic and original horror stories from H.P. Lovecraft and Henry Kuttner Cabinet of Curiosities has something for every kind of horror fan, and at least one — for me, Prior’s “The Autopsy” — will knock it out of the park for you. —Joshua Rivera

The Haunting of Hill House

Image: Steve Dietl/Netflix

Showrunner: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Michiel Husman, Carla Gugino and Henry Thomas

Easily the spookiest of gothic horror maestro Mike Flanagan’s stable of Netflix series, The Haunting of Hill House updates Shirley Jackson’s classic horror novel and turns it into a sprawling family drama, rich with longing and loss as it is scares. The series follows the Crain sisters, who spent their childhoods in the haunted Hill House. They then go on to lead a life of maladjustment as adults. As they’re all lured back one by one, the Crain family is forced to acknowledge things they’ve spent their whole lives running from — hopefully, while they’re still breathing. —JR

Hellbound

Photo: Jung Jaegu/Netflix

Showrunner:Yeon Sang Ho
Cast: Yoo Ah-in, Kim Hyun-joo, Park Jeong-min

Here’s a spooky scenario: What if you knew beyond a shadow of doubt that you’re going to hell and there’s not a thing you can do to stop it? Then, imagine a grouping of smoke demons in the shape of Michelin Man that appeared out of thin air and started mollywhopping you while your family looked on helplessly. That’s the premise in a nutshell for HellboundThe Korean Dark Fantasy Drama from the Director of Train from Busan. After this shocking event, the society is transformed as a religious group focusing on this worldwide inexplicable terror takes prominence. A gripping thriller that has the emotional gravity of a catastrophe film. HellboundThis is a great time. —Toussaint Egan

Marianne

Image: Netflix

Showrunner: Samuel Bodin
Cast: Victoire Du Bois, Lucie Boujenah, Tiphaine Daviot

Many horror television shows sacrifice the scares in order to make money. TV shows have to buckle down for the long haul, give the audience a sense of place and characters that they’re willing to follow for several hours, and maybe constant scares aren’t a good way to sustain dramatic tension. But if that’s true, Marianne simply doesn’t care. One of Netflix’s best hidden gems, MarianneIt’s a terrifying film with an Alan Wake plot, about a horror writer who discovers that some of the stories she wrote have actually come true. The film is intensely focused, and it doesn’t pull any punches. MarianneIt’s a great time. —JR

The Sandman

Image: Netflix

Showrunner: Allan Heinberg
Cast: Tom Sturridge, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong

While not strictly a horror show per se, the dark fantasy drama based on Neil Gaiman’s DC Comics certainly dabbles in some of the most horror-centric storytelling and settings of any Netflix series to date. In one single season, the protagonist (who is the anthropomorphic representation of dreams) will go to Hell and face Satan, a DC Comics villain, in a bar, as well as crash a serial killer convention. It’s going to be awhile before the second season arrives, so in the meantime — whether you have or haven’t already — watch the first season of The Sandman if you’re aching for some spooky, gory thrills. —TE

Midnight Mass

Photo: Eike Schroter/Netflix

Showrunner: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Zach Gilford, Hamish Linklater, Kate Siegel

Mike Flanagan is the trifecta for me. Joshua extolled both the virtues and terrors of The Haunting of Hill House above, and Austen Goslin wrote about the excellent director’s cut of Doctor Sleep (which, notably, isn’t TV). This leaves me with the series I think Flanagan created best: Midnight Mass.

You can also find out more about the following: Midnight MassZach Gilford, an alcoholic in recovery returns to the island where he spent his childhood. He’s fresh out of prison, and looking for a new start. At the same time, the town’s long-tenured, much-loved priest is suddenly replaced by a charismatic, young stranger (Hamish Linklater), who has a dark secret waiting to be unleashed on the sleepy town.

Flanagan’s group of players are at their best, and Linklater is a fantastic, enigmatic addition to a group of actors well-versed in working with each other. The show makes the best use of Flanagan’s monologue-heavy style this side of Doctor Sleep, and is a fantastic and thrilling portrayal of a small town’s descent into demagoguery. –PV

Black Summer

Image: Netflix

Showrunners: John Hyams & Karl Schaefer
Cast: Jaime King Justin Chu Cary Christine Lee

Many zombie shows are available. If you’re looking for the very best in zombie shows, then you should go to Black Summer.

John Hyams created this amazing co-created work.Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning, Alone), Black Summer This film offers a realistic look at a zombie outbreak, with better quality than that of shows like The Walking Dead. Hyams directs many episodes. He is also known to have filmed tense, violent action sequences in the past. Z Nation spin-off. –PV

iZombie

CW

Showrunner: Rob Thomas
Cast: Rose McIver, David Anders, Rahul Kohli

Here’s the opposite side of horror and zombies: a mystery comedy with zombie-like trappings. The show you know: A detective is gifted with a special ability that allows him to solve crimes like no one else. This time the gift is BRAAAAAAAAINS.

Liv Moore (Rose McIver, and congrats — from her character name you now know right away whether or not this show is for you) is a medical student who gets turned into a zombie. Oops! She gets a gig at a coroner’s office to get access to brains, where she discovers she experiences the memories of the person whose brain she is eating. Along with Rahul Kohli, her boss and local detective Malcolm Goodwin she uses this skill to solve crime. –PV